Family Camp Out

Last Monday we buzzed the boys hair, but left them a Mohawk.  We told them they could keep the hairstyle through our family camp out that weekend.

Thursday we were scheduled to leave as soon as Tom got home from work.  I left Lily in charge and ran a quick errand before we had to leave.  When I came home, the kids had found two baby birds in our yard and had decided to catch them.  I was not happy, especially since we were about to leave for camping in a few hours.  We decided to let them go instead of hope they survived the weekend in a cage.  That was the last we saw of them.

 

We loaded up the van and headed out around 5pm.  About an hour into the drive Sophie got car sick and started throwing up!  Her car seat was still rear facing and she was playing on my phone, so no wonder she got sick.  We pulled over, changed her clothes and cleaned her up then turned her car seat around so she was front facing.

  

We picked up Wendy’s for dinner in Nephi and ate it in the car as we drove into Fountain Green.  My aunt and uncle have a ranch there and they were kind enough to let us use it!
The first thing the kids did when they got there was go see the horses.  Lily immediately bonded with this little pony, she called Nippy.  Later we found out his real name is Trouble :)  The other fun discovery was the Teepee. There was also some fun covered wagons too.

The only ones camping the first night were us; Tom’s sister, Teresa and her son, Troy; and Tom’s brother, Kurtis and his girlfriend, Anna.

The kids pretty much played on the playground most of the evening, while we unpacked the car and set up camp.

 

Jeff was thrilled to play basketball!  The hoop was a perfect height for him.

The night slipped away quickly and soon it was bed time.  Why is it kids love sleeping in a tent so much?  That is my least favorite part of camping. 

It was a cold, rough night.  The kids didn’t fall asleep until 11pm and all of them woke up at least once through the night.  The birds, roosters, dogs and horses around were no help and by 6am, Sophie was up for the day!

Camping is the one time I’m a morning person.  I hate sleeping in a sleeping bag and tent, so I want it over as soon as possible.  Despite being tired, I needed to figure out what to do with Sophie until everyone else woke up.  We needed to go someplace warm, where we wouldn’t bother others, so we went and hung out in the bathroom.  The bathrooms were very nice.  Showers, flush toilets and a heater!  So Sophie and I camped out in one of the shower rooms, she played my iPad while I read my book and I brought in a box of Cheerios for us to snack on too.

By 7:30 Lily and Jeff finally emerged, then the others finally woke up.  We had a pretty lazy morning, but by 11am, Sophie was ready for a nap.  Kurtis and Anna were going to go on a hike and invited the rest of us to go along.  So everyone left except me, Cedric and Sophie.  I gave Sophie a little lunch, then put her down for a nap.  There’s a little cabin at the ranch, so although we were camping it was nice to “cheat” sometimes and use the kitchen, or in this case, the bedrooms.  We moved Sophie’s playpen into the bunkbed room, I got Cedric situated with the iPad, turned on the AC and then Sophie and I took a much needed nap.

Tom and the kids got back from the hike, but we were all hungry.  The kids wanted to roast hot dogs, so by the time Tom got the fire going and we ate, it was 3pm!  Tom’s brother, Bryce and his wife Sara and their kids arrived about that time.  Then Tom’s parents and his sister, Maren and her baby, Charlotte also arrived.

With most of the group there, we did a scavenger hunt with the kids.  I had put it together and it was quite strenuous! The kids had to go all over the camp reading clues and finding the prize (a big bag of taffy).

The rest of the afternoon we just played and played and played!  The weather was perfect, not too hot and a cool breeze at times.

 

Even Tom and I participated in the fun and games.

 

Tom’s youngest brother, Eric and his wife, Carlee showed up right before dinner.  Unfortunately, Teresa and Troy had to leave.  That night we did a big, yummy dutch oven dinner.

 

Lily was in seventh heaven with all the horses around.  Here’s a little foal/colt that she’d sing to and it’d come over to her.  Sophie loved the horses and dogs too, but only from a distance.  I was surprised when I saw her sitting this close to the dog, daring herself to touch it.

We played some more after dinner and Sophie was good just to hang out.  I found her at one point sitting in the center of the hula hoop :)

Camping wouldn’t be complete without a campfire and smores!  It cooled down that night, but we had so much fun sitting around the campfire telling jokes, stories and singing songs.

The second night was seemed colder than the first, but I think we were a lot more tired as we all slept much better. (Better as far as camping goes ;)

Saturday morning we did a big breakfast together with omelets, fruit and muffins. Then we started taking down camp.  We also made sure to clean the cabin, bathrooms, etc. really well too, since we were so appreciative of my uncle’s hospitality.

The kid just played with their cousins some more.

 

The lack of sleep was catching up to Sophie.  Soon she was asleep in her playpen, right in the middle of everything.

We left around noon and it didn’t take Cedric long to also fall asleep.

 

When we got home, we quickly unloaded the van, did hair cuts (no more Mohawks), showered and bathed.  We were all starving, so we headed off to Golden Corral for an early dinner.

The kids love that place, especially the cotton candy.  I think Lily, Jeff and Cedric all ate four cotton candy’s each!

 

Fountain Green was my kind of camping. Grass, flush toilets, privacy, and fun!  It was nice to have a great family reunion with my in-laws!