Good Clean Fun

Thank you KOA for a good, clean, fun "kamping" trip! 

 It was our first foray into the woods with three children - and thank God we had backup! We met up with family in Erie for the weekend, to continue the celebrations for Jackson's birthday. While the packing and loading of the car is NOT fun, relaxing around the campfire after a long day definitely IS fun. I love everything about camping (minus spiders): just the feel of a sleeping bag induces memories of giggling at summer camp and waking up in the middle of the night to hear strange animals in the woods.

We started with a picnic on Presque Isle; the weather was beautiful. The Darth Vader candle made a return on a brownie cake this time and everyone bought Jackson such cute, generous gifts.

The best thing about meeting up with family to camp - is that you can relax, philosophise about why the rapture didn't happen at 6 pm, and everyone is free to move at their own pace. The second best thing: they remembered everything we didn't! Extra chairs, a night-light lantern for the kids, a camping stove, oatmeal, more hot dogs (to cover for the ones that fell into the fire), paper plates, etc. I didn't even have to tend the fire once... which would have been a sad display of camping experience if our fire had lasted for only one hour. Matthew kept it going long into the night.

We stayed in a little "kabin" this time - just for the fear that if it did rain, I would feel very guilty making Elliot sleep in a puddle. So, yes, we wimped out a little bit, but our kids also have the tendency to get up and wander in the middle of the night. The cabin was clean, had the perfect amount of windows and Ayla and Jackson got their first taste of bunk beds.

 It's always a little tough making the kids fall asleep in the same room, but after Elliot and Jackson were passed out - Ayla made a little appearance at the campfire. She told an epic "scary" story about meeting a bear in a cave and punching him in the face, which then turned into a hybrid tale of both Rapunzel and Coraline.

 I'm so thankful that we have people in our lives that are willing to drive for two hours to spend the day with us! I had such a great time, the perfect beginning to summer. And ... I didn't see any spiders.