It's the first time we went camping as a family and the second time Doug and I have ever been camping together. Our friends Kyle & Kristi family owns a permanent site in Garrison, MN. The campground was Sherwood Forest.
We left late on a Friday evening in hopes the kids would sleep the almost 5 hour drive there. Miles was out within an hour in... Harrison FINALLY fell asleep about half hour before we reached the campground. Doug was pretty tired too...so I drove and he slept. I to was exhausted from long night before with the burglary at my studio, but with Harrison's continuous questions as always, "How many more blocks until we get there?" There was absolutely no way I would lose focus by sleep depravation while driving. In fact I made it through listening to "Finding Nemo" & "Horton Hears A Who" on the way up there in between the continuous question asking of that 4.5 year old I mentioned earlier. :)
After we arrived at the campground.... We all settle into bed about 2:30 AM.
Day One of Camping:
We started to stir about 8:00 AM.
After scoping out the campground and playing on the play set and mini golf we headed to the beach.
The winds at the beach picked up so we headed back to the pool for a couple of hours until the rain moved in.
After letting the rain pass... We did what was perhaps the most important thing of camping; we made smores :) If you haven't tried it already... substitute a Reeses peanut butter cup instead of the traditional chocolate. Oh it's delicious. I had 3 of them just to confirm this.
After the camp fire came bed for the little people in our lives and we raised a glass of cheer and sat around the camp fire in good conversation.
Day Two of Camping:
The older boys headed out to go fishing about 8 am. This left us girls with the two 1 year olds.
Not long into fishing the men ran into rain and had to head back. The rain had passed by the time the guys headed back to our campsite. We headed on a long walk around the campground. After nap, Krisiti and I took the 1 year olds to a small town in Nisswa. Salt water taffy was a much needed purchase from the little town. The kids then played at a community park before we headed back to the campground.
Harrison had fun playing in the Raadt family boat and catching caterpillars. There must have been at least 100 just of those fuzzy little guys running around our campsite. I predict an awesome year for butterflies.
Like I mentioned... It's a good year for caterpillars and not to forget to mention a fabulous year for bug bites. Miles himself sported 23 mosquito bites (even with bug spray with deet).
Sunday evening Krisit spotted some smoke coming from the neighbor's next door shed (they were there this weekend). The men grabbed a hose, fire extinguisher, and headed next door to attempt to put out the fire. Meanwhile Krisiti was on the phone with 9-1-1 dispatcher. Kyle and the boys went to meet the fire trucks at the camp gate. Doug continued to fight the fire and put out the last flames and the fire fighters jumped out of their truck. The fire ended up being electrical and could have been a lot worse if it wouldn't have been for our men who sprung into action. Apparently we also learned that is you call 9-1-1 from a campground, they dispatch a police vehicle, fire vehicle and 3 fire trucks. Our campsite became a very popular spectator spot for golf carts that evening.
Day 3 of Camping (last day):
Monday morning was full of packing... but we still manage to fit a few snuggles in.
And I just had to grab a shot of the unique tree stump that lines the wood of our campsite. Can you see an image of a praying Mary? Very cool.
Both of families had such a great time this weekend and it's our hopes to get together for another long weekend this fall... but that's an entirely another bucket list in itself. There is so much of summer yet to accomplish!
We left late on a Friday evening in hopes the kids would sleep the almost 5 hour drive there. Miles was out within an hour in... Harrison FINALLY fell asleep about half hour before we reached the campground. Doug was pretty tired too...so I drove and he slept. I to was exhausted from long night before with the burglary at my studio, but with Harrison's continuous questions as always, "How many more blocks until we get there?" There was absolutely no way I would lose focus by sleep depravation while driving. In fact I made it through listening to "Finding Nemo" & "Horton Hears A Who" on the way up there in between the continuous question asking of that 4.5 year old I mentioned earlier. :)
After we arrived at the campground.... We all settle into bed about 2:30 AM.
Day One of Camping:
We started to stir about 8:00 AM.
Powdered sugar donuts and Bloedow's were a hit with a 4 year old, 3 year old and two 1 year olds.
After scoping out the campground and playing on the play set and mini golf we headed to the beach.
The winds at the beach picked up so we headed back to the pool for a couple of hours until the rain moved in.
After letting the rain pass... We did what was perhaps the most important thing of camping; we made smores :) If you haven't tried it already... substitute a Reeses peanut butter cup instead of the traditional chocolate. Oh it's delicious. I had 3 of them just to confirm this.
Day Two of Camping:
The older boys headed out to go fishing about 8 am. This left us girls with the two 1 year olds.
Not long into fishing the men ran into rain and had to head back. The rain had passed by the time the guys headed back to our campsite. We headed on a long walk around the campground. After nap, Krisiti and I took the 1 year olds to a small town in Nisswa. Salt water taffy was a much needed purchase from the little town. The kids then played at a community park before we headed back to the campground.
Harrison had fun playing in the Raadt family boat and catching caterpillars. There must have been at least 100 just of those fuzzy little guys running around our campsite. I predict an awesome year for butterflies.
Hammock fun!
Sunday evening Krisit spotted some smoke coming from the neighbor's next door shed (they were there this weekend). The men grabbed a hose, fire extinguisher, and headed next door to attempt to put out the fire. Meanwhile Krisiti was on the phone with 9-1-1 dispatcher. Kyle and the boys went to meet the fire trucks at the camp gate. Doug continued to fight the fire and put out the last flames and the fire fighters jumped out of their truck. The fire ended up being electrical and could have been a lot worse if it wouldn't have been for our men who sprung into action. Apparently we also learned that is you call 9-1-1 from a campground, they dispatch a police vehicle, fire vehicle and 3 fire trucks. Our campsite became a very popular spectator spot for golf carts that evening.
Day 3 of Camping (last day):
Monday morning was full of packing... but we still manage to fit a few snuggles in.
And I just had to grab a shot of the unique tree stump that lines the wood of our campsite. Can you see an image of a praying Mary? Very cool.
Both of families had such a great time this weekend and it's our hopes to get together for another long weekend this fall... but that's an entirely another bucket list in itself. There is so much of summer yet to accomplish!
No comments:
Post a Comment