Camping With Friends

We kicked off summer with a camping trip. Ten families from our kids' school booked sites at a state park. In all there were 26 kids! 

This was the first time we had tent camped since Mr. P was a toddler. That camping trip was a disaster! But, we were ready to try again....or at least I was ready and Cam was willing to come along. Plus, no we didn't have the extra money to rent a trailer this time. 

The good thing is that we have all the tents and camp stuff that we needed. Packing the van was a big job! We had to bring fire wood which took up a lot of room. And we brought the kids' bikes. And we needed two tents, seven sleeping bags, overnight bags, pillows, blankets, camp stove, tent shelter, coolers, food, and the list goes on. Plus, seven people and two dogs! It's a miracle that Cam and I are still married after packing that lot up. Ha! 

The destination was magnificent! We were located on a beach with old growth trees and all of natures beauty. 

Setting up camp was A LOT of work. Worth it but still I was a hot sweaty mess by the time we had everything unpacked, put up, made up and set up. Happy Hour!

The kids all slept in the big tent...now know as Taj Mahal. Its HUGE with three wings. The nice thing about not sharing a tent with the kids is that I didn't care that it was a disaster the whole weekend. And the dogs slept in there too. 

Cam and I took the little tent. We had a blow up mattress to sleep on and it was cozy. I would have slept fine except that Cam COULD NOT SLEEP. Which means that every 15 min. when he would loudly turn over and exclaim that he couldn't sleep, I too would be awake. Next camping trip he is bringing a sleeping pill. 

The tent awning is new and I loved it. We will use it lots this summer for shade and in soccer season it will be great for rain cover. 

There is nothing better than sitting around the campfire. 

Next best thing is camp breakfast. Toasty fire, hot drinks and kielbasa on the webber. Oh it's SO good.

Pancake cooking in your pjs. The best. 

Cam cannot say anything about my outfit since here he is. 

The kids had a blast at the beach. 

And they really had fun riding bikes. Those kids must have rode over 100 miles. 

From sun up till sun down they rode bikes. 

Mr. P was the big kid of the group. The next closest in age was Moses and then the rest of the kids were younger than 10. Mr. P did a great job of watching out for the little kids and playing with them. A few of the kids took a liking to him and followed him around. He loved it! What a good kid! 

Two nights was not long enough. It was long enough for Cam but not for me. Especially because packing up and heading home is only part of the work. The real work is once you're home and drying everything out and then putting it all away again. I was beat by the time we were done. This is the kids in the van on the drive home. Apparently they were tired too. Ha! Scroll up and compare the two photos...on our way and on our way home. Hilarious!