When my friends ask if I’m planning on spending the summer at the cabin, and I answer, “Yes,” they get this dreamy far-away look in their eyes. “Oh, how great,” and “Wow, you’re so lucky,” are often their replies. But the truth of the matter is, it’s actually not all sunsets and picnics.

Spending the summer in a 750 square foot bungalow, with no electricity, a lake that has swimmer’s itch, temperatures that soar well over 90 degrees, and two very active children, is not exactly what you’d call “easy”.   More like, challenging.

The biggest obstacle I face every summer is keeping kids from getting bored.  Used to playgrounds, play dates, and other programmed activities, cabin living is a completely different way of life, and it takes some adjusting - for all of us.

This summer, I decided to check out the local day camps in the area. You know the saying, “It takes a village to raise a child,” I am going to rely on locals to help raise mine. Fortunately, Vancouver Island has some amazing kids’ camps, particularly, if your child loves the outdoors, wildlife and adventure.

The North Island Wildlife Recover Centre, located in Errington, B.C., offers day camps running from July 3 to August 31, 2007.  The Centre is an amazing place to visit if you happen to be on the Island.  With the largest eagle flight centre, complete with observations decks, a museum of nature, and a variety of animals in various stages of rehabilitation, this is an ideal setting for young naturalists.

Horne Lake Caves, just a stone’s throw from our cabin, operates a three day “discovery camp” for first time campers. Situated on Horne Lake, the campers discover rock climbing, go cave exploring, paddle and learn wilderness survival skills.

The Regional District of Nanaimo Recreation and Parks offer day camps as well.  These camps are located on the beach and have fabulous playgrounds.  You don’t have to commit  to a whole week to attend, in fact, you can drop the kids off for a half day or a whole day.  Buy a book of 10 passes and go when you want.  So while the kids are at camp, I can do the grocery shopping, run errands and check my email.

Hmmmm, maybe this summer the living will be easy.

Cheers,

Julie

This entry was posted on Saturday, June 23rd, 2007 at 10:20 am and is filed under Entertaining. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.