Monday, August 27, 2007

First Camping Trip to Remember

This weekend we went camping with Grandma and Grandpa W. I was excited to expose the kids to all the fun experiences of camping like campfires, roasting marshmallows, cooking outside and sleeping in a tent. We did all of that and more.

That first night we put the boys in one tent and Ellie in the big section of our tent. (All the tents zip together so it's somewhat like little tunnels to get to the smaller side tents.) The boys kept asking what we were doing and could they have a drink and what this and that was shining in the tent. Ellie on the other hand was super quiet after being tucked in by her Daddy. Of course we thought, "Wow, this is really working out!" Then we went to sleep and she was sleeping on our sleeping bags so we went to move her and found our box of red vines in her hand, empty except for pieces that comprised maybe five whole licorices!!! We laughed and despite the missing licorice it was a great first night.

Here's Ellie with her favorite bedtime snack.

In the morning everyone woke up early and Grandpa and Daniel went for a bike ride. Eric took a little time to go fishing. When we all came back together guess what????? Eric had a fish! Even despite the VERY low water level, Eric managed to get a small mouth bass. Since the water level was so low the boys didn't get a chance to fish, but we stayed busy with many other activities.

Eric and his bass.

It was fun to catch these little guys. The boys could even pick them up.

Yup, that's a lizard and no, I did NOT touch one!

Bike riding was a favorite and especially for Daniel, but I'll save that for another post. The boys also made some friends from across the way and we played hide and seek, red light green light, Simon Says and tag. We went for ice cream since it was over 100 degrees and played in the water a bit. The last night despite the heat we had a campfire to roast marshmallows which everyone loved!

Daniel and Luke playing tag with their new friends.

Everyone in a seat by the campfire.

This is how close they really were though. :-)

Sunday morning tea and hot chocolate.

It was a great time to eat and talk together and plain just spend time away from everything. We ended up getting unbelievably dirty. Even Ellie, my girlie girl, did not mind but I did catch her cleaning up a spill she made. So sweet. In fact, Ellie was probably the one covered in the most dirt. We loved it all and it was a great first camping trip for the Luke and Ellie and one that Daniel might remember!

These used to be pink and white! Thankfully they're water shoes and we have Oxi-clean!

Can't you hear her thoughts? "Grandma, are you there?"

2 comments:

joysmallpack said...

Glad you all had such a grand time! I loved, loved, loved the mini lizard!!! We've seen teeny frogs like that on our vacations, and I love the miniature sized ones- easier to "handle". :) Also, Daniel and Luke sitting by the campfire with the poses they have in their chairs, look like such little men. Made me smile. :) Again, so glad you had a happy, fun, and memorable time!

Anonymous said...

Ellie, a girl after my own heart- she loves Red Vines!! What a funny story. I loved seeing the kids in their chairs by the fire, too. Sounds like everyone had a fun time. Wish I could have been there.