Paisley weekend ~ you can barely call this camping!

We were graciously invited to Joe & Julia's farm in Paisley for the last weekend in August to camp out on their property with our group of athletic friends.  They have hosted "Paisley weekend" for a few years now, but this was the 1st time we had been able to attend.  The rumors about how much fun it was, did not let us down!

You can barely call this camping; besides being in a tent... they really go over the top on putting on a great weekend.  We arrive Friday night, it is just starting to get dark, the BBQ is on for us, friends help us put up the tent (I always used to joke camping tests a relationship, but I quickly could tell, not this time!)  There was a big "wedding" type tent with lots of tables which served as the "mess hall"  Dahlia was quick to discover the bouncy castle and we were quick to learn it was the truth there would be a babysitter :)  We could relax, drink and chat with friends. Friday night was a bit more low key maybe because everyone knew we had a running race the next morning...
Yep a running race!  There was a 10k or 21k.  There were volunteers, aid stations, and even finisher medals.  The course was fields and trails and roads and Joe was out riding a tractor keeping track of us.  And there were still babysitters, so Bill and I could do the 21k.  Crossed the finish line under the two John Deeres with my girls beside me giving me my medal and water, so awesome, that I survived, the beers the night before, the heat, I was feeling that run for a bit after...  I was sitting in the field trying to recover when they started the kids 1k.  Dahlia was up at the start, she starts running, then veers  off over to me, not wanting to do it, so I get up and hobble along with her, making it to the 1st corner, then I manage to get Dahlia to run without me so I can walk, she looks back occasionally, but does do it without me beside her, thankfully.  She gets a medal too, which she proudly took to daycare on Monday.  And after showing her friends she asked if they could come next time and get a medal too...



After all that running I really wanted to try the dunk tank they had... too fun, many people got dunked by their kids, spouses, parents friends...good times!!




The afternoon we went down to the wonderful beach at Port Elgin, played freezbie, built castles and splashed around in the water.
Returning to the farm, there were servers serving appetizers, yummy and everyone brought potluck for dinner and it was incredible!
That night there was a band and lots of drinking!

The next morning we did a good 56k bike ride, then Bill, Mark, Brett and I added a little extra, down to the Lake where Brett, Bill and I all took a little dip before riding back to make it 90k.  And Joe drove around the course stopping periodically to refill our bottles and give us gels...

I really can't get over the hospitality shown this weekend.  This was an event, not camping!  Dahlia is going to be so shocked & disappointed if we ever just go plain old camping!