One Family's Dream: 3 Nights in a Tent

Well, we survived our first ever family camping trip! We actually had a great time, despite Leia freaking out over the bugs in the bathroom and refusing to go half the time, and waking up with Elijah FREEZING because he took his socks off and was out of his sleep bag, and Jacob, well, being Jacob:) It was good wholesome family fun and recommend to any family thinking about doing it, if we could do it, anyone can do it!

The drive only took a little over 2 hours I believe which was nice. Once we got there it was hard to believe we were still in New York, it was nothing like the City or Long Island, that is for sure! I felt like I was back in GA... it was actually a nice change for us!

After we checked in we found our campsite and were surprised just how close to the river we were, we pitched our tent right next to it, I joked that if a big wind came we would be floating down the river. The spot was great though and close to the bathrooms!! Chris set up the tent with no problem and then we started to set things up a little. Kids were so excited that they could just ride their bikes all day and play on the swings, again, a nice change to our daily indoor lives. Then we headed to the pool for a little bit before dinner.

First night the dinner was hot dogs over the fire, took a little bit to get the fire going the first night but it worked. We than made some s'mores before we headed out for the Hayride... boy were we in for a treat, on the cd player they had, of all things, Country music going on (not our fav. at all). It was OK though, it went with the atmosphere. After the Hayride we sat and waited for the Bon Fire to start, that was fun and probably Leia's favorite part because there was dancing and music. We did the Chicken Dance, the Hokey Pokey, Conga Line and much more. Leia did her dance to Party in the USA that they did at camp and everyone loved it! They also were giving away 2 bikes, they told us it would be a dance competition and the winner would get the bikes (a boy and a girl), well they had a dance competition at 9pm and Leia won!! She thought she had won the bike, it broke my heart to tell her that competition was later in the evening and we would not be staying that long. She did win a necklace and was very happy with it though. After that Leia and I met the boys at the tent and got ready to bed, the first night was a little rough with getting them to bed but they evetually fell asleep and slept just fine the whole night!

Day 2... Kids got up early like always, but nothing too awful. Chris made eggs and turkey bacon with toast for breakfast, it turned out real yummy! At 9am they had crafts down at the rec hall, kids painted American flags on a wooden board, very cute! After crafts we went for a little hike around the campsite just to check things out, it was kind of cool out so we didnt want to go in the pool (though Leia probably would have) so we just hung out... kids played on their bikes and Chris played some football with the family next to us. Middle of the day came and they had a train ride, much like the hayride but it was fun. After that Chris and Jacob did the paddle boat races, they didnt win but did pretty well. That evening there was a BBQ for all the campers staying through the Labor Day weekend, the food was actually very good and plentiful. They had hot dogs and hamburgers, potato salad, macarroni salad, cole slaw, chips, baked beans and pulled pork sandwhiches. After eatting Chris started another fire, this one started great from the beginning. We then roasted marshmellows and made s'mores and told "stories" around the fire. We had some good laughs with some of them!! I had gotten a book from the library that I remember reading when I was young call, Scary Stories to tell in the Dark, we weren't sure how they would do with them but they LOVED them!! Everyone also made up some of their own, even Elijah!! Then it was bed time, another rough night getting them to sleep but once they did they were out. Tonight was much colder though, I tried to make sure they were all snug but during the night some came out of their sleeping bags.

Day 3... We all woke up freezing, and knowing tonight was going to be just the same if not cooler we decided to go out to Wally World and get a space heater. Before we headed out though we ate breakfast, donoughts were on the menu for today! Crafts after breakfast again, they painted and made pine cone bird feeders. We then piled in the van and headed out of the windy roads to the shopping areas, the boys fell asleep in the car on the way there so Chris and Leia went in to Khols first, Chris wanted to get some new shorts. Then he went to Wally World and got the much needed space heater. And while we were out we stoped at KFC for some lunch;) I told you we were doing the whole 8 yards, LOL! By the time we returned to the camp grounds we had almost an hour until the softball game was to start so we rented a bike and went around the camp grounds together. Of course Chris and I were the only ones who could pedel and there was some hills and such, it was a bit of work (and it showed how out of shape I am in). It was fun though, the kids acted like we were on a rollercoaster, every time we went down a hill they would put their arms up in the sky. By the time we were finished with the bike ride the softball game was starting, luckly it was for all ages so the kids could play. This was their first time playing, we thought Jacob would be so excited but he had no interest in batting, only wanted to be in the outfield to catch. Leia on the other hand was all about the batting and even made 3 runs! It was pretty funny watching her though, she felt she had to slide in to every base though, even first! Tonight would be our last night, we cooked beef sausages over the fire, made some bakes beans and of course finished off the chocolate with more s'mores. We told some more "stories", put the space heater on and headed to bed (this night they all fell asleep in an instant!).

Packing up and heading home: Labor Day was here (who would have thought it would have been 40 degrees outside). After 3 nights in a tent I think we were all ready to get back home to our own beds and our own bathrooms. After taking the tent down and packing up all our stuff we headed to the rec hall for breakfast, they had tons of pasteries and cereal to eat, plus juices and coffee. We finished packing up the car and headed out.