He might only have duck-tape insignia, but Trev is my favourite science officer.

Yes, our Beaver colony dressed up as Star Trek crew for the parade. This was Trev’s second camping experience, after our March Yurt trek, and he loved it. I originally wanted to bike to the event since it is only 38km away on relatively flat road but unexpectedly cold weather caused me to pack an extra backpack filled with blankets and sweaters.

While Chris was still able to put everything on the bike, the load was just too wide and tall for me to be comfortable carrying it. Also, I realized that I wanted to eat full dinner before going and I have not left myself enough time to eat and get there without rushing and arriving late, possibly after sundown. All things considered, biking to the event would have been fantastic and if we do end up going again in the future, I will try and get everything set up so we can do it.

Whatever activities there were, Trev was not terribly interested in ceremonies, organized games or sing songs. He did some of it half heartedly and after a while we did not even bother going. What he did love was sleeping in the tent, playing with the kids in our Beaver Colony and roasting marshmallows on the camp fire. Even when all the other kids had gone to do activities he was not interested in, we had fun walking around or just relaxing at the camp site. Of the ten kids, only one was the same age as Trev and the balance were at least a year and a half older. He split his time between playing with boys, girls and by himself. He is particularly fond of one of the girls who liked his owl. And yes, glow sticks and staying up late are The Best Things Ever.

Can you spot the egg-laying mammal of action in the below picture?

Because the the really rainy week leading up to Friday, the first night was cold with temperatures in the single digits. We got into our sleeping bags and I was a little bit cold until I realised that I did not zip up the weather protection over the mosquito net. Once I closed the tent properly the area heated up within minutes and we were fine for the rest of the night. The next night was somewhat warmer and we were very comfortable. As this is as cold as it gets during the regular camping season, I think in the future I will be bringing fewer blankets. I had two for each of us and used one to line the foam mat. I am going to invest a bit to bring our camping gear into the 21st Century and replace the foam mats and the first blanket with small packing self inflating mats. I will let Trev keep whatever blanket he wants for inside the sleeping bag (he is particular about his blankets) but for myself, I can go with a lighter airplane blanket and a scarf in place of the large household blanket I brought this time. I don’t really think I can reduce the remainder of the equipment that much. The lawn chairs I would obviously not take on a family camping trip, but as we were on a group camp site this time, they were imperative. Perhaps I can replace them with small tripod camping chairs but not without some loss of comfort.

While I am excited about family camping, we have looked at our calendar and the summer looks very busy. Apart from packing light, we actually have to find a weekend we can get out of town. Then there are the bugs. This weekend was cold and there were almost no bugs because of it. Last time I camped I came back with over 200 mosquito bites and came home with no wish to camp for the next half a decade.