Our 1st camping trip

Well, if you know us very well, you know that we are a pretty spontaneous family. We had been discussing getting a tent and camping in the backyard for several months. Then, we were told of a state park closeby (15 minutes away, so we can easily come home if needed!!) and decided we wanted to camp there as a family. We began to look at the calendar for a good time and decided on Friday that Saturday was really our only chance before July. We really did not want to go in July b/c of the heat. So, Friday night we went to Academy to look for tents. Guess what?? They were on sale. I guess since it was after Memorial Day they were trying to get rid of them. We actually got a bigger tent than we had planned and for less money. WhoHoo!!


We get home and Ken immediately starts putting it up in the backyard. The kids were ready to try it out. It was fairly easy to assemble and it was ready for the kids by bedtime. Layne and Ken stayed in the tent all night. Anna stayed in there for about 15 minutes and then came inside. I had no intention of staying in the tent when my comfy bed was just a few steps away!!


We were ready to take off on our adventure. We got to our campsite Saturday around noon (here's the pic-the bottom pic is of our tent in the backyard). It was SO HOT. And that was pretty much the theme for the next 22 hours. I have never missed air conditioning so much in all my life!!

We did go to the pool in the park to cool off. The pool had two diving boards, so Anna loved it. She even got the courage to jump off the high dive! After swimming the boys went fishing while Anna & I played some board games.

Ken said he caught a 5 lb catfish while fishing (although we don't have any proof. He tried to take a pic w/his phone, but the fish jumped out of his hands!) He said Layne starting screaming "put it back daddy, put the fish back". So, Ken put the catfish back in the water. Then, a few minutes later, Ken caught a baby fish. Guess what? Layne threw a fit to bring him back to the campsite. He wanted to show the fish to me and Anna. He also wanted to eat the fish that night. Ken couldn't believe Layne wanted to keep the baby fish. (BTW, Ken did say that the baby would not have survived if he put him in the water b/c of where the hook was in his mouth). So, that is why Ken is cleaning a little bitty fish.

We cooked hot dogs over a fire and had smores for dessert. We also cooked up Layne's fish which was enought for everyone to have one bite!! That was really fun. But nightime was a different story. I slept absolutely horrible that night. I kept hearing every tree limb blow and whatever else was in the woods. The kids slept great. We all woke up early the next morning the find a huge surprise waiting on us...

A raccoon had opened up our cooler and taken away our food!!! We had placed the dry goods in a storage tub in the van (b/c I thought a varmit might get into it), but we left the cooler out. We never imagined an animal would open the cooler and grab my 1/2 gallon of milk, that had NOT been opened, and take it out. He also got: 4 hershey's candy bars, several slices of cheese, 4 hot dogs, and a package of turkey. I was so mad! I bet that raccoon had a belly ache!!

We had great family time together. There was no tv, computer, or house cleaning to distract us. That would be the ONLY reason I would go camping again. I really don't think I could do it for more than 24 hours. Well, maybe if it wasn't 100 degrees outside I could.