Camping: Part I

Like I said, we went camping for Noah and Eli's birthday weekend. Deb took some days off of work and Mike even flew in from Idaho to spend a week with us and go camping. We drove down to Cave City and stayed at Yogi Bear's Jellystone Park. We left Thursday afternoon and got there sometime early evening. Unfortunately dark clouds were rolling in as we were setting up camp. We got to pick our own camp site and Aaron liked this one tucked back in the corner because it had a lot of tree coverage and shade (it also was mostly dirt). We commented that if it rains it will turn to mud but for some reason we decided to just go for it. The wind picked up and the rain started to just pour down on us as we were setting up our tents. I was lucky enough to keep the kids entertained in the van but everyone else was soaked.

You can't tell here but it was POURING!

 The boys watched from the inside of the van.

 It was so windy Aaron had to use the cooler to hold the tent down since it wasn't staked yet. Unfortunately the cooler fell over as he was wheeling it to the tent and half of the contents fell out in the mud. What a mess!

Poor Deb was so cold she was just standing outside shaking. There was a river of mud running through our tents. As the rain slowed down we re-evaluated the situation and decided to move camp to a less muddy area.

We probably looked pretty silly walking down the road, sopping wet, carrying our tent.

 That's better. Definitely not as muddy.

After moving the tents we were able to dry them out with towels. It was actually rather surprising how well everything cleaned up. The men quickly got a camp fire going and Deb went and took a hot shower. We cooked some hotdogs and steaks over the fire, ate some marshmallows, and settled down for the night. It was a long day and the boys and Sarah went to sleep super easy.

Eating and drying off by the fire.

 Mommy and Sarah.

 The boys loved sleeping in the tent and on their own air mattress. That first night we had one scare when I woke up in the middle of the night because I heard Noah crying. I was a little confused but quickly realized he was standing outside of the tent. I still worry about what could have happened if he didn't make any noise. Needless to say, we rearranged our sleeping quarters the next night so he couldn't get to the door.

 Sarah was a great camper. She was super easy all weekend and slept pretty well.

I still just smile when I think about setting up the tents in that thunderstorm. When we were moving our tents Aaron joked that his big mistake was praying for memories. Note to self (and to everyone else for that matter): never pray for a memorable camping trip :)

Sarah was a happy camper in the morning!

 Noah had to curl up in our bed in the morning and pretend he was sleeping. Dad is slowly waking up in the background :)

 I love this picture! He looks so snuggled up and cozy.

 I asked Eli to smile and this is what I got!