We’re heeeeere! We made it to our destination a couple of hours before check-in, and our room was ready early! Woot! Here we were, expecting to ask for generosity in the way of them letting us unpack our fridge stuff a bit early, but rather, we could move right in! WIN!
There was a pretty off-putting moment when we actually got to the chalet though, when our van was virtually surrounded by spruce beetles and horseflies. It was so disgusting. Laela was fully curled up in her booster seat, crying. I felt about the same. See, here’s the thing. We have the BEST unit in the whole building! Its more secluded, with neighbours on only one side, and less worry for us to keep the kids super quiet. We have nicer furniture and newer appliances. And its SO clean. But because its all tucked away in the trees, the bugs are a DISASTER. Brady ended up driving to a further parking lot so we could actually exit our van without letting everything inside, and I RAN to the unit with the kids. We made it fun, actually. Laela was the most upset and afraid, so I grabbed her and carried her while I ran. I made up some silly song while I ran and she was giggling like crazy. When I set her down to unlock the door, I kept singing about how we had to keep moving so nothing would land on us. Her face flip flopped from concerned to silly back to concerned as she wiggled and jumped while I unlocked the door. I finally got us in and slammed the door behind us. Brady joined shortly afterwards and toured the place with everyone. At one point, there was a shriek from upstairs. Poor Rowan was petrified by the disgusting spruce beetle on his shoulder! GROSS!!! Those things are awful.
Brady took the hit and unloaded everything on his own while the rest of us stayed inside, safe from the bugs. He’d walk up to the door with his arms full, I’d whip the door open, he’d come in as fast as possible, I’d slam the door behind him, he’d set down what he’d brought in, and then promptly kill anything that had come in with him. *shivers* It was super gross. Those things were everywhere. Once it was done, we kind of wondered just how much we’d actually venture out this trip…
We made the most of it, though, and enjoyed the unpacking/settling in process. The kids cracked out the one small tub of actual toys we’d brought, and busied themselves with books and duplo. No one napped today, so it got pretty interesting pretty early. We decided on an early supper, a walk to the lake, and then a snack before bed to top everyone up. So we did just that! Brady bravely grilled up some hotdogs (mysteriously no bugs on our porch) and we ate our body weight in hotdogs, veggies, and chips.
Its amazing how much they can eat already, wow! But they LOVED supper, which always feels good to see 🙂 No complaints. But they wanted to get out and walk ASAP.
Our research told us that spruce beetles aren’t active in the evening, so we tested it out, and sure enough, almost none were to be found! Win! Still, we doused everyone in bug spray before our walk.
It was SUCH a nice walk. We walked over to our little side beach and threw rocks in the water. The big kids ran and played and the littler ones sat in the stroller and zoned a little. It began to spit a little, so we began to mosey on back. But guys, it was SO nice, we decided to actually stretch our walk a little! We found our way to a funny little playground geared towards much younger kids, but our whole crew was happy to be there. They played for a bit, but the rain really started to pick up and it was time to go back to our spot. I LOVED the walk in the rain. Its actually still raining 🙂
Once we were here and settled, the kids got into their jammies (or out of their wet clothes, anyway) and sat down for their bedtime snack. We’re not a family of snackers so this is a pretty good treat 🙂 Everyone got a pizza roll and a handful of cherries. It was a GOOD snack.
They all snuggled up, said their prayers, and went to bed fairly seamlessly, minus one who struggles the hardest without a nap. Probably not who’d you think 😉 But they’re all tucked in now,
and I’m exited to spend the evening with Brady, playing cards, eating snacks, and listening to the rain. I hope it continues through tomorrow!