Cavanaugh Camping - June 2014, Post #1

From June 12 to June 15, the MN Ainslies joined half of the Cavanaugh Clan for a long Father's Day weekend of camping at Jellystone campground near the WI Dells. Not everyone could make it camping this time around. Not surprising considering all of our ever-busy summer schedules as well as the PTO and budget constraints we are all dealing with. For those that could attend, it proved to be a perfect "in between" location for all of us, we had nearly perfect weather (never rained even though we had a chance of it many times), and almost no bugs!

The campground is sandwiched between busy roads (including the Interstate) and is packed with young families so it isn't exactly set up to be a quiet and relaxing experience but we were very lucky in our campsite location (managing to upgrade to much better sites upon arrival) and it was surprisingly low key and peaceful for such a busy place.

The campground/park has seen better days in its 40 years of existence but has made an effort to upgrade its amenities and has kept its older areas clean and in relatively good working order. There was a water park with separate kiddie and adult pools/slides, a kids movie night (kind of a joke because of Interstate noise but at least they tried), video games, a concession stand, free showers, and a few play grounds (in our case, this meant just swings and a toddler sized plastic climbing "cube") scattered throughout. Also, if you wanted to donate your kidney (or other suitable organ), you could rent a golf cart for the amazingly generous duration of a complete half of an hour!

Yogi bear made multiple appearances at our camp (to the delight of the kids), there were other kids to play/interact with (both Owen and Logan befriended comparably aged girls with shocking ease), and we had a walking trail nearby that "our pack" of kids could explore together without the need of an adult chaperone. Small cabins made up a rustic town of sorts nearby and we were entertained by the scooter and bicycle riding gang of kids that emerged from the cabins to race down the hill we were camped on. We saw a few spectacular bike and scooter wrecks and took bets on who would be next for a case of road rash.

Owen and Logan LOVED it. They were outside and go go go for days straight. The interaction with their cousins was fantastic. Of course, I am most pleased with the complimentary "Dad" Yogi bear glass I got upon admission (it was Father's Day after all). We hit Paul Bunyan's for breakfast Sunday morning before driving home. It was a great trip and might be the first such outing that Owen will really remember.

I will post another collage of just Ainslie photos in a few minutes.

This post's collage has at least one image (sometimes small) of everyone that was there. Of course, there are more of the kids but what did you expect?