Camping, Hand Family Style

Well, we finally took the plunge...Pat and I took the girls camping, in a tent, with a "heavy footed" animal pacing outside of our tent each night after we went to bed. Yes, I was slightly afraid, and found it difficult to sleep with that "heavy footed' animal pacing around, but I made it through without scaring the girls...Yeah me! However, Pat decided it would be a fun thing to let Keeva & Lila listen to "Scary Stories to tell in the Dark" on his iphone (his dad always told scary stories to him at night when they were camping, what a "special" tradition to pass on)...probably not his best parenting move of the weekend. The girls had a hard time sleeping because they were afraid that I would be replaced by a mom with glass eyes and a wooden tail, or that someone's BIG toe was coming to get them. Anyway, at least the days were fun and full of adventure!

                                         The 1st night (pre-scary stories)

                                                      Exhausted after the 1st day

                                         Posing as though they were happy little helpers

                                                            How they "really felt"!

The girls favorite part was fishing (not the fishing part, but playing I Spy and Hang Man, while they were waiting to catch a fish, which didn't exactly happen). Actually, Keeva's favorite part of our 3 hour fishing adventure was steering the boat and Lila's favorite part was playing with Slimey, her pet worm. She actually got upset after the fishing trip and accused Pat of killing Slimey's parents by putting them on a hook and feeding them to the fish. Pat told her that it was her fault since she wanted to go fishing and she shot right back at him saying, " It's your fault since you are the one who wanted to go CAMPING!" Pat and I couldn't stop laughing and the indignation she felt. Poor Lila Joy.

The girls also really enjoyed throwing "washers" into a box. Get the washer in the hole and It's worth 10 points, just make the washer into the box and it's worth 5 points. Pat played this game for 2 hours with the girls while I napped...that's what pregnant Mamas do when they're camping and can't sleep at night. :)

We played a lot of cards in the evening and the girls learned how to play "rummy"!  Each morning Dad would wake up and grill SPAM (another tradition passed on from his dad...hmmmm) and I would whip up some pancakes, eggs, and hot cocoa (even though it was blazing hot and humid the entire trip).

The girls really enjoyed the "camp" food, especially when Grandma and Grandpa stopped by to have dinner with us on our last night there; it was such a treat!

Then, finally, it was time to pack up and leave. The girls help me deflate the mattresses and pack up all of the camping supplies while Pat took pictures of our view.