Our wilderness adventure

So have you been on the edge of your seat, waiting for the report on the great wilderness adventure of 2005?

Okay, so it wasn’t exactly wilderness. The campground was perched up on a rolling hill in between a couple of farms on the opposite side of the 401 from Lake Ontario. Not only could we see the lake, we could feel the cold lake winds. The good news is, mosquitoes and black flies hate the cold even more than me. It's the only time I've never received a single bug bite while camping.

The boys had a great time, just like you said they would, you clever blog people. There were ramps in front of the cabins that were perfect for rolling trucks and balls down, and ladders to the bunk beds perfect for climbing.

They loved the little 1970s style playground that reminded me of the parks of my childhood complete with swings, sandboxes, metal monkey bars and those merry-go-round turnstiles guaranteed to take out at least a few kids each day.

The boys loved the freedom of wandering around from cabin to cabin. We didn't have to worry about traffic because we were the only transient campers in the whole park, and only a couple of hardy seasonal campers were visiting their trailer cottages.

Simon and Tristan continue to be fascinated by their baby cousin Noah:

Did I mention it was cold? By the time we were sitting around the campfire, I was wearing two t-shirts, a sweatshirt, a flannel shirt, a fleece and my brother's XXL vest. I looked like that kid in A Christmas Story: "I can't put my arms down!!" (I had remembered to pack everything from toys to baby monitor to coffee maker, but forgot -- my coat.)

The rain help off until almost 10 pm, so we had most of the evening to teach Tristan the finer points of campfire etiquette.

It rained most of the night, but let off long enough for us to pack up in the early morning. The boys did wake up at 5:30, but so did everyone else. By 8 am, we were on our way to a warm and greasy and embarrassingly grungy breakfast at a Denny's a couple of kilometres down the 401.

I hear there's a great little KOA with cabins somewhere in the Thousand Islands. I'm making a note on my calendar to make a reservation for next year. Call me crazy.