Camping...the Maiden Voyage

We went camping this past weekend. We took out the new (used) camper and loaded up the kids, bikes, and cooler and went to find some wilderness about a 1/2 hour away. That was the farthest we were willing to venture forth on this first trip, just to make sure everything went smoothly. And it did!

Here we are getting ready to pull out. When I saw this picture, I thought, "Oh my gosh! My butt looks huge! Is my butt really that huge?!" And while, yes may be the answer to that (I'm not disillusioned, I know the truth) it really isn't quite THAT huge. Upon closer inspection (I zoomed in), it's the curve of the camper sticking out behind me that adds a few inches. Just so you know.

It was quite cold and windy our first morning, so we ate breakfast in Grandma & Grandpa's fancy camper. Breakfast burritos, if you're wondering.
Greg's parents...a.k.a. Black Grandma & Grandpa

It was too cold to be outside, so we checked out the campground's Nature Center. The kids had all kinds of fun in there.

There were all sorts of dead things to touch and to look at.

These bins became a favorite, though not before some major coaxing by Greg. The idea is to put your hand in and feel around, trying to guess what's inside. Then you can lift the flap to see if you're right. Sophie was too freaked out to try it at first. Me too. I ALWAYS lifted the flap first. Turns out that was a good idea. One of those bins contained real snake skins that a snake had shed. That would have been the end of the nature center for me.

Owen got measured. He's not very big.

Then we went outside (it had warmed up a bit) to see the birds at the feeders and to watch the gophers in the grass.

Trying to chase a gopher.

Where did Sophie go?!

She was there all the time. Go back and look!

The kids rode their bikes up and down the road in front of our site. It was a bit warmer, but Sophie's still wearing two sweatshirts here.

The kids loved camping! This was Owen's first time. Sophie was showing him the ropes.

We actually got to eat outside for two meals the whole weekend. However, at this one we were all complaining that we were cold.

We toughed it out and had a camp fire. We could not sit safely close enough to keep warm.

The next day (our last) was beautiful and warmish, so we played outside a lot. The kids had a fun time playing near the nature center with some new friends from the neighboring campsite...Jillian and Ryan who were camping with their dad. Sophie kept calling her "Julian."

Da-da, da-da...da, da-da... Little House on the Prairie theme song anyone? It was actually Greg who brought this up...the part where Laura is running down the hill in the long grass.

New friends. They sure got along well with our kids and enjoyed playing together.

Hanging out under the camper while waiting for lunch.

We had a great weekend, even though it was really cold and the kids' noses were drippy. We all stayed warm enough (except for Greg the first night) and had plenty to keep us occupied. Thank goodness Greg's parents were there to help us out! We'll be doing it all again in a few weeks...venturing farther from home, though, and hopefully without the cold weather and drippy noses.