Spontaneous Trip 2 -- Surprise... one more this year! October 30th

Well, I thought we were done for the year.  Dad told the kids we were done for the year.  They cleaned the black water tank extra good... Dad even put antifreeze in the lines.  But they decided that they would go one more time to Cedar Point for Halloween Weekends since they had passes and well the kids wanted to see the haunted stuff one more time.  You can't even reserve many of the normally reservable spots at East Harbor.  There is not even anyone at the gate when you come in.  You have to "self register".  On Friday nights in October Cedar Point does not open until 6p so they had time to park the camper and get things set up before heading out.  Again, they did not even bother with water and sewer (couldn't really since the winterization was done...).  It was another "cheap hotel" trip.  It was only one night... shortest trip the family ever took.  

The family went to the park and rode many of their favorite rides one last time.  The sad part is that some of the kid's absolute favorite rides were not open Friday nights in October and they were not coming back Saturday.  The kids were so sad... :(  After riding what they could and braving the cold they headed back a little early and had a nice night together in the camper.  They said good-bye to me for the season... (apparently I get the privilege of "guarding" the camper from mice over the winter...  Mom knows I will not do anything to protect the camper but she told me I am safer in storage than being moved around the house by the kids all winter...) they said good-bye to camping for the season.  I heard them talking about next year... it sounds like there could be some great adventures for me to write about next year!  Look forward to, Lord willing, telling you all about it next year....

Halloween Weekend at East Harbor 2015

East Harbor State Park has the first two weekends in October set aside for their Halloween weekends.  They have hay rides, a haunted forest, a haunted tunnel, a prison where you can have a family or friend "arrested" and put in there for $1 every 15 minutes (which serves as a fund raiser for the park) and a bone fire.  Not to mention the trick-or-treating frenzy. If you think trick-or-treating in a community with row houses produces a lot of candy, you should go to a camp ground with super small lots and see how much  you can do in that time.  Apparently, my new family tries to go to one of these weekends when they can.  The kids were looking forward to it and talking about it for quite some time before we went.  They planned costumes and who they would arrest for a while.

The one draw back for this particular trip is that the weather plays a big part in it.  Some years the weather is like an extension of summer.  Other years it is cold.  And then there are the years it is cold and RAINY!  This year was one of those.  The family intended to go to Cedar Point one more time while they were up that way but the weather forecast did not make it sound like they would be able to do both Cedar Point and the campground activities and they would have to choose. Since they had already gotten plenty of use from the yearly pass at this point, they chose to stay in the park for the weekend.  Hay rides, etc happen both Friday and Saturday night.  Dad was watching the forecast like a hawk and determined that if they wanted to be able to do those things they better plan on Friday night.  So, that is what they did.  They did the hay ride and the haunted walks.  Unfortunately, high winds cancelled the bone fire for the night but, they did had a great time.  They also made their usual trek around the park to see the decorations that everyone put up.  Mom was so surprised -- a vast portion of the campground was EMPTY -- this NEVER happens on Halloween weekends.  Assuming the impending weather had a part to play in that they headed in for the night. 

The next day started out ok. The kids gathered some other kids up from neighboring campsites and they played a giant game of sharks and minnows.  They even got Mom and Dad to join in.  Time for trick-or-treating arrived and they got ready.  Despite the emptiness of the campground the kids still filled their buckets.  They did not offer me any!  I saw Mom and Dad sneak some from their buckets... But at the very end of trick-or treating time... it rained.  And it rained.  And it rained.  It rained enough that the park canceled the hay rides.  They canceled the haunted walks.  They cancelled the prison.  And, between the wind and the rain they canceled the bonfire.  Dad had been right.  If they were going to do those things Friday was indeed the night to do them.  Mom was thankful for his constant checking of the weather since they got to do the fun things while they could.

As they were packing up to go home, my previous family's Dad found Mom.  They said "Hello" and had a nice chat with each other.  As always, it was sad to pack up and go home.  It was super sad since they said this was the last trip of the year.  Everyone hates it when it is the last trip of the year.  The family really seems to hate to see it go... :(

Spontaneous Trip 1 -- September 25 - 27

As Jane's actual birthday approached the family was honoring their usual tradition.  The birthday child gets to decide where to spend their birthday.  In years past, places like Chuck E. Cheese and skyzone were frequented.  This year, knowing that they had season passes to Cedar Point (it was a Christmas gift in 2014), Jane chose to spend her special day with the family at Cedar Point.  They had already gone a month earlier with her friend (they went early since the park would be decorated for Halloween on her birthday and in case her friend's family was not ok with that they went before prime decorating happened) but she wanted to spend the time with her family at the park.  They got there in the dark and Dad was not happy.  Apparently, from the sounds of things, backing the camper in a spot in the dark is not easy!  He was able to do it but it took longer than he likes.  No one made a big deal about setting up the camper this time.  I am not sure I even got to emerge from storage on this trip.  They plugged in power but did not bother hooking up sewer and water.  The whole point of these nights at East Harbor State Park were a "cheap hotel" as mom calls it.  A way to be closer to Cedar Point to get there near opening hours and a safe place to drive when it closes late rather than driving all the way home.  

The morning of Jane's birthday they all got up and headed to the Point.  They spent the entire day there.  They must have had fun because they came home late and went straight to bed again.  When they got up in the morning they packed up and headed home.  Another short trip but they seem to be having a great time together.  Aidan did NOT like the fact that this trip did not include any playground time or board games or other "family" things.  Dad reassured him the next trip would be different and this one was just a birthday celebration.  Wait, did Dad say, "next trip"??  It is almost October and these people are not done yet!  I wonder where they will take me next...

Birthday Trip -- August 28th - 30th

Apparently my sister, Jane, has a birthday coming up next month.   I know this because my family took the family along with a friend of hers on a camping trip to East Harbor State Park.  According to Aidan, it is the first time they have ever taken a friend camping with them that has staying the camper with them.  He was pretty excited about that and it was not even his birthday trip!

Jane wanted to take a friend to Cedar Point in lieu of a party.  So, my family reserved a spot and took her and a friend up there.  They had a blast.  Jane had had such a hard time choosing just the right friend for the trip.  She did not want to pick some one with an adventure level above her own.  They might be bored with her lack of thrill seeking.  She spent a couple weeks dropping "hints" to friends about rides at Cedar Point until she was sure she picked the perfect one.  Well, it turned out that she underestimated her friend's willingness to try new things.  Mom ended up riding some rides with the friend so she could say that she rode some things.  Being from a larger family, the friend did not always have the opportunity to got to Cedar Point and she was going to make the most of it! :D

They stayed until the park was closing.  It was a great and LONG day.  No one bothered to say, "Hello" to me on the way in the camper that evening.  They all just crashed in bed and were asleep  the moment their heads hit the pillow.

The next morning we all hung around the camp ground.  The girls had fun on scooters.  The boys enjoyed tormenting the girls by following them around and playing on the playground.  Board games were played and general fun was had.  They took Jane's friend on a trip to their favorite ice cream shop in the area, Toft's. If you are in the Sandusky area you should try it out.  Just beware, a small is like 3 scoops!!

It was a short trip and there is not much else to report but it was fun.  Aidan wanted to stay longer... actually we all did!