Hello everyone! This will be the world's longest post because of all of the pictures! It's kind of like a picture diary! (Oh and there a about a million typos...which I will get to fixing eventually...sorry...just ignore them...hahahaha! You get a point for each one you find if you leave a comment! lol!)
So summer time is just barely upon us. We have had an unsually cool and cloudy/rainy June and we haven't even needed the AC yet! Fortunately the weekend weather was looking very promising and its a good thing! Why? Well, we planned to go camping!!! Now, I realize many of you may like to rough it...I, at my age, no longer find the fun in being away from running water and electricity. LOL! But my smart hubby found a brilliant solution. He found a campground with plenty of activities and cabins for me! Yippy! Even still we were not expecting much and had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. So we packed things up for a weekend of fun. But not before I could sew something special for the girls to wear.....of course! I found a few really cute appliques and made matching tees!
Here they are:
I am still working out the kinks with my new machine. There is definately a learning curve but you have to start somewhere! You have to find the right balance between tension of the threads and the stablizer you use, etc. I am really enjoying getting to work with such a nice machine!
So, my husband managed to fit everything and everyone in the van and off we went! Brooklyn was a bit nervous about the whole trip. Look at her little expression. She is going through a stage where she is afraid of the weather and thunderstorms. Like us, she wasn't sure what to expect!
So, we arrived a little while later to a small but very nice cabin...and it wasn't even that dirty. Nevertheless, I brought my cleaning supplies and wipped everything down first. Then we brought everything in from the van and "moved in".
It had cable TV... a big table inside and out... Notice the AC!!
Here is our front view!
Side view!
We brought lots of food and snacks for our stay. I couldn't believe they had a regular
fridge in the kitchen and a microwave...these came in handy!!! I never used the stove....we are on vacation afterall ! ;)
This sofa/futon will later become the little girls bed. Notice "cowy" and "monster" along for the trip! Also notice Brooklyn's crabby face. I think it was time for lunch!!!
This little room was about 4 feet wide and 6 feet long...but it was perfect for Sarah...she had her own little spot!
Our "room", also known as a meat locker (we had the AC at like 60 )...was
about 18 inches wider than the bed on two sides. We brought along all of our own bedding of course.
Here is the bathroom...I was surprised to see a real shower and toilet!
The "hallway" and Sarah and Devon all excited!!
So it was about 12:30 and time for a quick lunch before we rode around the campground to check things out...
Yup, they are scarfing it down!!!
With lunch over, we checked out the pool, waterslide and jumpy-jump!
The jumpy-jump had a slide inside!
Brooklyn wanted to check out the playground...
Meanwhile, Devon and Sarah continued to jump and work up quite a sweat!
So, at this point we decided to head back and get changed to go swimming. We swam and I did take pics but they are all on the underwater camera. I will have to show them at a later time.
The pool had a 2.5' section where the little ones played and went to 5' at the deep end. There was also a little baby pool. They had lots of chairs and tables but no shade or umbrellas.
After swimming, we got changed again and went to "bingo"....
The games were run by collge kids...we had fun and even won few games...course there were only 7 of us playing and my family took up 5 of those slots!
Here we are with our winnings!!!! Those cards were for free ice cream! Score!!!
OK so it was getting time for dinner so we made our way back to the cabin for our first cook out with a real grill.
Tonights menu??? Hamburgers and hotdogs, of course! Plus pasta salad and corn on the cob. I think we had a few snacks beforehand too! Bon Appetite!
Brooklyn, the city-girl, was still not comfortable outside eating even though we do it all the time at home. She was sure it would start raining and thundering any minute....lol. She remained my "buddy" through the meal!
We had stopped at a farm market to pick up some fruit and the corn...it was so yummy right off the grill!
So you can just guess what was for dessert??!!! You guessed it....s'mores! They were fabulous! I helped myself to a couple and so did the girls! Devon even tried to roast the marshmellow herself.
So, we were all pretty tired and decided to head in and relax for a bit. We weren't sure how wild the campground was going to get at night.
The girls had had showers earlier so I made up their bed and they put on their pj's...don't they look so comfy??!!
Before we left the girls and I made a trip to the library. I picked up a really great book about how women do business. It's called "Ladies Who Launch". It's about embracing entrepreneurship and creativity as a lifestyle. They basically want you to live your dreams and love your life. I am very very blessed in that I am living a terrific life....but I would like to be more creative. Hence the book!
Next on the agenda was a competetive game of Uno! My husband loves to win so we (Sarah and I)tried to beat him but to no avail....it was fun and we were all really tired!
Devon and Brook watched Nemo while we played Uno. Can you speak whale? Hey, Dude!
Apparently we went to bed shortly after this. Nighty night!
The next day we snacked on poptarts and honey buns for breakfast.. Then we headed up to the arcade by the pool. Here is Edmund fishing. Speaking of fishing...I forgot that Sarah and Edmund got up at 7 am and really went fishing. The campground has a catch and release pond. They got a nibble but that was it...oh well.
A view of the pool from the arcade. It was not even 10 am and people were swimming already!!
