Camping at Cedar Grove

After Christmas I took the girls camping for 11 days at Cedar Grove camping ground, which is just past Amamoor. Amamoor is this little "don't blink or you'll miss it" town but I love the corner store they have there.

I've been camping at Cedar Grove every Christmas since I was 9, only missing two years, I think. Most of my family were camping there as well so it was good to catch up with them and for the girls to have time to play with their cousins, who they don't ge to see very often. They also came to my rescue on the first night we were there when we were hit by a severe storm and my campsite was literally flooded. My tarps were blown down and the water was halfway up my calf and things were washing away. Even though they got drenched my family all came over to help me out. I actually gave up and drove home at 10:30 at night to sleep. Luckily we don't live too far away. It turned out that I was just camped in a really bad spot where all the water from the camping grounds just flowed through like a mini river, while everywhere else barely had puddles, it seemed. When I came back the next day my wonderful Dad had moved my tents and stuff to a better site for me.

The rest of the time was great although very hot. We found a swimming place away from the main waterhole which was shady and less crowded and we would spend most of the day there.

I'd bring a chair and read when I wasn't swimming and the kids just mucked around in the water all day, swimming, making dams and catching tadpoles and fish.

I just love getting away from the house because I find it hard to relax at home or I feel guilty if I do, because I'm always thinking "I should be doing this" or "that really needs to be cleaned". At camping I don't have to worry about any of that. I went riding with Ella, had balancing competitions on the air mattress on the water (I sucked...my record was 7 seconds, Rosie the gymnastics queen stood up for over 2 minutes), sat at dusk with the girls looking for turtles and platypus but also just enjoying the evening and the silence. We took turns trying to take creative photos in the dimming light.