Camping!

We went camping this weekend!  This was a bit more primitive than I'd prefer, but the trade off was that the kids had freedom to run and yell on acreage without disturbing any neighbors.  That's worth not having a shower.  :)  We went with long time friends who brought their three grandsons, and the kids could not have played together more beautifully!  We did learn, however, that we have outgrown our tent.  Being over six feet tall, climbing in and out a four foot zippered door over kids' (Jacob's ankles or Mattie's head) is really a pain in the neck, all the while trying to not let in any daddy long legs or mosquitoes.  We're camping again in July... I need to be watching for tent sales!

Jacob got to enjoy staying up a bit later than all the younger ones.  The advantage of being the oldest!

We're in the middle of a FIRE unit for school, so that played out in camping as well.  Watch for that in another post.

Sleepy girl with her bedhead.  Poor girl ended up with a random fever the second night, and of course I had no Tylenol.  Not that I could have gotten it in her anyway.

The daddies went out and cleared a spot for the kids to play.  They even hung up a tire swing!  (I'm still hearing "_wing me!  Somebody _wing me!" in my sleep.)

And you thought I was kidding when I said primitive.  I just hoped to avoid poison ivy in sensitive areas.

Jensen, Mattie, Cole, Gabe, and Jacob

Mattie and Cole decided they were best friends.

We went down to the river to fish one afternoon too.  Robert is such a patient daddy!  (Fishing with a "half empty" kind of kid can be a bit, ummm, exhausting.)

Jacob caught one!

Looks like good fishing, huh?

Mattie was eager to use her pink fishing pole.

While Mattie waited her turn, she made up a game (imagine that!).  She made mud balls (aka algae balls)...

...and threw them at targets (rocks) in the river.  She got quite a few points!  (Here she is in "level 4.")

And here's our primitive bath.  :)  At least the kids got sun warmed water!  We adults went to the river.  One can feel remarkably refreshed with a washcloth, a squirt of Dawn and some breathtakingly cold river water.