Back in the USA

We are back in the States ... we picked up Lars, Roxcy and the RV from Mike and Chris on Saturday. They drove back to VT in their Fiesta...we stayed the night in the KOA and left Sunday morning ... driving through Ontario and onto the Black Bear camping ground. Mike, Chris, Lars, Roxcy and I had a nice day together in Montreal while Pete finished his conference. We went to the Biodome, it was originally built for the Olympics in Montreal in 1976 and has since been converted to a zoo, aquarium and planetarium ... here are some photos of our day together and our trip to Black Bear Lake, which is beautiful!

Blue again ... we saw a few different animals in this zoo as well as water life. I am not a fan of zoos but I had a lot of fun watching Lars and Roxcy get excited about the different animals they saw. These two are excited and interested in everything! They are so much fun to hang out with and so easy. Montreal is a very different city when you are looking at it through the eyes of a child.

This is what waiting looks like for an 8 year old boy who is excited to see which way the underground train is going to come from. His anticipation is wonderful to watch. Lars is growing up ... he is becoming a 'big' boy and I really notice differences in him since last year. He is a wonderful mixture of I can do it myself, independence, sensitivity and are you still there for me in case I get it wrong. He is a very thoughtful, honest, caring boy, with a curious mind. We love him and we are so glad that we get to have this time with him. I know that it is not much over a lifetime but hopefully it will be quality time that he can remember with appreciation as he gets older. Pete and I sure appreciated our Grandparents. 

Chris is great on planning and organising things. In her spare time at work she worked out a possible itinerary for us. We are so grateful, we are a little more freestyle in our travel planning ... our itinerary has made our travelling so much easier. I love the way she has put hours and miles, which ever comes first. 

Chris also went to a lot of trouble organising activities and buying crayons, scrap books, etc to help fill Lars' and Roxcy's RV time. She also made up a star chart for each of them. It is very motivating for them ... particularly the "helping" one ... when asked to do something often Roxcy will ask "Will I get a star?" The chart has helped to create a routine ... apparently routine is very important, out of routine comes meaning ... at least that is what Pete learnt at his conference. They are earning lots of stars.

My first french plait in a 100 years it feels like, not bad. I used to do them for Lucy and Alice, a skill that has come in handy. Roxcy has beautiful hair and she is really good at looking after it. She brushes it, washes it and enjoys having it tied up. She is such a joy, she is happy, confident, loves to play and loves to chat. They both have amazing imaginations ... they LOVE to swim ... if their day has swimming in it, it is a good day for them, a fun day and they get a star for having fun ... so far they have had fun every day

Black Bear Lake Ontario camping ground ... it is a National Park and it is stunning here! Very remote. Heaps of natural trees ... and heaps of mosquitoes ... heaps!! We stayed here one night, it was a very restful place to stop.

There were a few bear warnings around the park. Lars and Roxcy got scared. Roxcy ended up sleeping in bed with me and Pete went and slept near Lars. Lars was pretty sure that he saw a bear outside our RV. I am not sure ... but it was so cute. I loved having our children come into bed with us in the night. They were always so cute and cuddly ... it did mean that one of us would have to shift beds though. I am sure you know that children sleep across the bed ... one of us would end up on the edge. Wow ... that time went fast!

Lars fishing in Black Bear Lake with his new fishing rod. He is pretty good at casting. He did not catch anything but we did see a rather large fish jump out of the water near him.

A road trip is a perfect time for a knitting project. I am knitting a blanket for Chris ... I think I will have it finished by the time we get back to Vermont. I love this stitch.

We woke early in the morning and decided to leave ... we have had long days of driving so we thought while Lars and Roxcy were still asleep we would get started driving so that it was not too long a day for them. The drive was spectacular ... Last of the Mohican Country ... our distance this day was 7 hours or 393 miles. We loved driving through this part of Canada. This was our early morning view as we left Black Bear Lake.

Board games were packed ... guess what this is ... Monopoly, Star Wars Monopoly ... I don't care what sort of Monopoly it is I dislike the game intensely. When we played it with out children there always ended a fight, someone being accused of cheating or robbing the bank ... I banned the game in the end. Well guess what ... there was a disagreement between and Lars and I ... he was going to bankrupt me with hiking up rental rates, I told him that was not part of the game, we stopped playing and he ended up in tears on his bed. I felt like I was the bad Grandma and he would hate me for the rest of my life ... I suggested we buy another board game to play instead ... bam, problem solved and definitely NO more monopoly!

Remember I mentioned about the mosquitoes at Black Bear Lake ... when Roxcy woke up on the morning we were leaving her right side of her face was swollen ... she had been bitten in the night by more than one mosquito I would say.

I love our RV ... I think it is one of the best financial decisions we have made. We are having some fun adventures in it and the high point, of course, is having them with Lars and Roxcy. Yes it is small, yes it is old but it is very cool. We stopped here at Lake Michigan on our way back to cross into the States. A long day ...

We got lost trying to find our way to the Soo Locks camp ground which is on the US side of the boarder. We followed Garmin (GPS) around the block three times I think ... we were driving right past the entrance way to the bridge that took us across the boarder and into the States. We were convinced that the Garmin had it all wrong ... no, she was right and we were wrong. The camp ground we stayed at was right on a river it was very restful ... very full as well and nothing for Lars and Roxcy to do ... Lars was happy watching the boats going past the campground, Roxcy however, was dissatisfied with the arrangement. We got up early again to set of for another long day of driving ... this was our sunrise.

Lars is becoming like the other men in the Cammock family ... a car or automobile enthusiast. He really likes the airstream caravans and RVs. We came across this gathering of airstream caravans ... possibly up to 600 were expected. As we were driving around and taking a closer look Lars said "This is air stream heaven." I had to agree ... who would not want to own one of these beautiful looking pieces of machinery?

I bought another board game ... Cluedo ... I really like this game. No one gets blamed or attacked or called names. No money is involved ... no speculation, possibly some cheating, depending on who is playing. A straight forward game of 'who done it.' I remember playing this a lot with my cousins when I was young.

When we arrived at Oakdale KOA after a long day I found this cheese in their store. I had to buy it to try it ... I have never thought of putting cheese and chocolate together. Not sure I would buy it again. I am into trying something different or new with food.

I had booked us into the Rolls Royce RV pad at Oakdale, Wisconsin without realising it ... we had our very own patio, out door furniture and gas bar b q ... we ate in style that night, sausages and bacon, just before it pelted down. I love the rain storms in the States ... you can see them coming and often see lightening and hear thunder from afar. The sky gets the most amazing colour of grey ... a brooding sky I think it is called.

Here they are ... the gruesome twosome ... enjoying having a reason to use their umbrellas, which they did when we bought ice creams after dinner. One of their best family sayings is, "Be kind and don't whine" ... I find this a very helpful saying when they start to whine about what they want to do and what they have to do ... meaning what we want them to do.