Camping Trip 2009

The tradition continues with year two of camping for our family. And, overall, it was another successful trip for sure! This year, we were joined by Aunt Cortni, Uncle Adam, Braden, and Avery...which made it even more fun! Cortni picked an awesome location---Lake Murray State Park in Oklahoma---and also picked a great campsite for our families to call home.

The first night was VERY cold and windy, which does not make for pleasant camping conditions. :) Cortni and I laughed the next day that we both thought of packing up camp and heading home in the middle of the night, as our babies woke up crying and the wind flapped against our tents like crazy. But, we're all glad we held out and waited through the cold night, because the next couple of days were absolutely BEAUTIFUL weather.

Most of the time was spent getting dirty and playing hard. Well, that's what the guys and kids did. Cortni and I talked, walked (does our one hike count, Cort?), shopped (yes, we took time for a Wal-Mart trip in the middle of the camping trip!), cooked, and lounged. It was a perfect few days of being outdoors and not having to worry about much at all.

Here are just a few of the over 200 pictures I downloaded when we got home. :)

The first group pic taken just after we arrived. And, yes, as you can tell from the attire, we brought "Laura" and "Mary" in place of Kendyll and Carlie!

Braden's ready to fish! (Too bad this gang fished for four days with only one fish to show for it...and even that one escaped before it was reeled in all the way. :( )

Just a cutie up-close...

And, here's the other cutie...Do you remember how I said the first night was COLD? Look at these babies all decked out for BED! Brrrrrr!!!!The two big girls having some nighttime fun with the flashlights. Is there anything more entertaining?!S'mores time!! YUMMMM! (By the way, there was a "burn ban" in Oklahoma, which meant no campfires this time around. We weren't sure how that would work out, but S'mores ended up tasting just as good over a mini-fire in the grill pit. And, even though Cortni and I joked about breaking the rules, we saw three big grass fires while we were there, so we're glad we obeyed!)

We survived the cold night, and this was the view from our tent window the next morning. Well worth it! (These next few are Kendyll's photography!)Sleepyheads straight out of the bed!Kendyll took a picture of the fun kids playtents that Uncle Adam bought everyone!Some playground pics...One of the only sister pics I took during the week...And, here's another sister pic, only a different set. Can you believe that Cortni and I brought the SAME exact outfit to wear the first day, and our second day looked strangely similar too. Some things never change! Probably our favorite feature of our campsite. This was right below where our tents were...practically our own private beach! And, they spent every waking hour here getting wet and dirty!Abby Kate shows us her "messy hands"...

And, Carlie shows me too...Braden stops digging just long enough to smile. :)Kendyll...I mean Mary...was ready to fish!! Daddy gives some lessons on the "big rod", which was Kendyll's big transition this year from the Barbie pole!

And, did I mention that during all of this, the mommies were lounging? (and eating the occasional brownie!) It was awesome!Okay, we did do some other things too. Here the girls prepare our yummy ka-bob dinner for that evening. Even the little ones helped when they could...Here are just some crazy "daddy" pictures. Abby Kate says "that's enough, crazy daddy!"And, Avery says "do it more, crazy daddy"! Look at that flying baby!

And, here's one of my favorite daddy pictures. AK & Dad hanging at the water...

Some of the other forms of entertainment included: Kite Flying (and a few kite casualties)

Serious bubble blowing (check out those cheeks!)

Marshmallow Guns (yes, they shoot marshmallows out...)

And, some highly entertaining nightly shows by the kids. Here, Braden is singing his now-famous "Pire Truck, spit, spit, Pire Truck" song. He's in mid-dance here:

And, Kendyll followed with "I Like to Move it, Move it":

Carlie preferred to stick with her made-up praise songs, which were also funny...and precious all at the same time. (To which Cortni said "She is so our sister"...referring to you, Cassie. :)

See, who needs a TV when you can dance on a stone slab with flashlight spotlights?

The next day was St. Patrick's day, and we dressed in green! These are my favorite series of pictures, as we try to get a group pic of the kids in green.

First attempt: Only the girls cooperate.

Second attempt: Look at these girls crowding their boy cousin, saying "Pleeeaase, Braden!"

This was his response:

Finally, probably after a bribe of some kind, we get them all to look near the camera, and Carlie celebrates their victory.

And, it ends with hugs and smiles! Sweet cousin lovin'.

This rock became Kendyll's "work place" for most of the trip. She did math on this rock, a little spelling, and did lots of rock carving and arrowhead making. It kind of caught on, and by the end of the trip, even Avery had perfected her arrowhead skills!

She also learned a few other survival techniques for the outdoors:

While Avery was learning some skills, Abby Kate was perfecting her throw. I can't even begin to count the number of rocks this girl threw into the lake. Here's the wind-up...And the throw!All the kids made some great friends while we were camping too. When they all came to say bye, everyone was sad. It's always fun to see how quickly children can make good friends. Kendyll said many times how much she hopes we see them again next year.The last day, Adam and Cortni had to take off for home. So, we spent the last few hours packing up, going on a picnic, and hiking to the old tower at the park. The girls go tto make real arrowheads at the tower, and we go to see the most beautiful scenic views from the top.

It was a good end to a fun few days, as we hiked back to the car for the road trip home.

I have mentioned it before, but my family grew up camping, and we have some wonderful childhood memories....sleeping in the tent, hiking on nature trails, finding "rare and unique treasures", and all of the "outdoorsy" food we ate on each camping adventure. So, it's fun to watch those good times pass on to our kids too. I just think it such a great thing for every family to experience...we all spend so much time caught up in our daily busy-ness with our modern conveniences, and it's nice to get away from that, and soak up all the beauty that God created. (And, it's fun to get a little dirty too!)