Last weekend our friend Krista surprised her husband Chris for his birthday by secretly inviting everyone to join them on their a camping trip to Winding River Resort by Grand Lake. Here is what we did!

It is easy to describe where we went and what we did and to share a few photos. It is more difficult to capture the mood, the moments, and all the silliness. Most of the time ‘you had to be there’. But it doesn’t hurt to try…

#1 One night we sat down to play cards. Sue put on some background music – one of her favorite singers. To put it kindly – not everyone was impressed. My Aunt Jeannie sat down, paused, and then abruptly stood back up, ‘I’m changing this’. It even made Sue giggle but she protested, ‘You guys, she’s gooood… And she’s dead.’ The woman continued to wail as Mark shook his head at Sue and said “This is… baaaad.” Sue couldn’t help but laugh with the rest of us but still defended the bellowing woman, ‘This is one of her best songs… She is one of my favorites… She’s dead…’ Anne quickly replied, ‘Was this right before she died?’

#2 My aunt Jeannie (a phenomenal cook, btw) made ribs for dinner. She also made a very special vegetable called rapini. It looks like broccoli but if you expect broccoli you are in for a big surprise – like expecting celery when eating raw rhubarb. The Italians in the family love it. Aunt Terese and Judy ate a plateful. Anne and I tolerated it okay. The others had a different reaction. Mark and Todd made subtle faces at each other until finally Mark not-so-discreetly covered it up with rib bones one by one. But the best reaction was Sue’s. She didn’t say a word or make a face or react in any way. The next morning we were walking Jesse through the forest. The weather was gorgeous. The birds were singing. The squirrels were playing. We were enjoying the quiet of nature when suddenly out of nowhere Sue says ‘Those vegetables aren’t allowed in the house anymore.’ Hahaha!

#3 At the end of our vacation we visited Niagara Falls. Someone had the bright idea of seeing the IMAX… First of all, after purchasing our tickets Sue found discount coupons in the lobby. The girl at the counter said, ‘Sorry. You already bought your tickets.’ What a dirty trick! But we found out why they pinch pennies. The theater was empty and old and dilapidated inside. The sound was so loud it made the entire screen shake violently. But not even the footage shot by helicopters flying up and down the falls was as nauseating as the movie itself. I bet it was impressive when it first aired… IN 1986! The same movie for 26 years! Awful re-enactments of daredevils going over the falls. Those actors would be rejected by a backyard Renaissance Festival. The movie was a prime candidate for Mystery Science Theater 3000. I don’t know how we managed to hold back the groans scene after ridiculous scene. But the best part was at the end. A live girl came into the theater with a microphone to announce to the empty theater that we could buy a copy of the movie in the lobby!

We just returned from a visit to Oakville just southwest of Toronto. Here is what we did!