camping trip!

Last week we packed up  every blanket and jacket we own (or at least it felt like it!) and camped at Raccoon Lake, a gorgeous campground less than an hour west of us. We booked a campsite about a month ago with only a recommendation to go off of and totally loved it. We've got plans to go back as soon as we can. (Unfortunately the temperatures at night have really dropped just in the last few days so we may have to wait until spring!) We only planned for one night because we weren't sure how Reid would do or how everyone would sleep and although we all would have loved to stay another night, judging by how quickly the boys fell asleep on the way home-- I think we wore them out!

We set up camp pretty quickly....once we switched campsites and hauled stuff to the new one. Not in our plans but the campsite we'd reserved backed up to a drop off and I couldn't handle the added worry about Reid! Our campsite was perfectly positioned between the bathrooms, playground and water source so we wandered over to the playground while our sweet potatoes cooked in the fire for dinner.

Easy but delicious dinner! Brats, sweet potatoes and fruits/veggies on the side. It balanced out the s'mores that came later. ;)

The campsite we switched to backed up to a trail that led down to the lake so after dinner, we hiked down and spent some time exploring and throwing rocks into the lake, of course. Jake's working on skipping rocks and got one or two with some practice! He had so much fun running along the shore, climbing the rocks and jumping off.

We keep a soccer ball and shovels in the back of the van at all times! They almost always come in handy.

One of us always has a hand on this child when we're outside ;)

Deric's been training him in the art of silly faces for every picture. ;)

Jake sat up with us that night and we looked at the stars while warming up by the fire before going to bed. He is at such a perfect age for camping and he loved every bit of it. Exploring the lake and the campsite, helping roast brats and marshmallows, looking at the stars...hands down the best part of the trip was watching how much he enjoyed it.

My favorite part of camping: the food! Even though we didn't do anything gourmet, drinking hot chocolate and eating breakfast by the fire (even if it was a bit wiggly with Reid!) is so fun. And man if he didn't look adorable in his penguin jammies! I almost didn't want to change his clothes for hiking.

Little brother watching big brother throw the walnuts!

Deric cooked hash browns over the fire and admitted he burned them a bit because of the uneven flame. For some reason Jake thought it was hilarious and kept talking about "the burnt hash browns!" As in, "Mom, can I have more burnt hash browns? I'm almost done with my burnt hash browns!"

Hilarious...and still delicious.

The lake is surrounded by hills and trails wind up and down these hills, over bridges and up log stairs. One of the trail heads was right by us so the next morning after breakfast, we loaded Reid up in the backpack and went out to explore.

Jake was so happy out on the trails. We always designate him our navigator and let him "read" the maps to figure out where to go (with some helpful hints along the way!) He was singing and running and playing and having so much fun. There were so many pretty views of the lake that I'm bummed I couldn't capture them on camera!

Wish we could go back this weekend, but we'd freeze our rears off if we did! I'm so glad we were able to squeeze in a trip on the last week of beautiful weather!

splashin' in puddles!

When its rained for the first time in months....

and its still 70 degrees outside...

and your backyard has the biggest puddle, just waiting for you to come and play...

how can you not take advantage of it?!

backyard campout!

We took advantage of a blissfully cool weekend in August to do a camping trial run in our backyard! We've got plans to go camping over fall break in October but I wanted to be certain that everyone would sleep well before we traveled to a campsite. We (Deric) set up the tent outside and we left it empty so the boys could play in it for a few hours while we had friends over for dinner. After dinner and s'mores, our friends headed home and we set up our 'campsite'. I put Jake's crib mattress in the tent for his bed and the pack n play for Reid, and they were just as comfortable as if they were in their own beds! We got them ready for bed inside and then read books in the tent by flashlight until they were drowsy. I went back inside to clean up dinner for a few minutes after we put the boys in their beds and when I came back out, they were asleep! That cool night air is magic I tell ya. Our original plan was to stay up and sit on our patio by the firepit once the boys were asleep but we ended up going to bed soon after the boys did. And really, that was what we needed. We all woke up around 7:00 the next morning when the sun came up and that was the most sleep I've gotten in one night in a while!

It makes me excited for our camping trip coming up soon because sleeping in fresh air is so refreshing! And of course, the boys will love playing in the tent, cooking over a campfire, exploring the lake near the campsite...we're ready for fall break!