Camping: Take Two

Since my last camping experience turned out so well, we decided to try it again. This time I took Kirk along and things turned out so much better. We loaded up the car Thursday night, so we could leave first thing Friday morning. Much to Kirk's chagrin, the hitch kit he had ordered to put on our car was delayed by one day, so we had to pack all of our stuff inside our car, leaving poor Marissa in the back by herself, pinned to the window. We made it though, and even managed to remember to bring all of our camping essentials - like the hammock.

Kirk's brother, Kade, and his wife Sara and their two little girls came along for the fun.

The rope swing was another of the first things unpacked and set up. But there was a slight problem in that all of the pine trees there didn't have any branches lower than 30 feet. So the boys got an ingenious idea to attach a mallet to the end of the rope and lob it up and over the closest branch. After several attempts, they managed to get the mallet stuck in the tree, hanging on barely by a small knot, and it was deemed safe enough to attach the swing. (YIKES!)

**Ask Kirk to tell you the story of getting the rope/mallet down, using someones bright idea to throw another rope with a rock tied to the end to try to knock it out. Kirk was giving it his best shot, when in the excitement of almost hitting the mallet, kept his eyes on the rope too long and not on the swinging rock...yeah, just imagine America's Funniest Home Video. It was pretty sad.**

Our campsite was just a short walk from Christopher Creek, so the girls got to throw rocks in it and wanted to go wading, until they found out there were fish and crawdads in it, then they were too freaked out to put even a toe in it.

Kirk and Kade showed them how to catch the crawdads using a make-shift fishing pole made with my handy sewing kit that I've been carrying around in my purse for months for such a purpose. Their bait of hot dog pieces must have been hot, because they caught three crawdads: Mr. Crabs, Willie and Lilly. (Apparently Brynn is half-crawdad herself, because she kept nibbling the hot dogs that she was supposed to be holding for the bait for the bigger girls).

In the end, Mr. Crabs met his demise, when he was cooked up Louisiana style for Marissa and Noelle to try. Here they are eating a small bite:

Here are their reactions:

I think they liked them - what do you think?



Good thing we had two eagle scouts with us to build our fire, because it only took them five trys and about 45 minutes to get it going. (In their defense, it had rained a little that afternoon, so most of the kindling and stuff was damp.)

Maybe it was the extra love they put into the fire that made the best coals later that night for some awesome s'mores and then heavenly peach cobbler that would have even made C.W. proud. (The Soup fans anyone?)




Marissa was a great older cousin and kept the little girls entertained for hours building an Elf Mansion, complete with home gym, game room, and three car garage.

All in all, it was a great camping trip. The kids were great, the weather was beautiful, the surroundings picturesque - but in the end, sleeping in a tent sucks. It was the world's longest night, especially since the girls' air mattress had deflated two hours into the night, and the guy camping right behind us decided to cough up his lungs throughout the night. Nice! Maybe if we do this enough, we'll get used to it, or else learn the secrets to successful camping.