Old MacDonald had a farm…
August 26-28, 2005
We went camping at Ol’ MacDonalds this weekend! More fun than a barrel of monkeys!
ETD: 3:00pm
ATD: 7:30pm
TOA: 9:30pm
So once again we were setting up the tent in the dark. It’s 10:00pm and we are fumbling around with the tent. We are seriously contemplating buying an RV because then I can pack it during the day, when Ryan gets home, he just hooks up and we go. When we get to our camping spot all we have to do is pull up, jump in bed and go to sleep. This way we don’t have to set up a tent in the dark, arguing with each other the entire time.
This time a drunk lady came over to offer assistance. I’m beginning to realize that drunk people are awfully nice and try to be helpful while intoxicated.
“Do you guys know what you are doing? Do you need any help?” asks the drunk lady.
Ryan and I just ignore her because we are too busy arguing with each other over why the poles were filled with dirt and how I set it up wrong when we camped at Sandy McNab.
“Have you set up a tent before?” drunk lady says again.
“Yes, thank you,” I snap.
“What’s the problem?” she asks again.
*The problem is you lady! Leave! We didn’t ask for help, we were happily arguing away and now we are just glaring at each other instead of being able to hurl insults. The sooner you leave, the sooner we can get back to fighting… Thank you and goodbye!* Of course I’m just thinking this.
“Well, she stuck the poles into the dirt instead of putting the pin in, so now I have to try to get the dirt out,” Ryan complains to the lady.
“Well, I was just trying to help. It was the first time I set up a tent and maybe if you would show me how to do it properly, instead of hogging the job trying to be Mr. Eagle Scout, you wouldn’t have this problem,” I shot back.
The lady just looks at the both of us and begins to slowly back away.
“Yeah, I made that mistake too when I first set up a tent… well, I’m sure you two have everything under control, so I’ll just leave now,” she says.
That’s right, leave before you get in the middle of a domestic dispute lady. *Ding, Ding* Round 2.
We eventually get everything set up and snuggle into our air beds, sleeping bags, blankets and feather beds. Ahhh… nothing like sleeping under billions of stars twinkling and winking at you, hearing the crickets chirp, the cow moo, the coyotes howl and the drunk people across the way having a crazy party yelling, screaming, and laughing until 2am. *sigh* What happened to quiet after 11pm? After wishing I was Darth Vader so I could silence them, I then wished that the kids would be really loud and wake them up in the morning with their shrieks and playful loud voices…
It’s great when wishes come true. No, I didn’t have Darth Vader powers when I woke up, but sure enough, 7am rolled around and a bunch of kids are playing the park next to us. They are loud, noisy and I’m sure have woken up the entire area with their commotion and racket. I smile as I imagine and hope they have woken up the late night partiers with pounding headaches, as their shrieks and squeals greet their ears way too early this morning….. Ah, it’s going to be a great day! Heh.
Josh was annoyed with the kids playing at the park. He wakes up and screams, “Hey! Be quiet! I’m trying to get some sleep in here!” Yes, I’m very proud that I’ve raised kids that like to sleep in.
We had a great breakfast with eggs, bacon, sausages, toast with jam and OJ. I don’t know why, but eating food outdoors just makes it taste better. After we eat, we head out and about to see what the place has to offer. We were given a bunch of coupons and free camping because the reservations lady screwed up our registrations to the Teddy Bear Picnic Train Ride, so we got about $100 worth of free stuff! Yippee! We went on a merry-go-round ride that was built in the 1950’s. It costed each of us a quarter, we had coupons for another free ride. The kids had a blast.
We went on go-carts that you pedalled. We went on a large 5 seater that fit the entire family. Ryan drove and pretended to crash into trees, dumpsters, fences and campsites. The kids freaked out. We had lots of fun driving around the farm. We went to another large park and then on to the petting zoo. The kids fed all the baby animals and enjoyed petting the goats, sheep, calf, piglet, rabbit, and baby chicks. Seeing and playing with the barn animals made me miss the farm, but not the smell. It smelled like manure. Yuck.
