Camping! My Favorite!

As a child, my parents took me camping all the time. I loved it! I don't know what happened between then and now, but somehow the appeal of camping has been lost to me as an adult. Sad, but true. I suppose it is because all the little things about camping that I don't like, doesn't bother kids. Like, being dirty, cooking outdoors, setting up and taking down camp, sleeping in the cold (and I mean cold!), the list goes on and on ...

Alas, I now feel the responsibility to give Taylee the experience of camping. So, we planned a camping trip with Kent's entire family. Best decision I ever made! (not the camping of course, the invitation to Kent's family!) His sister is an experienced camper and provided all sorts of luxuries I never expected, his mom was a fabulous camp cook, and pretty much every member of the family is hardworking.  So the experience (camping in the rain!), was as good as it could possibly be. Sure love those guys! And Taylee was thrilled to have all her cousins to run and play in the dirt with, when she wasn't dragging mommy on quests to find her imaginary friends in the woods, or her baby reindeer (don't ask me?!). . .

So, remember that rainy weekend a couple of weeks ago? Yes, that was our camping weekend. Nice. We headed up on Friday, were happy to have pretty good weather for the afternoon, and we even snuck in some smores before the rain started in the late evening. Saturday had quite a bit more rain than we would have liked, and it was pretty darn cold. But, we managed to spend some time in the tent trailer, and some time around our campfire. It was not too bad, all in all. Sunday morning, unfortunately, brought lots of rain, which made for a pretty miserable experience taking down camp. Three easy up (not so quick) quick shades, two tent trailers, one tent, and ten camp chairs took three hours in the rain to disassemble. Of course, once we got home, we had to reassemble everything, rinse it off, let it all dry, then take it all down and pack it up again. Oy!  

I guess I will have to plan my camping weekends better in the future. Who would have thought mid-July would be a bad weekend for camping?!

Me and My Girl. Proof that I was actually there.

Skyler was lost without cell phone service to text his girlfriend. He was forced to interact with all the rest of us. Poor kid!

Cutest cousins. And bestest friends.

Playing on the air mattresses in the tent? Super fun!
Remaking the bed after your children and nephews destroy it?
Not that fun. Especially the 8th time. :0)

Kira tried to resist our camping fun. Luckily, she didn't last long!

Look who's outgrown his grandma?! And his dad. Shhhh. Don't tell anyone. Especially Kent.

Cute Kenzie.

Thank you Scott, for the fabulous camp spot. And the Tent trailer protection. And the wonderful quick shades covers!

Once again, lost without his phone. He sure liked the campfire though!

Possibly the cutest camper I have ever seen!

Stuck in the tent trailer. :0(
Thank you Uno!

See those baked potatoes? I put those deep in the hot coals. After an hour and a half we had charcoal briquets wrapped in foil, rather than baked potatoes. Guess it was a little too warm.