A Perfect Weekend…Except For One Near Miss
As most people know, Mr. MPB and I are really not that into celebrating “hallmark” days like fathers day, mother’s day and even valentines day. And like normal this year we didn’t do much. In fact, without realizing it would be father’s day weekend, we planned a weekend camping trip in the mountains with friends and their toddler. And it turns out, it was the absolutely perfect way to spend father’s day weekend as we spent it with good friends without being tied to our phones as we didn’t have any cell phone coverage. So we:
- enjoyed fresh mountain air and sunshine.
- slept in a tent.
- cooked over a campfire.
- drank cider and beer.
- threw more rocks then I can count into the lake.
- discovered dragonflies.
- actually liked Doodle MPB as she seemed to relish being outside with us.
- played at the beach.
- learned dinosaurs live in the mountains and Santa Clause is in the clouds (Little MPB’s imagination is so much fun right now).
- found minnows.
- enjoyed adult conversation after the kids fell asleep.
- went for a boat ride.
- played in the forest.
- we saw two toddlers begin to develop their own little friendship, including walking hand-in-hand.
- saw wildlife – deer, loons, bears.
Oh, and Little MPB also fell off the dock and into the water even though he was within arm’s reach of 2 adults. Thank all the gods he had is life jacket on from the boat ride so he was incredibly easy to scoop up out the water. But still a near miss that I wish to never experience again. At the beginning of the weekend I actually said if anyone falls into the water it’ll be Little MPB because he loves water so much that he completely lacks respect for water. Because of this we had the rule that anytime we were on the dock he had to hold an adults hand. Somehow he was hand free for a split second, and that’s all it took. So, unfortunately I was right that he’d be the one who would fall in. And maybe even more unfortunately, not even 20 minutes after the fall, while my heart was still racing and I still had tears in my eyes, he was smiling as he told us about how he had fun swimming – the fall didn’t scare him, not even a tiny little bit. Needless to say, we now we have new rule – his life jacket is a mandatory piece of clothing anytime he is at a lake/river, even if we are just on the shore. And I am even more adamant about my believe that all children should learn how to swim as a basic life-safety skill.
So, while the weekend was good (and here are a few photos to show just how beautiful it was) the “swimming” incident aged me at least 10 years.
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My Perfect Breakdown 
Is that a bear! for real!!! Wow.. you guys are brave..
and totally with you on swimming… its a must have life skill.
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Yup, we saw 3 bears this trip. The closest one was about 4 km from our campsite. We are very bear smart – no food out ever, bear spray, etc. But I will admit being in a tent in bear country has become more anxiety provoking now that we have Little MPB.
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Ugh the lack of respect for water is KILLING ME!!!! This is exactly why I continue to take C to swim lessons. Today in class, in fact…at one point we always put the kids on these foam raft things and float them around the “lazy river” area. Today she all of a sudden flung herself off the side of the raft! Thankfully I grabbed her before her legs even really left the raft, but her whole upper body was completely in the water. Last week she had scooted herself to the edge of it and dangled her legs over and “counted” “1, 2, 3!” and tried to jump off. I love that she’s confident in water and not afraid of it, but my heart stops constantly! And they can’t have life jackets on in swim class, so I just really need to be on my toes!!
Your trip sounds like so much fun!! You live in such a beautiful area!
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Michael used to be a lifeguard, so he is going to be the one teaching Sam to swim (that and Michael says I probably need a refresher course after he saw me attempting to snorkel during a cruise…I’m not one for the water, really). The pictures are beautiful. I’m glad it was a good trip (barring the near miss, of course).
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Eeeeep I know that freaked out near Miss feeling. Horrible. Glad he was ok and you guys had a great weekend. Love that scenery 💕
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BeUtiful pictures!! Oh man just reading about the dock incident made my heart skip a beat. So glad he had his life jacket on!!
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oh woah, that must have been scary!!! I can’t get a life jacket on Aviana. Tell me your secret.
Those mountains never get dull!!!! 🙂
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Wow sounds like a great trip aside from the impromptu little MPB swim! Can you share any suggestions for camping with a toddler, especially for sleeping! My husband loves to camp (so do I) but it’s so awful with A bc she literally won’t sleep. Help!!!
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