Camping

We try to go camping at least once a year, so the 18th, we packed up both vehicles and headed for the mountains. We were a little concerned because the forcast said rain was coming but we had already made the reservations and couldn't back out. Besides, here in the northwest, you can never rely on the weatherman. When we left Saturday afternoon, there were some clouds in the sky but lots of blue and it was warm. It was perfect when we got there. We set up camp and had a nice dinner of roasted hotdogs. As we were getting ready for bed, I started feeling a few drops of rain, hoping it wouldn't get any worse. Shortly after everyone was tucked into bed, it started raining. We woke up to sprinkles but around 11am it had stopped and we were able to enjoy our first real day camping. And what did we do? NOTHING! It was great. The kids went exploring a bit around the camp area but that was about it. I went to bed that night thinking, hoping, praying that it would be a nice day Monday, but alas, I was awakened by a sudden downpour of rain in the middle of the night. It was coming down harder then the previous night and it was still coming down good when everyone woke up that morning.





Doug did a great job getting the fire started and keeping it going all day. And it rained all day. We were greatful to have the tent over the picinic table but the sides still got wet so we were only able to sit on one side of the table and the boxes to the right, just over Bryson's head in the picture above were wet as well. The food stayed pretty dry, thank goodness.

Where's Aiden?

There he is! He sure had fun playing in the tarp.

I wanted to be able to enjoy the fire but we couldn't because of the rain so we hung a tarp over the tent that was over the table. It was perfect. The tarp was far enough away from the flame but close enough for us to still feel the warmth. The only complaint, sometimes it caught the smoke and funneled it into where we were preparing the food. We also had to put a tarp over the edge of the tent because water was dripping in through the zipper, soaking the kids' bed. We went for a drive after breakfast, hoping the rain would let up a little by the afternoon.

We did get a little break, for about 1/2 hour. Shannon, Bryson and I went for a walk, down by the creek while Doug put the two little ones down for naps. They showed me all the trails they found from the day before and Bryson even caught a salamandar. Wish I had gotten a picture of it but the whole way back to camp to show dad, they fought over who was going to hold it and I was at my witts end. So after showing daddy, they had to take him back. Ahhhhh, peace at last, at least for a little while.

We played games, read books, sang songs and roasted marshmallows in the rain. Thank goodness it wasn't really that cold.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm, marshmallows.

It rains all night and wouldn't you know it, when we get up in the morning..........SUN! Figures, the day we have to go home. Oh well, there's always next year, right?

One last pose before we all head back home. Yes, Olivia is not wearing any pants. She was good the whole time until just before we left and of course everything is packed. I was able to find some underwear but no more extra pants because she had fun playing in the puddles. On a side note, we had brought the little potty used for training and had it in the tent for during the night. She still gets up at least once to go. It actually came in very handy. On the night it was raining really hard, I woke up to Bryson dancing in front of the door, whimpering and there was no way I was getting out of my warm cozy bed to take him to the "poop shoot". Boy was that thing full by morning. Sounds gross but it wasn't too bad, I had it lined with a garbage bag and feminine pad to soak things up.

All, in all, it was a good trip and something we'll always remember.