Alice and Izzy
Izzy, Anna and Alice
The kids all enjoyed some refreshing home-made popsicles created from the storm damaged strawberries.
Once it got dark, I didn't try to take any pictures. But the bonfire was indeed huge and satisfying, the hotdogs were delicious in a way they only are when eaten outside, and the kids had a blast with the glowsticks. They ran around the field like energized fireflies. And, finally, Simon actually played with the other kids! (When he wasn't pounding in a stake with a hammer over and over again.) It's so good to see him finally joining in the reindeer games, rather than just hopping around in the field trying to catch bugs by himself.
We finally went to bed around 11pm. Ironically, given that we finally got Simon a proper sleeping mat, he spent most of the night curled up on the floor of the tent.
In the morning, Zac stirred up the fire again, and the kids all ran around and played and ate donuts.
After breakfast, Eric took us all on a "hike" through their property that includes a lot of woods, a river, and a swamp. Simon loved the swamp. The hike was tricky because there wasn't really a path and we all got our legs scratched up a lot on the swamp grass and brambles in the woods. Zac carried Simon a lot, so that's why he was the happiest.
It started to get really hot and we headed home around noon.
