First Family Camp Out!

 I know, that's hard to believe! We've never taken the kids camping before now. We've talked about it for the past couple years, but never actually went. This time, we talked less & just did it. We didn't worry about having all the camping supplies (besides bug spray), and pretty much just ate hot dogs we cooked over the fire. And it was so fun!

We did some "hiking," exploring, fishing (well, sort of - the first try we got rain, and the second, nothing was biting), s'mores eating, Farkle playing, and best of all: memory making.

Team work...

The first of many cool nature findings...

Oops...

Home sweet home for the night...

I think getting her very own flashlight was the highlight for Elise

Sweet sisters...

The pyros...

What Caitlin's hair would look like if it were fire (looks like curly hair to me)...

Kids had fun going in and out of the tent...

Having a quick play at the park before we go fishing...

Raccoon prints...

Gone fishin'!

See the clouds?

See the rain?

We got a little wet...

The sun was showing through the clouds with some beautiful rays...

Back at the campsite to start a new fire and dry off a bit... 

And clean off muddy feet...

Ripping up cardboard for some kindling...

Cooking our hot dogs for dinner...

Girls sang their songs...

The kids found lots and lots of toads & frogs...

A snail in Iowa!

Our camping neighbor gave us some tomatoes...

And they tasted soo good off the grill!

A perfect side for Robert's yummy steak...

Time for S'mores!

Hey look! I was there, too!

There was the craziest looking caterpillar walking around on our picnic table...

Time for bed!

Time for Farkle!!

Daddy won. :)

Getting the morning fire ready for breakfast...

Trevor was a pro stick finder!

Another toad...

Kids found a ton of golf balls...

And another frog...

And another toad (or is the same as the one they found earlier?)...

A weird looking bug...

I ♥ my family.

Another quick play at the park...

Another 'hike' to go fishing...

I can't decide which face I like better, so I'm posting both...

Trevor's surfboard...

Going a little farther to try another spot...

A cluster of more weird bugs...

Still no bites.

A monarch caterpillar...

Taking a long hike back...

Cool trails on some leaves...

Another froggy...

More hot dogs & beans for lunch...

And just for fun, Robert got one of those cool popcorn popper things. We were supposed to have it with the s'mores & hot cocoa, but we completely forgot about it until we were starting to pack up to head home.

Yum!

Elise picking flowers and Robert taking a moment before packing up the tent...

We all had such a fun time! The kids are still talking about it, and we made some pretty special memories.

♥

I know I'm not great about posting every day. Or even every other day. I think it's usually once a week, actually! So I started up a mini blah'g called Happiness is.... My goal is to find the happy in every day. Whether it's something silly or profound, there's always something to be happy and grateful about, and I intend to become aware of even the littlest blessings.