Imagine what you could do if you knew you could not fail.
 

Monday, August 30, 2010

Just Our Family

Each year we try to take our kids on a camping trip with just our family. This year we planned it for the weekend right before school started, and as luck would have it, this was the weather all morning!

Thankfully by the afternoon the storm cleared out and even dried up! It turned out to be a perfect day, just a little colder than expected. We built a fire as soon as we got to our campsite and started cooking our tin foil dinners. That kept us warm as long as we stayed close to the fire.


We normally camp in our tent, but Jeremy's parents insisted that we use their tent trailer because they don't use it as much anymore and they want everyone else to be able to get some use out of it. I was very skeptical about borrowing it because I don't like to borrow things that I would be uncomfortable lending if it were my own. I'm too afraid of my kids breaking something that I would then have to replace.


The kids didn't have the same reservations as me. They thought it was absolutely GRAND to be sleeping in a tent trailer. The 3 girls got the top bed.


Nathan got the pull-out couch. Um, he is pretending to be asleep. He sure had me fooled!


The night turned out just fine. The storm made it a little cold up there but not so much that it was unbearable. The next day turned out to be beautiful! Barely even a cloud in the sky! A lot of campers backed out of their trips because of the storm and that made the place even nicer - less people and less noise!


One thing that made me really happy was that the kids actually bonded to each other in a way they hadn't before. Athena decided that Nathan and Alex were actually fun to be around and cute in their own ways instead of complaining about them so much. She was actually quite a joy to be around this time and a huge help!

We spent a lot of time playing our golf game. We even had a tournament! The winner for this year was . . . . .NATHAN!!! He beat us all!


Jeremy got to tend the dutch oven dinner for quite awhile and he did a great job with it. This time we tried a new recipe. It was pork chops and vegetables in a cream of mushroom soup gravy. The dinner was so good! I think we might try that again.


As he tended our dinner, we played more golf. These are the spectators.


**ACTION PHOTO**  This picture makes me laugh! The things no one ever tells you are amazing. For instance, no one bothered to tell me that these shorts that I wore camping just happen to give me a SHELF BUTT! LOL (more noticeable when you click on the picture and it is enlarged)

Here is Samantha taking her turn. She ended up beating me in this round. It must be her stance.


We spent a lot of time around the campfire. Nathan is mad because he kept getting in trouble around the fire. He likes to put his stick in the fire and stir things up, but he doesn't realize that he cannot lift his stick up and swing it around in front of people's faces when it just came out of the fire. It seems like we saw this look on his face most of the evening.


Not only did Jeremy get to make the dinner and tend the dinner, now he gets to clean up after the dinner. Ah the joys of camping and using the dutch oven.


Halfway through our camping trip, Athena remembered she brought her camera. :)


Alex is doing another pose for the camera.


Alex is doing another pose for the camera.


Athena and Samantha are in their "big people" camping chairs. They fnally outgrew the little kid camp chairs.

 

We found this wild animal that kept hanging out in the trees near our camp. Somehow it got tied onto this rope we had.


Athena also liked to put her stick in the fire, but she was more responsible with it. She kept it out of people's faces and made sidewalk art instead.


This year at our campground we had one of the nicest camp hosts we have ever had. His name was John and he was really cool. He stopped by several times to chat or to play with the kids. Earlier in the day he told the kids that he was going to come over and show them a magical fire. So, while we were around the campfire, he stopped by with his "special" log. He had the kids look up to the sky and make a wish on the stars - "Star light, star bright - first star I see tonight - I wish I may, I wish I might - have a magical fire tonight." Then they closed their eyes and he put this log on the fire. All the kids were completely amazed! It burned pink, and blue, and green, and purple, and other colors along the spectrum. It was really pretty. :) The picture doesn't do it justice.


The next morning we packed everything up and got ready to go home. We had a little more time left after everything was packed, so we headed to the river for another favorite pasttime. Throwing rocks! Even I was able to skip a few!


We pinpointed specific spots across the river and took turns throwing rocks to see who could hit the spot first. Turns out I'm not real great at that game. It was still fun. :)


Here is that wild animal again. This time he connected himself to my arm with this black leash thing.


Isn't he dreamy? This is a little boy's paradise.


Here is Alexandra, posing again.


This is our camp host. We ended up having a little more time than we thought, so he came over and we played a few rounds of cards before ending our camping trip.

Now that our kids are getting a little older, I'm finding that these outings are becoming a lot more enjoyable. This was really a fun weekend!

4 comments:

Here at home said...

I love camping. Unfortunately, my husband doesn't love it. So, we don't go. That looks so fun. I think I will have to talk my husband into at least one night.

Cynthia said...

Looks like a lot of fun memories were made. We are not a camping family although our kids really have never had the chance to decide for themselves. Maybe their spouses will introduce them to the great outdoors.

Shnopa said...

It looks like you all had a lot of fun. I like the sleeping Nathan picture. How did you like the camper as opposed to a tent? I'll bet it was cleaner and much more roomy. Maybe you'll decide to do that more often?!!

Aprilyn said...

Hey Shelf Butt, you need a better stance. It's all about looking so gracious while you play. She looks so serious. lol

Oh, I miss the mountains! I'm glad you had a good time.

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