We went camping

I think we've started a new tradition...

My friend Natalie's family goes camping each year the weekend school gets out.  I thought it was a great idea and so we planned it too.  But then we found out that 4 of our close friends were all going together and we tagged along.

The McKneelys joined: the Hopewells, the Lofgrens, the Joyners, and the Haymans all went together to Eisenhower State Park off Lake Texoma about an hour north of us. Between the 5 families there were 21 kids between the ages of 10 and 1.

It was IDEAL weather, so nice and pleasant--truly a gift for us in Texas in June as it's normally quite hot already.

Stephen took the day off on Friday and we got there by noon and set up camp--thanks to Stephen's "investment" into his calling as Scoutmaster, we have quite the set up....

 

 We went on a mild hike...

Then Stephen took the older 3 to go ride our friend's 4 wheeler, Sam calls it a Monster Truck which I think is funny.  Other than that we just hung out.  We'd brought a football, frisbee and some baseball gloves and balls, Stephen played a lot with the kids.  We let the kids play and explore, it was pretty relaxing.

Dinner was pretty great--Pasta Bake, "cooler" corn on the cob and broccoli and french bread--yummy!  Then as it got darker and our friends had fires going we roasted marshmallows and made smores.  Lindsey and Matthew were the first in bed but it was still late for them (8:30), Sam was in bed a bit later than that, Kaitlyn seemed to be the energizer bunny and we finally put her in bed by 9:30.

It had turned a bit chillier than we expected, and I was glad we'd brought sweatshirts, I made sure the kids were tucked into their sleeping bags.  Dad and  Sam slept in one tent, I slept with the other 3 in a larger tent.  And for the most part we all slept really well.  We knew the kids would be up early with the sun.  Matthew woke up sometime in the 5:00 hour but I coaxed him easily into my sleeping bag with me where we slept until just after 6 when a crow in a tree above our tent decided to announce the arrival of morning!

For breakfast we dined on breakfast burritos and scout donuts--totally yummy!  And then we readied things to head to the lake for a day of swimming in Lake Texoma the sun came out and things warmed up enough to enjoy it....

The sand proved to be the favorite diversion, but they did go in the water some.  We were grateful for the water shoes we bought so our feet didn't hurt on the rocks (my spoiled kids and their first experience with sandy beaches was in the Bahamas)  Do you like Sam's mohawk?  He did.

We ate lunch on the beach then headed back to break up camp and head home.  Matthew fell asleep in moments and we all wanted to join him I think.  Camping was such fun!!  Sam ("mohawk man") declared it the "BEST TWO DAYS OF HIS LIFE!"; we've all got chigger bites (Stephen the worst on his ankles--over 30 on each one), but all in all, as I said at first, I think we've created a new family tradition:  the McKneelys might be campers!