After seeing the animals, we then headed over to the beach. Our campsite #20 had a little path through the trees that lead out to the beach. We spent the afternoon playing in the water. The beach was really nice. They raked it every morning and it was very clean. The water was very shallow, clean and not slimy. Laura went out about 50 feet and the water was only up to her knees or waist the entire time before it finally dropped. There were a couple of slides set up in the middle of the lake and the kids played on the slides, had water fights and made sand castles. Mya crawled around on the beach and in the water. It was so relaxing. I loved it!
For supper I grilled Salmon, had rice and string beans. I set up the fire and cook on the campfire all by myself. I’m so proud, I deserve a medal. I love the maple syrup sauce that I made for the Salmon. Mmmm… so yummy. After supper we missed the horse drawn hay rides so we played mini golf. It was a really nice course located inside a barn. It had lots of old memorabilia from the 1920-50’s. They had old cars and tractors inside the barn that you played around. I kicked Ryan’s ass at pinball. The kids played mini golf, played in the arcade and won jelly beans as a prize for playing a catch the eggs game. Brandon and Mya went on little horse and cow mechanical rides. Everyone was tired by the time we headed back to our campsite in the dark.
As we ventured back we saw people lighting fireworks off at the beach, so we armed the kids with glow sticks and sat on the beach to watch the fireworks. About 5 different families came out and lit fireworks. It was so much fun. I loved watching the fireworks under the stars. They were beautiful.
We had a wonderful time! I would recommend coming here. Next year I’ll try again to get on the steam train and camp out here for the weekend, but I’ll get a bunch of friends to come play as well. Even though we didn’t make it on the train, I am happy over the free camping, free ice cream, free pancake breakfast, free merry-go-round rides and free mini-golf we received. I love free stuff. I love coupons. It’s always a happy day when I use coupons or get things for free.
The only problem I had with the place were the hornets. Brandon got bit on his ear and on his finger after he tried to pick one up off his plate. Josh got bit on the hand and Mya got bit on the ear. After my kids got bit for the third time we killed about 30 of them just for fun.
Each time I caught one, I would say in my best WWF voice. “You are about to be annihilated! I will rip you into shreds and make you beg for mercy! ARRRRR!”
Ya, I used to watch too much wrestling when I was younger. Sad, but true. I blame it on my 85 year old Grandma. She loves wrestling and always watches the WWF all the time. She believes it’s real and is enthralled by this show. WWF is her soap opera. She knows all the characters, all the history and is really into it. She flinches, winces and yells, “Get up! Get up! Look out!” at her TV screen. She gets mad if you talk during the wrestling matches. Probably cuz I make fun of her and make fun of the wrestlers. Big no no! Shhh… quiet Grandma is watching wrestling….
Anyway, we would trap the hornets in a clear cup then watch them freak out inside the cup. I would give my WWF speech then start shaking the cup along the table to disorientate the hornet. Once it was clearly pissed and dizzy, I would cut off parts of the the head or cut the body in half. If it was still alive but not able to fly or move around we’d put it in a pile. “Now you will suffer for stinging my kids! Die! Die! Die a slow and painful death you horrific insect!” Again said in my WWF voice.
One insect got away, but it was partially cut in half. As it flew away, I shook my fist and yelled, “Tell the others that there’s a new Queen in town and you’re all going down! Death to all hornets! You will be captured, tortured and eventually be killed a slow and painful death. Leave now while you can or be prepared to face my wrath!” Heh. You always got to let one live to tell the story to the others. I was having too much fun with this. People were giving our table strange looks, but this was great stress relief.
Every time I killed a hornet, I would shout in my best Arnold impersonation, “I am the great hornet killer! Bow Down! Bow down!”
After an hour of killing hornets and feeling lots of stress leave I was ready to move on. Ah Great Times.