If you’ve been following along, you know that summer is our favorite time of the year as a family, because for us, SUMMER = CAMPING. If you haven’t been following along, or if you’re new here (Hello, and Welcome!), you can look at this post and this one for a bit of background. You might even want to look at this one, which tells of a trip gone oh so wrong.

This year, though, in our part of the world, it has been raining. And raining. And raining, some more. A few weeks ago, the campgrounds notified us that the campsites were underwater, so there would be no camping in June. Ok, slight change of plans. No biggie.

Since then, more rain has come. And more. Then more, still. We are just five inches shy of our precipitation for the year. In June.

Yesterday, Stacy’s dad, who just drove up from Florida in order to camp with us for a few weeks, found out from some friends we camp with (yeah, it’s a whole, big Friends+Family thing for us) that the campgrounds are closed through July, too. That’s right, the whole month of July.

At this point, I’m picturing something like this:

While there are no sharks in Kansas, a state which boasts mostly man-made bodies of water (and nevermind the other absurdities depicted above), the lake where we usually camp is so far out of control that, apparently, fixtures are floating. Not only is it not safe to attempt to camp, but we couldn’t be in the water. “Hey, kids, watch out for that concrete picnic table floating off to your left!” does not have a nice ring to it.

Camping is the cornerstone of our Summertime Schedule. Being on the campgrounds gives the Littles, the grown-ups, and even the dogs the space and time to let it all hang out, if only for the weekend. Because we’re missing that opportunity this summer, we will have to come up with other ways to capture some of that freedom and ease.

Fortunately, we live in a fabulous town that offers copious summer programming. We have indoor and outdoor aquatic centers; a library that is AMAZE; gorgeous parks; and we are lucky to live in a lovely neighborhood with friends for us and the kiddos.

We are disappointed, but we will adapt. Hopefully, this year is a blip. We’re considering fall camping, pending the waters receding and cooperative weather. Until then, though, it seems like this year, camping is a wash.

I would love to see from you!
What’s your favorite summertime activity, either solo, with others, or with family?
Tell me about a time when the weather caused you to change your plans.