It's summer time once again and that means camping! We look very forward to this trip and getting up of out the heat for awhile. This year it worked in every one's schedule to go over 4th of July weekend and we actually stayed for 7 days. (That is the longest I think we have been camping at one time). It was of course us and the Roger's family and this year two other families joined us.
I have so many, many, many pictures I could post but I will try and limit it some. ;) We headed up on Friday morning and stayed until the following Thursday. There were no fires allowed and hiking was very limited due to fire restrictions. So we stayed busy with fishing, crawdad catching and game playing. It rained at least once a day and that was so nice! It even hailed once.
I hope you enjoy the pictures:
This is the trailer we used this year. I have never thought of our suburban as small before! LOL. It was a nice trailer. It needs some work but it fit our family really well. There was a queen bed up in the front and two sets of bunk beds in the back.
Our whole gang!
The Pearces, The Rogers', The Lindsay's, and The Polmanteer's
(8 adults and 11 kids)
A boy and his hatchet 
Cooking some grub!
OK first look how dirty they are! lol Next notice the size of the marshmallows! They are called "campfire marshmallows" and we used Reese's peanut butter cups instead of plain chocolate. YUMMY!
We got to deal with these lovely (said with sarcasm) creatures each night as we tried to play games at the table outside. They were attracted to the light and the guys kept trying to flick them on us!
This was a highlight of the trip! Since we would be camping on a Sunday, we planned ahead of time to hold a time of worship at this outdoor amphitheater. On Friday and Saturday the kids and dads went around the entire camp and handed out fliers that Nikki had made up telling people the time and place of our worship. Jay and Roy led music and Dan preached. We had about 39 people show up. It was awesome! We provided some cookies and drinks afterwards and I think it was a great time of praising the Lord for all!
Our Family!
Me and my honey!
Joshua and Jenny (Best Buds)
Daddy and his boys
This was the largest of all the crawdads that were caught. Jadon was not scared at all. He giggled and kept wanting to hold it.
One of our many hikes to the lake we were trying to take some cover from the rain....we heard a really loud boom and on our walk back this is what we found.....
So glad we weren't walking by when the lightning actually struck this tree. Wow to see God's amazing power! Lightening struck the middle of this tree sending parts of it flying, splitting the center of it. It was still smoking and was so neat to see the inside how soft and wet it was.
When we were stuck indoors during the daily rain we played games. The Rogers family brought Mancala. It quickly became a favorite game for all.
Daddy's fishing buddy!
Catching crawdads
The last night we had a fish fry.
Jadon loved playing the crawdads and the worms.
and of course he loved splashing in the puddles.
We took this last picture as we were leaving camp. It is a look out sight. I told Jay he could just photo shop me in because there was no way I was going out on that ledge! :)
Stories with no pictures but memories that will last a life time:
1) Tasha got pinched by one of the crawdads and it made her MAD!! She shook the bucket it was in and yelled at it "You baby gaga"
2) The kids would go over to the pit toilets and take turns opening the door to the men's and women's and then scream. They were comparing which stunk the worst!
3) Jay actually stuck a crawdad down my shirt and I completely lost it and was hysterical! He is lucky he made it back home with us (lol)
4) The attack of the poop wand! Some of the joys of taking care of a trailer. I will just leave it at that.
Another year of great memories!
