Birthday Camping Extravaganza!

I think it's safe to say that this was the best birthday I've had in many years. Brad went out of his way to get everything organized and buy hundreds of dollars in groceries and supplies so that everyone would have an easy, stress-free weekend.

We were on the road just before 1 and got to Cypress to find the park filling up rapidly and a very poor selection of sites left. We went to the office and asked to book four sites in the tenting area. After ho-humming about where we wanted to go, we finally made our choice and tried to pay for all four sites. Apparently Cypress has a rule that they won't allow a site to be booked until the person who will be on that site is present. It was about 3:30 and we didn't know when everyone else would be coming out, so we were a little stressed. The girl "pencilled" us in, meaning they wouldn't tell people those sites were open, but if everything else filled up they would have to give the sites up. So Brad and I each got our own sites (two down, two to go) and went to set up. We spread our gear across the four sites to make them look occupied and settled down to wait for Rob and Bev to arrive. Nick and Kim would be coming a little later with Brett once everyone was off work. Luck was on our side and we managed to hang onto the sites until Rob and Bev made it (they each booked a site, sealing the deal).

Once everyone was there we set up camp, and then went for a drive.

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We had bushpies for supper. SOOOOO yummy. We also tried our hands at making dessert bushpies with creamcheese and pie filling. Super yummy too!
(The smoke and heat were blowing in my eyes so I couldn't see)~
Rob and Bev loved the bushpies!
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Friday night we went to bed sometime around midnight. A couple of hours later the storm hit. The rain was just pouring down and there were great big crashes of thunder and lightning. I've never been tenting during a thunderstorm before. Definitely a cool experience.
Saturday morning, everyone chilled out around the fire, waiting for things to dry up a little.
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This little butterfly was very friendly and seemed to like our cooler...maybe he was hoping for a beer.
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Things cleared up on Saturday and the sun came out, making for a beautiful day. We went for ice-cream and then went for a "hike" through the Valley of the Windfall.
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Cheesecake flavoured Ice Cream! Yummers!
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Nick found a "stick".
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The boys at the dock. Nick, Kim, Vince, and Brett all rented kayaks and yak boards and went for a paddle around the lake while Brad and I relaxed on the beach.
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Later back at the campsite, the boys decided to play beersbee...they drank a lot. This is the product of that drinking.
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Then at 10:30 the park put on Fireworks for my birthday! How nice of them! (Ok, maybe it was for Parks Weekend, but whatever)
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Definitely a fantastic weekend! I was so happy that so many people came out! I totally gorged myself on the fantastic camp food and feel totally gross today, but it was well worth it!