camping!

We went camping as a family for the first time a few weekends ago. I never thought I would be the one to push for it, considering I come from a family with little interest in camping. (To clarify, my mother had little interest, so I never went as a kid. My brothers, however, did.) But after the kids saw an episode of Curious George Goes Camping, Audrey has been asking when we would go. My original answer was when she was 12 for Girls' Camp.

Then our ward put out the notice for the annual ward campout. It was just overnight, I figured we could swing that, right? Well, we didn't exactly have any camping gear (see lack of interest above) but thanks to my brother, we borrowed all the items we needed and headed into the mountains.

Even before we got everything set up, the kids were off exploring. In fact, that's why I don't have as many pictures of Audrey. She was off with all the other little girls as soon as they arrived. Nathan stuck around, but he too went off, picking up every stick and jumping off every rock he could find.

There were donut eating contests (Nathan really loved that) and marshmallow roastings (Ammon's favorite part), songs by the campfire, and a wowzer cat hunt (similar to a snipe hunt).

Getting to sleep was probably the most adventurous part of the whole weekend. We thought both kids could share a twin mattress, but they wouldn't stop bouncing and shoving each other off of it. So we eventually ended up turning sideways on the bigger mattress with me in the middle, Nathan on one side, and Ammon on the other. Audrey got the other mattress to herself. This would have been just fine if the valve hadn't popped open and started losing air all through the night. I ended up feeling like a taco. The other reason why we don't sleep in the same room with the kids is because they talk in their sleep. Loudly. Audrey started yelling "No no, don't get me!" and "Stop speaking the spanishese!"

We left shortly after breakfast (which the ward provided, yum!) and of course, the kids fell asleep on the drive home. Can't blame them! We all got a much-needed shower and naps all around after we got home.

I think we'll probably try camping again in the future -- but this time, enough beds for everyone. Or maybe a separate tent for the kids.