First Camping Trip 2015

I think everyone was excited to begin the camping season.  Adam worked hard several evenings and weekends to get the camper all ready.  Vera asked "How many more days?" plenty of times.  I was excited to get away from housework and cooking for a few days and not feel guilty about sitting in a chair doing nothing.

We traveled to Wapakoneta KOA last weekend with grandma, Mandy, Jeff, Blake and Nora.  The Homans wanted to try out their new camper.  Though the weather was windy and a little chilly at times, I'll consider the weekend a success.  We had no rain and no one got hurt or sick.

I bought a large, inflatable pool that has a dual purpose:  a play yard for mobile babies and also relief from the heat for kids.  We didn't fill it with water on this trip, but it was a savior for the adults.  The babies could play and crawl around without eating sticks or dirt, yet they also could not crawl out.  I will say that Vera and Blake may have had more fun playing in the pool than the babies did.

Vera and Blake played and played.  They played hard and so well together.  I must say that we had no major meltdowns or fighting at all.  They're buddies right now.

Grandma brought "glowers" as Vera calls them.  They had balls, bracelets and tomahawks.  They served as Vera's nightlight that evening in her bunk.

I love this picture.  They were trying to hit the leaves in the tree with the noodles and were giggling and chattering the whole time.

Vinners slept well each night in his bunk.  He, too, was tired at the end of each day.  He was "shown up" by his cousin Nora.  She eats table food, crawls on her hands and knees, and is happy sitting in her stroller watching the action.

Grandma gave the wild man a celery and he gnawed for a while.

Bathing children in the camper is always an adventure.

We enjoyed the hayride on Saturday after we hit up the pool.  The kids did really well in the pool.  The water was warm, but the wind was a bit brisk.  Vince enjoyed splashing and playing with toys.  Vera swam like a fish with her float.  Unfortunately there aren't any pictures of the pool time.  I do owe a thanks to Mandy for sharing many of these pictures.  I didn't have my phone handy when there were good photo opportunities.

We ate like kings all weekend.  Jeff and Adam did all of the cooking, and everything was super.  The best part was that the women just did the clean up detail, which was fine with me! :)  I wish I would've taken pictures of some of our meals; they were delish!  On Friday we had steaks, potatoes, and pineapple upside-down cake.  Jeff made the cake in his new dutch oven.  It was amazing!  On Saturday, we literally ate all day!  It started with a huge breakfast in the morning, then pizza in the dutch oven, BBQ chicken halves for supper, and popcorn over the fire that evening.  (Good thing we went swimming that afternoon for a little bit of physical activity!)  Sunday morning was another yummy breakfast over the fire!  :)

It was a fun weekend.  Vera cried when we drove out of the campgrounds to go home.  I can remember doing the same as a kid.  She told me twice over the weekend, "Mom, thanks so much for bringing me camping!  I'm having so much fun!!"

We have at least two more camping trips scheduled for the summer.  We're looking forward to quality family time, good food, and fun memories.