Summer memories

The family vacation with six grandkids, four parents, and two grandparents lived up to its advance billing. The trip north to Canada was marred only by the all too frequent stops at the gas stations. After two days of travel, we arrived at the Provincial Park.

The grandparent's fifth wheel was the headquarters with a tent set up nearby and another camper one campsite away. With 12 people going in and out of the fifth wheel regularly, the most common voice sentiment around the camp was "Close the door," a necessary response given the size of the mosquitoes once evening would fall.

The kids fished, swam, threw rocks in the water, and burned sticks as their main source of entertainment. The three-year old grandson announced he was going to catch a "crockagator."and when the oldest granddaughter showed up with a 14.5 pound pike with gnarly teeth, the other kids tried to convince him that she had captured a "crockagator."I don't think there are any rocks left on the Canadian Lake shoreline because one of their favorite activities was to stand along the shore and throw rocks in the water.

We probably made a mistake talking about being careful about the bears as none of the older grandkids chose to sleep in the tent, but instead came to Grandma and Grandpa's motor home, where they slept, giggled, and argued over who got to sleep where every night.

By the time the week was over, they had indulged in a three month quota of smores, endured one bee sting, and had laughed and squealed for the entire week. After a week, they pulled up stakes and headed south and Grandma and Grandpa stayed behind for another week to get some much needed rest and relaxation.