Our last day of camp was not without some excitement. There was a shallow stream running behind our camp. It was a few feet below where we were staying and hidden by thick vegetation. The kids had been playing along the stream all week so as parents we trusted they would be safe and out of travel as we all busied ourselves to take down camp and get ready to head home.
At one point we heard Bennett (3 years old) and Stella (4 years old) calling for help. At first they were just trying to get an adult's attention but as their calls increased, they became a bit more frightened.
Eventually their aunt Shiree hiked down to find them standing ankle high in mud. They were literally stuck. For some reason they had decided to veer off of the foot trail made by those who have been there before them, and stepped right into some thick mud. The poor too were so stuck they could not manage to get their feet out.
Shiree had to pry them out by pulling them up with a lot of strength. Bennett's shoes were ankle high and stayed on his feet when he came out but Stella's were regular tennis shoes and they stayed in the mud as she slid out of them. Those poor old shoes were caked in mud so after trying to wash them I decided it wasn't worth the hassle and ended up throwing them away.
Stella loves to walk around without shoes and more than once she has gotten into the car without them. So I've learned to keep a pair of spare shoes for her in the trunk in case we get somewhere and she is not wearing any shoes. I was glad for those shoes, because all of our clothes was already packed up and stowed away in the trailer and I really didn't want to go digging for shoes.
Before leaving we decided to snap a few pictures of the group and the family to remember this vacation. By that point our kids were all ready to go and not very cooperative.
Note to self: let's take a family group picture on the first day of camp. When we are all still clean and excited to be there ;)
