A Good Friday Campout

(Note: I still have to finish up blogging about Kansas and Holly's visit, but since it is timely, I wanted to blog about Easter weekend activities. Then I'll get back to chronological order)

Food cooked over a campfire, a good game of "washers," setting marshmallows on fire just because it's fun and family togetherness make good memories. Good Friday we went tent camping and it was GOOD!

We all love to tent camp. Yes, even me! I never thought I'd say that. I'm sure my parents are laughing as they read this, thinking about me out in the elements with the bugs, nature, noises and DIRT. My feet get filthy from slipping in and out of my crocs, bugs bite me, I get dirt under my fingernails, I don't brush my hair for almost two days, makeup is totally useless, and I smell like campfire smoke and I LOVE it because it means sweet time with my family.

The "elements" are what have prevented us from camping sooner this spring. We prayed, trusted God and took the weather man at his word that it was only going to rain a little if any where we were planning on camping, piled all of our stuff in the back of the truck and drove. We got to Percy Quin around 2:00 Friday afternoon.

Travis immediately got busy with the chainsaw, cutting dead wood into pieces for our fire while I got the food, sleeping bags, etc. sorted. The kids helped Travis carry the wood out of the woods. Watching them each come down the hill lugging logs bigger than them was so cute and funny. Each one of them PROUDLY showed me how strong they were and how big the logs were they carried.

The swimming area in the lake was a mess because of an apparent flood sometime since we visited last, so the kids enjoyed a play time on the playground before supper. We played "washers" (more later on this game) while we were waiting on the fire to get hot enough to cook supper.

We cook over a real fire, and figuring out the best way to do that has been challenging, to say the least. It's easy to "smoke" foods on a campfire...but to actually cook the food without burning it is a skill we've had to learn. We're finally getting the hang of it. Our sausages were cooked PERFECTLY over our "just right" fire this time. The bacon and eggs we cooked in the skillet over the fire in the morning also cooked well and were just right.

S'mores are a MUST at every camp out, so we ate some after supper and another game of washers. I love setting my marshmallows on fire, blowing the fire out, and then eating them. Yum. Monkey see, monkey do. The kids saw me torch my marshmallows and then started setting their marshmallows on fire, too. The taste of scorched marshmallows wasn't their thing, apparently, because I was offered about four of them with bite marks!

My favorite part of camping is when the kids get in their two little tents to go to bed and Travis and I talk in the dark. The two girls sleep in one tent and the two boys in the another. Travis and I get the big tent with the air mattress. Being the parent has perks!

We listen to the kids giggle and talk in the dark and finally fall asleep. The two of us talk some more and listen to the bugs chirp. We get in our tent after the kids are asleep and the top is mesh. We can look up through the towering trees at the stars and drift off. So beautiful. I can't wait to go again!