The K Crew Went Camping

Unbeknownst to us, we have been living but one meager hour from some great camping. This past weekend some friends invited us and several other families to join them on a camping trip. We bought a tent big enough for the six of us and headed out into the wild blue yonder.

Here is Nate with his friend Jaden. He loves playing with this little guy. You know how you can tell we had just arrived? Because Nate is not yet covered in dirt.

Supervising Dad as he sets up the tent.

There were eight other kiddos ages 8 and under (not counting the babies) and they had a blast exploring the woods as only kids can do. We had reports of coyotes, which freaked the littlest ones out, and "something dead", which freaked me out. Fortunately the dead thing turned out to be a rock.

Brenna and her friend on a snipe hunt after dark.

I got to cook on an actual campfire! (Can you tell it's been YEARS since I did this?) Foil dinners, s'mores, peach cobbler, eggs, pancakes, hot chocolate....yum! Okay, I didn't make all of that, but I ate it!

Nate and buddy Jaden were wild men around the campfire.
Notice Scott is wearing a t-shirt and shorts. He asked me what the weather was going to be during the campout and I told him a low of around 50 degrees. Somehow he heard 60 degrees and therefore didn't pack pants or a jacket. Silly boy. And can I just say how awesome it was to be COLD this time of year?!

One thing I love about camping is the stars. The girls and I saw them on our hike to the toilet (the main drawback of outdoor adventuring) and they were spectacular. Nate was hanging out with Scott around the campfire, so when we returned I picked him up and took him with me to see "something special". When we made it to a clearing I told him to look up.

Me: "Look at all those stars, Nate! Aren't they beautiful?"

(pause)

Nate: "Mom, can we go back?"

Heathen.

The kids slept reasonably well and were undisturbed by the family of raccoons that came to check out the campground while the adults hung out and talked around the fire. Speaking of which, the flames were still fascinating the next morning. The kids kept the fire going both days by collecting fallen wood and feeding it. They loved the job.

We took a nice hike as a family, although Brenna was disappointed she didn't see any animals. Mental note: next time we go camping if raccoons appear in the night, we will wake Brenna up and save ourselves some misery!From the look on her face it seems she enjoyed it anyway. I loved it so much I'm already planning our next camping trip.