I love air hockey and am really excited that the house we are renting for Disney has one in their gameroom. When I saw one here, I challenged Sarah to a game. Little did I know she was really good. At one point I kept hitting the puck backwards into my own goal...and started cracking up about it....
So, next up was the dunk tank. Sarah tried her pitching arm but no luck...we all felt sorry for the girl who had to get dunked in the cold water!
Here is the front gate and office.
I think at this point we went back to relax before our busy afternoon. We had swimming, pony rides, arts and crafts and more jumpy-jump before dinner!!!
The weather was just wonderful....puffy white clouds and blue skies!!! Look up!!
MMMM...snacks and another game of Uno...this time I read while they played! I love this pic of Devon watching a movie with her feet up!!! lol!
Here is Brooklyn...pouting again over some injustice of the world...or she is just hungry for lunch again...hahaha...
So...bring it on....lunch...guess what we had??? burgers and dogs and salad! Hey, we are camping! I spy some mac and cheese too!
So after lunch we headed back up to the jumpy-jump and there was a traveling magician doing cool tricks. Sarah loves to watch! Devon and Brook took the time to JUMP!!!!
Before we jumped off to the pool, we first had to paint some ceramics...in the blazing sun...the person running the activity was very shy and quiet. I eneded up getting fresh water for all the tables and making sure kids had paper towels and stuff. :)
I forgot all about the pony rides...we caught them on video instead of pictures. Well, we drove up to where they held them and they told us they were moving the rides near the mini golf course.
Well, the pony was NOT happy with the change and was a bit crazy. I nicely suggested he not put any kids on the pony until he calms down. A few minutes later they moved it back up to the normal place. So we trecked back there later!
I believe at this point, I went back to the cabin for a shower and to relax while Edmund took the girls swimming again! I called my friend to chat and read my book. Ahhhh! When everyone arrived back, we showered them up and got ready for dinner. The campground was cooking this time. Only there were about 200 people and a very disorganized staff. They put out the pizza , dogs and burgers and drinks all on two tables. It took FOREVER to get through the line. The people who came later missed out on the pizza too! They did have some yummy popcorn and peanuts though!
After dinner the kids ran off their energy on the playground. Check out this slide....it was huge!!!
Back to the arcade for a bit...
Jump rope contests over at the arts and crafts building took away some more energy....look at everyone go!!
Next up was ice cream sundae making! Again, it wasn't all that organized. They plopped two bins of sprinkles and some other things on a table. After standing in line to get your ice cream, kids headed over to the table. But, they didn't put out any utencils. I spied a kid licking his spoon and about to dip it in the community sprinkles...I yelled STOP!!! Wait!!! I will get you a clean spoon...just hold on. The mom was oblivious even though she was standing right there. Some guy commented on how I prevented a fiasco and my DH said, "Yaaa, she's a school teacher.." "Oh...that's how she knew how to take charge!" Again, the kids running the events were very sweet but not organized or experienced with crowds. I have to say the ice cream was yummy good!
As dusk approached, we headed back to the cabin for our bon fire. They provided wood and a metal ring. We roasted marshmallows and chatted. Brooklyn kept going in and out of the cabin. We were constantly saying "Close the door!" so mosquitoes wouldn't get in the cabin. I finally took a pic to commemorate the door holding! hahahaha!! I so remember getting yelled at to close the door when I was little!
I was so impressed that my hubby could built and lit a perfect bon fire!!
OK, everyone yell...Close the door!!!
WE turned in shortly after...same things...read books....played Uno..watched movies...everyone went to sleep but me...I just kept reading my book till I finally got sleepy around midnight!
The next morning (our last) began with freeze tag, red light/ green light and sack races! The kids loved these!!
It was another gorgeous day.....we were do fortunate with the weather!!!
More arcade to fill in the time between activities!
We dropped Edmund off at the cabin whilst the girls and I headed up to play mini-golf. Although the office said it opened at noon, we never saw anyone come out. Another family I was waiting with simply helped themselves to the stuff and got some for us too. lol....each hole had some sort of narrow opening to try to get the ball through...it was hard!
I love this shot with Brooklyn in the background trying to get her ball under the lighthouse...lol!
I think after golf, we went back to the cabin for our final lunch! You guessed it...burgers and dogs! Ugggg...I am so sick of them now! LOL. Then we wanted to get our final art and craft and swimming... on.... on... onnnn
!
This time it was make-your-own-bracelet! Cute!
First we jumped one last time on the jumpy jump nad rode that huge slide a few times. Then we swam in the pool. It was soo hot but fortunately there was a puffy cloud shading us every once in a while. Then we rode over to the slides and the girls went up and down a dozen times. They were tired!!!!!
We headed back to the cabin to pack up our belongings. And off we went...I think it was around 4 pm when we headed back home. About one minute into the ride I look back and this is what I see......
Happy but exhausted children! Just like I like it!!! So this was our first family camping trip! I would highly recommend it even if you don't love roughing it like me. The kids loved the activities and swimming and we all got a chance to relax and unwind. I would just like to thank my husband for all of his planning and packing and unpacking and for helping with all of the laundry when we got home!! Definately worth it!!!
Sorry this was so long! Thanks for reading and hanging in there! Next up...school screening and 4th of July! Have a happy week folks!!!
