We set off Saturday afternoon, with our van loaded to the brim. We got to Uncle Benny's with no problem--only one stop for a bathroom/nursing break.
Ironically, Chris's cousins, who live about 12 minutes from our house, were also there to visit their parents. We hadn't seen them in a while so it was good to visit before they left for the evening.
Aunt Judy pulled out some Lincoln Logs and they had a blast!
Here's Claire and Beth building a house for Claire's rubber ducky (one of her newest lovies).
Aaron of course builds a vehicle of some kind...
Hannah with Jen Jen...
And the most fun is knocking it down!
Sunday morning we went to church with Benny and Judy, and Benny delivered a wonderful sermon. The kids were so good in church, even Hannah who was awake the whole time and only babbled a bit right at the end of the service. After a good lunch and naps, we headed to the lake. (Somehow I managed to get away with no pictures of Benny and Judy!! Ugh!)
We picked a good campsite--nice flat spot for the tent, somewhat close to the bathrooms and play ground, and not too close to other campers. As soon as the tent was up, Hannah was ready for a nap. Poor thing didn't sleep well the whole weekend so she was tired. Probably because we kept making her sleep on the floor. Look how cute the back of her head is! Ha!
The kids got their new flashlights and played king and queen of the tree stump while Dad built a fire.
We roasted hot dogs for dinner, then of course had Smores for dessert!
Hannah was such a trooper.
The Bumbo seat is very useful!
I love just sitting around the fire.
Ketchup face.
And that's where I stopped taking pictures. The kids started begging to go to bed before 7:00, but we told them to stay up a little while later. They love going to sleep in the tent! After Hannah was down we sat around the fire telling stories, each with a fire theme. We started with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and the firey furnace. Then we started making up stories about cats, ducks, turkeys, squirrels, garbage trucks, street sweepers, etc. It was really a fun time!
The kids went to bed at 8:00, and we turned in at 9:00. It always takes me a while to fall asleep in the tent (because I keep imagining the boogie man outside the tent!), and of course Hannah woke me up a couple of times. I finally got her snuggled in with me around midnight, and around 2 am it started pouring down rain. It was a beautiful sound, the rain pelting the tent, but I was nice and dry inside.
Fast forward to 5:00 am, and after very little sleep, it's STILL raining, and the water is starting to seep through the tent. We got little sprays of water in our face every few minutes, making it impossible to get any more sleep. The kids finally woke up at 6:30 (how on earth they slept that hard through everything going on is a mystery to me!), and we let them walk just outside the tent door to go potty. It was still drizzling, but I checked the radar on my phone and saw we were about to get a clearing before more rain set in. So we folded up sleeping bags and blankets, and packed our bags. We hauled everything to the van as quickly as possible, then took down the tent and stuffed the wet mess into two garbage bags. I was still wearing the clothes I had slept in and we all looked disheveled. We went to the inn at the park to eat breakfast...I was quite sad I didn't get to do pancakes and bacon over the campfire! Then we just headed home. I was so exhausted and ready to get the van unloaded, get cleaned up, and start washing the mountains of laundry we had! A bit sad we didn't get to explore around the campsite or lake that day, but we had still had fun.
We had hoped to make it all the way home without stopping (a 2 hour drive), but 30 minutes from home Hannah was fussing and we realized she had a dirty diaper. We stopped to change her, and I realized it was a BLOWOUT! Poop everywhere! That was fun to change in a gas station parking lot. Or not. Washing her car seat cover just added to my mountain of laundry!
We finally made it home safe, and the kids played and played. Hannah seemed happy to see her bed and took a good nap. Chris got the tent clean and dry, and even cleaned my van out spic-and-span! I was so happy. What a great ending to a crazy vacation!
1 comment:
yall are the bravest parents ever!!! I'm not much of the outdoorzie type and i sure wouldn't be camping with 3 youngins!! did sound fun though..kinda?!?!
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