When Jess asked me what I wanted to do for my birthday, he about choked (and I kind of did too) when I told him I'd like to go camping. Camping? From whose mouth were these strange words coming? I'd rather eat dirt than I'm not entirely fond of the whole sleeping-in-the-woods, smelling-like-charcoal (or worse), getting-eaten-alive-by-mosquitos scene. BUT ... my kids are. And somehow I was kind of craving that for them, and I suppose for us as a family. So, we loaded up the car (OMG, actual campers, is the packing and the loading of the stuff not enough to make you want to just call the local Hilton next time?) and headed to a state park about an hour away.
**I like full disclosure here on the blog, so I'm going to clarify "camping." Alright, so we stayed in a cabin. With running water. And air conditioning. And a full kitchen and bath. Okay, and a TV. With satellite. Baby steps, people.
"Mom, we made a see-saw!"
It was, in a word, magical.
We were thrilled, thrilled, thrilled that our friends were able to join us for the second day and night.
Looking out the window to see this crew checking on the fairy house Ava built? Totally worth packing and loading the car.
And clapping over and over again for this joint family pyramid? Worth the mosquito bites.
Jess rented a boat and spent almost all afternoon tooling around the lake with the kids.
Eight-year-old captains are totally safe.
And seeing this pic of two old friends just chatting about life when Jess texted it to me? Well, let's just say I guess I understand why you may not want to call the Hilton (all the time).
We were up near an historic Indian burial site that Ben visited on a class field trip last year, so we made a quick trip there to check it out.
Ended the weekend feeling really thankful for new experiences and great memories made with friends. And, I think, with a full year's time to forget the agony of the preparations, I may be up for doing it again next summer!
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