Sunday, September 27, 2009

They Said It Would Rain...

But I still wanted to go on our last camping trip of the year. What is better than fall camping?Nathan said there is nothing worse than camping ANY time when it just rains. I still wanted to go.

I won.

We had exactly one hour to get everything packed up and out the door. Eek. That's not much time, but I was determined to get it done.


As we were putting the final things in the camper Nathan says, "Oh- I got called into work tonight." This after already working 75 hours THIS WEEK. "I will get you guys set up and then I will go in. I will be back before you wake up in the morning."


Still going...


Then one of the kids (who shall remain nameless) said they would prefer to stay home and play video games.


Now we were going for SURE!
The campground we decided on is owned by a co-worker of Nathan's. It is small so it's never too crowded and the property is stunning! Hiking trails, pond with a row boat, and a beautiful boardwalk that takes you out to a river supplied with a kayak and canoe. Words just don't do it justice. Actually- I'm not even sure pictures do!


I think that the thing I love the most about camping is connecting.
We all took turns in the kayak- something the kids have been wanting to try for a long time.


The skies continued to look ominous, but we kept on like it was the perfect day. And it really was. The kids remembered that it was way more fun to learn to whistle a piece of grass, and to search for bad guys in the woods than it is to master a new Wii game...
Miss J collected leaves

and found uses for them along the way. I realized that a one hour packing job doesn't actually DO the job, so we were all excited to go out to eat at a fun little restaurant.

Yeah, the rain came but amazingly it only came when we got in the car to go somewhere. By the time we got there- it was done.

I HAD to stop along the road to get a few early fall beach pictures

This last weekend was just what we needed to keep us going. We all agreed that it was perfect.
Now, does anyone have any kayaks for sale???

8 comments:

Nikki said...

Oh my goodness these pictures are amazing. You need to blow up a bunch and hang them up... maybe that wall in you room above your dresser.

SOunds like a nice relaxing quick final camping vacation of the year!

Annette said...

That looks like the perfect weekend! I remember going camping lots as a kid and it is the best. I don't go much now because I'm too lazy, but I'll have to get with it. You don't get family time like that much anymore without all the interruptions. Perfect. Beautiful pictures!

Sunny said...

Homesick, homesick, homesick!!! I'm going to have to INSIST that we go home during the summer sometime for a LONG visit! ( don't worry we'll sleep around and not intrude on anyone too much ) That really is an amazing place! Makes me want to go camping...but in Michigan! I need to go do something outside. Too bad it might snow tomorrow night.

Sunny said...

How often do you guys take the Randazzle out? We are going to need to do that on our big summer Michigan trip!

John L and Lorraine said...

What a beautiful place and the photographer did such a great job of making us feel like we were there too. I am so proud of your insistence to make all these wonderful memories with your family. When we come and visit again, we look forward to some of these memory making times. We love our Michigan Averys!

meagan said...

How fun! That looks absolutely magical. Remember that one time we camped for the Manti Pageant? We didn't even have a whole tent and it was still so fun!

I'm back in London for a year for school. Kind of crazy, but really fun.

Dave said...

I love the "connecting" too! - and the beach pictures :)
Thanks for allowing us to "connect" with your beautiful, delightful blog!

Caity said...

After reading this post I want to CRY! It is embarrassing to say that it has been TWO summers that we haven't gone camping :( And we love camping :( That does look perfect. Where is the camp ground and what restaurant is that? I want a perfect camping experience like that next summer :)