A Camping We Will Go!

We spent a few days camping over Spring Break.  I think it took us more time to pack up and unpack then we actually spent camping but it was tons of fun!

Ken managed to fit everything including our bikes on the Suburban.  It seemed like we only packed up half of our house.

He managed to even pack the kids in, quite literally as you can see:)

We camped at Lake Somerville, Nails Creek State Park.  We've never been there but we were so impressed with the area and the facilities.  The bathrooms were very clean and heated, the showers were great too.  There area was pretty with the lake and trees.  Since we were camping with a few families from church we also really loved the layout of the campsites and that we could all be grouped together.

The weather was pretty good too!  The kids were able to fly their kites with the nice spring breeze.

Darin was really happy about being able to get his kites in the air.  Of course on the last day he lost both of them to the trees, he wasn't being too careful then.

Tanner helped Rose launch her kite.  Rose thinks Tanner is the greatest, when she found out we were camping with the Ashford's the first thing she asked was if Tanner was coming.

Two kites way up in the sky.

We brought our ladderball game and that was lots of fun.

Ginger talked me and Ken into playing with her a few times.

The Townsend's brought their canoe and the boys were so excited to take it out on the lake.  They had a great time.  Miss Janet is one of Ginger's preschool teachers.

We went on a bike hike and explored other areas of the State Park.  It's really nice to have everyone able to ride without training wheels.

We stopped by one of the picnic areas and walked along the beach.

And threw rocks into the water.

We were having such a lovely time that Ken forgot that he had a conference call:)  Ken was working on the trip and had to take a conference call right after we arrived, I think he worked that out on purpose:-)  He also had a few at 5 am which worked out perfectly so he was able to play with us most of the trip.  He's been working a lot lately and had to just the weekend before so it all works out in the end.

Rose found this walking stick and really didn't want to leave it.  It was hard convincing her that sticks and bikes really don't go well together.

It does help when you want to skip over rocks though.

Or when you want to fire lasers at your parents.

We finished our bike ride up to the front gate to get a little treat.  The girls chose candy and chips, the boys got hershey bars.

We used bungee cords to attach our water bottles to our bikes.  It was alot easier for Ken to hold up Ginger's bike for her to drink then to mess with undoing the bungee cords.  She thought it was pretty funny.

We even were able to go fishing.

Darin ended up spending quite a bit of time fishing for his pole.  One time when he casted the top half of his pole ended up flying into the lake.

We didn't catch any fish but it's amazing how many fish nibbled on our worms and sometimes even took the kids entire line of hooks, weights, and bobbers:)

I didn't take any pictures of this unfortunately, but Nathan also planned and MC'd our Monday evening FHE campfire program.  He did a great job getting families to participate with skits, songs, scriptures charades, and spiritual messages.  It was a great way to get to know the fun families we were camping with.  The second night we had a potluck Mexican themed dinner and the Young Women taught us all some camp songs and even got the boys to join in.

After the campfire fun was over we taught the younger teens and kids how to play King Elephant.  I can't believe we played this for nearly two hours.  It was lots of fun and I think I got quite a few of the kids addicted to it!  Miss Jeri (Ginger's other preschool teacher) will forever be grateful that we played that until late at night right in front of her tent;)

The next morning before breakfast was even ready the kids ended up assembling and playing it again.  Nathan and Ginger were both asleep but Rose and Darin were happy to join in!

Our Rosebud loved camping so much.  Whenever anyone asked her how she was doing she would answer with a huge smile and say "Awesome!".  How did you sleep Rose? "Awesome!"  Did you like fishing? "It was Awesome!"  Do you like camping? "It's awesome!"

It was a fun camping trip.  I love that Darin and Nathan both told me a few times how much better camping is when they go with our family then when they go with the scouts.  They really loved having my food too so that makes me happy.  Darin planned the menu and kept the food pretty easy for this trip but he said the big difference is that when they go with the scouts the boys always forget something (and burn something)

Here's our menu:
Lunch- Sandwhiches and chips
Dinner- Hamburgers and Hot Dogs
Breakfast- French Toast with Buttermilk Syrup
Lunch- Crackers, cheese, and fruit
Dinner- Chicken Quesadillas
Breakfast- Biscuits and Sausage Gravy

We had a fabulous time and loved camping with the families in our new stake.  The kids had fun and Ken and I had a great time.  So I think this huge mess was totally worth it!

Especially because our kids were major sweeties and totally unpacked and did a ton of laundry and dishes on Thursday.  I was busy all day long taking kids to doctor appointments, having my writing group over, and then the Cub Scouts. Ken was busy working and ended up having conference calls and working from 2 am- 7pm without a single break.  They even let me take a nap for an hour before my Cub Scouts came and then helped with the activity.  I rewarded them with a long Mine Craft session and an Airsoft and movie party the next day.  I love my kids and had such a great Spring Break with them!