The annual camping trip

While the idea of "camping" doesn't send thrills up my spine, it isn't something I flee from either.

Once a year, the opportunity arises to go up north with some fantastic friends from our small group,

so we borrow Dave's parent's RV...pack up....and head into the great not-too-far north.

We know we're getting closer to the campground when we see things like this:

Yes, northern Michigan....a place where hicks still go to roost.  :)

Why, yes...that is duct tape with it's reflective properties writing "Git-R-Dun" on the front of that Astro Van.

Ally came too.

My, a lot changes in a year. 

Kids are older.

Molly is gone.

Ally joined our pack.

Baby on the way.

Ally had a hay-day digging in the dirt.  Home girl had a great time.

She would dig until she found a root, and then play tug with it.

The kids learned that she doesn't bite...but she jumps.

Apparently, they liked to learn again, and again, and again.

Poor Ally thought they were only playing with her...and when they screamed,

she took that as screams of glee....which they weren't.

We had lots of fun family activities to keep us busy during the weekend:

Swimming:



Archery:

Father/Son shoot out

The men had a shoot out too.

I cannot even remember if there was a winner.  :)

Clearly, none of us have an archery background.

You can also see in the background of the above shot that there's a tennis court, obstacle course,

miscellaneous games, and a basketball court back there too!

Hobo pie making:

Saturday afternoon we made pizzas in them for lunch.  Mmmmmm.

Ally was smelling the remnants.  :)

There was fishing:

Lots and lots of fishing.

This dock was right off our camp site.

The boys had a great agreement.

C. baited the hooks, A. fished and reeled them in, C. removed the fish from the hook and released them.

This picture warms my heart. 

I even got to fish!!!

(Which is also #88 on my List!!!)

The boys were totally impressed that I could bait my own hook and take the fish off.

I think I earned some awesome-boy-mom points that afternoon.

However, chivalry is not dead.

C. was itching to help his mommy out by taking my BIG CATCH off the hook.

So, of course....I let him.  It was a small price to pay.  ;)

Of course, there was snacking:

(look, mom....GLUTEN FREE bird seed!)

Bird seed is a mix of Cheerios, raisins (or in my case, Craisins), peanuts and M&M's.

It's a tradition for any trip in our family.  :)

Of course, the boys got their own bag of gluten-ous Bird Seed.

I was just excited to be able to have it this year!

We slept....a little bit.

The first night is always a learning curve.

Dave always had A. in the top bunk with him, but A. is getting WAY too big for that.

So, he was down on the fold out couch with me the first night.

C. was on the fold down table.

Mistake.

A. clearly needed his own bed.

I slept about 2 hours that night....chopped up.

I was soooo thankful for Dave taking the boys swimming on Saturday afternoon so I could take a nap.

Saturday night, we gave A. the fold down table and C. slept in the middle, me on the wall.

Dave had the top bunk.

I put the travel DVD player on, and there was no fighting to go to bed.

No fighting in bed....and they zonked out within 15 minutes.

Here's Sunday morning's bed carnage by phone camera.

And last, but not least...my favorite picture of the weekend.

Our friends, Randy and Cindy celebrated their 6th wedding anniversary last weekend

and brought cake.

Graham really enjoyed it.  :)