Camping…What a Gift!

Happy Memorial Day weekend!  I am so thankful for all of the men and women who have served our country to protect our freedoms.  My family spent this weekend camping and enjoying the freedoms afforded to us there.  I loved heading home today and seeing all of the flags at half-mast to remind me how BLESSED we are in the USA.

William and I have two couples' friends who also enjoy camping with their families.  Between us, we have 13 children.  There are 9 boys and 4 girls, and they are all within a 10 year age range of each other.  All of the girls are adopted from China, and one sweet one is already waiting up in Heaven for the rest of her family…

This is our second camping trip together.  Last fall we hiked in 4 miles to set up camp, spent one night, and hiked another 4 miles out the very next day.  This time we decided to take it easy on ourselves and only hike in 2 miles, and to spend TWO nights.  This turned out to be a very good decision!  All of the kids hiked without much help or complaints, and the campsite we wanted was OPEN!  We had a fire pit and a stream next to us.  The stream had a 10 foot water fall with a small pool at the bottom where the kids could fish or swim….aka hours of entertainment!

We enjoyed lots of good food, good talks, good times watching the kids play and talk, naps, hikes, and so on.  Camping takes a lot of work, but IT IS SO WORTH IT!

For a few glimpses of what we did:

Ben searched the creek

and found salamanders

We learned how to set up camp

and whittle sticks

We attempted spearfishing

And danced to the song of birds

We stoked the fire

and loved our Daddies

We stoked the fire more….

and made fans from leaves to love on our Moms

We ate dinner close up and personal

and saw what creatures came to the creek after dusk

We ate a lot of smores

and hiked down the trail for potty breaks

Coffee is the BEST in the outdoor mornings

We explored on our own

We found glorious lizards

and were amazed by the work of beavers

We reveled in God's beauty…the Mountain Laurel

We made closer bonds while listening to FROZEN

We caught, dissected, and ate crayfish

Some of us just stuck to hot dogs

We fished as a team

and hung out to cook dinner

We were just silly and loud sometimes…it keeps the bears away

But, if not, we learned to hang our food properly

The ghost stories came out at night

and were relished by all

and made our hair stand on end

but still we slept….well 

Till next time……

“Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out going to

 the mountains is going home; that wilderness is a necessity…” 

― John Muir

Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer's day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time.

John Lubbock