Summer has begun

Summer has officially begun. I am excited about all the things we have planned...but it was a very abrupt jump into summer vacation. I am still trying to unwind after the crazy last week of school I had. I was all done Friday afternoon (for the most part) and then I quickly went home to pack for a camping trip with some friends. We were really excited about camping with the kids, as we had never gone with them before. Every year we kept talking about going but it never seemed like a good time. But now, with the kids being 3 and almost 6 it seemed like the perfect year to start. The kids were so excited about it! They were trying out their sleeping bags in the dining room the night before. Madeline was continuously asking questions about the tent and whether she had her own tent. Lots of anticipation and were were hoping the trip would not disappoint. After lots of frantic packing and making food to bring along, we were off. Our site was 2 hours away up in Ticonderoga so it took us a while to get there. Our kids are great travelers but I had to laugh when we got a mile down the road to put some gas in the car and Madeline asked if we were almost there. Thankfully with a book on CD and a DVD player it was a very relaxing drive. As we approached the campsite Maddie said "I think we are going into the jungle" and indeed we were.

We got to the site and started to put up the tent and unpack quickly because the sun was going to be going down quickly. We got in a little after 8pm. The kids ran around and played together in the woods and all around the site, and on the treacherous dangerous rock.





This rock was right in front of our tent and the kids ran all over it and tripped and fell over it all the time. Nathan has the scars to prove it. I can't even count how many falls there were over these rocks. There really wasn't an easy way around them as it was kind of in the middle of everything.

So before we had gotten to the site I had been telling the kids about camping and told them about going to the bathroom in the woods. Madeline was quite excited about this and was talking about it a lot. When we got to the site I realized that there was a bathroom/showerhouse right up the hill that we could walk to so we wouldn't need to pee in the woods. Of course, Maddie still wanted to and was quite excited about it. The first night she kept saying "I need to pee....In the woods." And then upon going she excitedly told those around her that she just went pee in the woods. Thankfully the rest of the time we just hiked up the hill because the whole peeing in the woods thing is just not all that easy for toddler girls, or any girls for that matter.

So the campfire that we were all talking at and making s'mores at was very close to our tent and I was wondering how in the world our children would go to sleep as we were talking outside of it. But after a while (around 11pm) they finally went to sleep. I deluded myself into thinking they might sleep in until at least 7am since they were up so late. Of course I knew that was crazy, but it is good to dream. At 5:15am I awoke to hear Maddie, who then of course woke up Nathan. And when our kids are up, the are up for the day. There is no going back to sleep. So thank goodness I had my ear plugs I had grabbed on the way out the door. We gave them some coloring stuff to do and toys to play with and I dozed off and only woke up once in a while to arguing about something or hearing Jared telling them to be quiet. Poor Jared did not have ear plugs. I had some for him, but he didn't use them. He didn't know how wonderful they could be ; )

Saturday morning we woke up and had some coffee and blueberry muffins and were about to set off on a little hike. As we were getting everything ready to go the kids were exploring in the woods.



Shortly after this picture was taken Madeline was yelling out for us and crying. I ran down there to see her foot stuck in some mud. Her entire shoe and part of her pants were just black with mud. Too bad I didn't have the insight to bring another pair of shoes to hike in. So we quickly cleaned off the mud the best we could and we were good to go. She was quite annoyed by the dirty shoes and pants. But I told her "get used to it, we are camping" or something to that effect. Or maybe I just thought that and didn't say it.

It was really fun on our hike and I was shocked at how much fun the kids had and how they didn't at all complain about being tired, or there legs hurting or anything like that. I think it was only about a mile or so, but still that is surprise especially for a 3yo. Maddie was carried part of the way, just because of some of the rougher parts...but she didn't want us to hold her and kept wanting us to put her down. Here are the kids as we are just starting the hike and they are waiting for everyone to arrive.



Nathan the trail blazer....he was always way ahead and we were frequently saying "wait up".

Nathan and his friend Jacob blazing the trails



Nathan and Maddie at the end of the trail...Maddie loves to make weird faces lately



The end of the trail



And one of my favorite parts of camping together is being able to spend uninterrupted time with the kids and watching Jared with the kids. He is an awesome dad.



Having a heart to heart with Nathan about the meaning of life...or maybe just talking about fish or something.



We were planning to rent a boat and maybe do some fishing with Nathan and swimming, etc...but that didn't happen as it started to rain. And there was a "no wading or bathing" sign on the beach for some odd reason. But we were determined to go to the beach anyhow and have fun with the kids. And although it may look like there was some wading going on...there is not. I think that it is only truly wading if the water goes up to your knees.





The next night we got a little more sleep. The kids slept in until after 7 which was awesome. Sunday morning we started packing up and had a church service there together which was nice. The kids had lots of song requests, and we learned that apparently Maddie hates the song Kumbaya as she cried because she didn't want to sing it after Lauren requested it. Who would have known she had such strong feelings about it. And then we were off. Here are the kids goofing around right before it was time to leave. Crazy kids.







All in all it was a great trip and we are hoping to camp again this summer sometime...and fit some more hiking in too!