Reflections on camping with children

At least while you are camping no one expects you to have clean pants (which I never, ever have). The Dorito/chocolate/licorice fingerprints on my pants (I never feed my children these things, but somehow they find their way onto my pants) fit right in with everyone else's dirt and fish guts.
This weekend we loaded up our very small, cramped car (which gets excellent gas mileage), and headed up to Mirror Lake for the Chambers family reunion.
Some memories from the trip:
Kenzie-Survived a trip without the DVD player (Her parents survived too.); Still didn't get to "put her whole body in" because the lake was freezing and her parents were being wimpy; Slept in a sleeping bag, but only for a minute (Somehow she managed to get completely out of it and slept only in a coarse blanket that we had put under her sleeping bag in place of an air mattress); Is convinced that toilets that don't flush are the latest and greatest rage in toilet fashion; Made lots of friends with Mike's cousins, old and young; Loved listening to fantastic stories told by Grandpa; made jewelry with her new friends; found the fairy tree, and her favorite part: "I was climbing up some rocks. Look I have mosquito bites."

Hannah- Impressed us all with her talking skills while she stayed up all night talking to herself. Was absolutely positively in heaven because the Lippert's brought their dog, so she could follow it around and say, "oof! oof!" Told me the fire was "Hot. Hot," but tried to grab it anyway.;Spent some quality time sleeping in an impossible position on Laurie's back. (Thanks Laurie and Stacie for taking her on a walk)









Mike- Packed the car so well that the makers of Tetris should be contacting him soon about inventing a new game. Joined me in the "Gosh, maybe I never was a patient person" club; Had a great time digging up large rocks to make room for our extra large tent; Said, "This is the best meal I've ever eaten" and "I've never been so full in my life" after every awesome meal.










Stephanie--Only swore once (and it wasn't even a real swear word: 'pissed', as in "That really pissed me off," uttered when Mike sprayed her with water in the car on the way home and it dripped into her bra and down her back). Let Hannah fall asleep in her sleeping bag and thought it was really sweet, even after she screamed for a few minutes and woke up the whole camp; Decided camping really isn't that fun; Decided she would do it again anyway.


It was a really well-planned and fun reunion. Thanks Lori and Brad Reeves for planning everything.













Some Moose we saw as we were leaving















Listening to Grandpa's stories around the campfire.















Stacie and Laurie