ward campout - camp Joseph

Friday was our ward camp out and, since both of our husbands were working relatively late, my good friend and I headed down with our kids all by ourselves. Let me tell you what...that was an adventure! We were the first ones there from our group so we got to choose a site. We started setting up our tents as people started to arrive. We go the last pole in the last tent right as the rain started coming down and then we ran into a nearby cabin amidst the sheets of rain. A great start to our adventure! Luckily the rain passed over us fairly quickly and we were able to enjoy the rest of the evening. I didn't take many pictures, just the sky after the storm and one of Clara's first tin foil dinner. Isn't it adorable? I only survived the day alone because of the awesome Young Women who took my kids and played with them. They were also eager to hold my baby for me when I needed my hands! How do people raise such amazing teenage girls? I want to know the secret. Ryan finally did get there and it was a fun night of sitting around the camp fire and roasting marshmallows. The kids were excited to sleep in their tent and were good sleepers. Clara woke up a few times but we're guessing she was a little chilly because it was a cold night. The next morning dawned cool but sunny and we had a yummy breakfast and then packed it all up and headed home! The best part was we were only a half our away from home so we still had the whole rest of our day to play. Can't wait for the next ward camp out next year!

Ricker Pond

All last week we were excitedly looking forward to a camping trip that weekend and just as we got everything packed...it started to rain. And it was not just a sprinkle, it was a pretty good rain. So Ryan quickly did some research and we found a place a little farther than we were planning on going but had an available lean to. This was our first lean to camping experience and I think it turned out really well.  We stayed nice and dry and had an amazing time.

Clara is excited to be camping!

When we got to camp it wasn't raining too hard and after we got our lean to all set up and the shelter over our picnic table we were set. It rained on and off but nothing too hard, and the kids had fun playing in it

That night we grilled some meat for fajitas and then had s'mores, of course! I saw on facebook that day that it was national S'mores day! What a delicious coincidence. I hope you all celebrated too!

That night we all slept pretty comfortably in our lean to

and woke up and made a nice warm fire

and watched the fog over the pond

the kids made a new friend...but he might have just loved them for their pancakes!

the kids spent most of the morning wandering around in their pjs. Their favorite thing to do was climb on this "ginormous" rock!
 

I didn't get a picture of the awesome set up we had in our lean to, fitting 2 families in, each with an air mattress and a pack and play, so I took an after picture.

After we packed everything up, we headed to the beach to play.

sisters!

look at that belly! Who thinks she looks underweight?! Not me!

I could not get her to stop eating the sand...

We rented a little row boat and checked out the pond

It turned out to be an awesome weekend and we were so glad we didn't let the rain stop us from going! We love spending time together as a family and it makes it even better when there are friends there too!

Half Moon Lake

Ryan had a long weekend this weekend so we decided to go on a little camping trip and we were pretty excited to go!
 
We had a few friends that just so happened to have the time off also and they could join us. Camping is always more fun with friends! Ryan researched for the perfect spot and found the State Park of the year, Half Moon State Park in Vermont. We packed up our entire house (isn't that how you are supposed to camp?) and headed out, with our friends following behind. They introduced us to their favorite sandwich place on the way and it was yummy. When we finally got there and set up camp we first went on a bike ride around the campground. Here is Kate getting ready for her bike ride

 After our ride we decided to head back and get ready for dinner While Sawyer waited he kept himself busy. He is such a little artist. Here he is drawing pictures in the dirt with at stick

tin foil dinners (too yummy for Sawyer to look away)
s'mores

 posing by the lake before bed
The night was a lot colder than we thought it would be and we weren't quite as prepared with blankets. The kids slept well but I was frozen! Lesson learned...no matter how warm you are at your house...plan for 40 degree weather!! We woke up the next day and had a yummy breakfast and then got ready to go on a hike around the lake here is Kate and Sawyer ready to go

and Clara

We hiked around the lake to the beach. The weather wasn't quite as warm as we thought it would be but the kids still played in the water and had fun

more artwork by Sawyer, sandcastles on the beach
We rented a boat and took turns heading out on the lake

As they got close to shore, Sawyer decided to jump in

When Sawyer came up he grabbed onto the boat for dear life, hugged his knees to the boat and started crying because he was scared. When we finally coaxed him to stand up, the water was below his knees. That gave me a good laugh

 The kids found some snails in the lake and brought them up. Sawyer claimed these two as pets and he cried when I told him he couldn't bring them home. I told him that snails need a lake to live in and we don't have a lake. To that he responded, "What if we move to a new house with a lake?" Sorry buddy!

After the swimming we headed back to camp for dinner. Our friends were leaving and as they were packing up the kids were playing around and posing for pictures.

 funny faces


more funny faces

and after dinner, more s'mores (of course!)

That night, after our friends left, we hung out by the fire, played some games and ate some popcorn and then headed to bed.
Clara thought it looked good!

Before we went to bed we were afraid it might rain so we packed up most of our things to keep it from getting wet. It rained a ton through the night and when we woke up it was still raining. And FREEZING! Our friends who had left were kind enough to leave us all of our blankets and it kept us a lot warmer than the night before (THANK YOU!) but we were still quite cold. Ryan decided that we should probably just head out and eat at McDonalds on the way home rather than cook breakfast at camp and the kids were quite keen on the idea. Especially because we had passed a McDonald's with a playplace!! That is a special treat around here because we don't have one! So we packed up and headed out for breakfast. It was a great trip and tons of fun as a family and with friends! We can't wait for our next camping trip! Now...back to my piles of laundry!