Camping

This past weekend was our second family camping trip.  The first, you may remember, was in May and not exactly loads of fun due to the heat, the bugs and some pretty nasty bathrooms.  The weather was much nicer this time, the bathrooms were cleaner and while there were fewer mosquitos, we had to deal with bees this time.

Anyway, I thought I'd sum it all up Clint Eastwood style.

The Good:
- Sydney and the boys loved riding horses.  Sydney got to ride by herself and she did a great job of starting, stopping and steering.  She told me that she liked her horse because it "followed the rules".  Yes, my child is as Type A as I am.
- The location was beautiful.  We camped right next to a huge lake and the leaves on the many trees were turning beautiful red and gold colors.  I could have spent the whole time sitting by the lake looking at the trees.
- The food was awesome.  Once again, the dads did all the cooking and the Saturday night dinner was fried turkey with all the fixings.  Yum!
- Sydney had lots of fun running around with her little friends.
- I got to take a nap with Evan Saturday afternoon.  It was cool and breezy and it was nice to get some afternoon rest.
- At the bonfire Saturday evening, Liam fell asleep on my lap about ten minutes into it.  This is a kid who wipes off my kisses, so I enjoyed every minute of his slumber time snuggles.

The Bad:
- There were bees everywhere which freaked the kids out.  Anyone know if there's such a thing as bee repellant?
- My horse (who was named Booger, I might add) decided to help himself to a little snack inside the trail guides' cabin.  The horse walked into the building (not a barn - a building meant for people) as soon as the guide put Evan in my lap.  He did just fine for the rest of the ride, but he had me worried.
- Even with all the beauty of the location, there were about six little boys who spent the entire time playing video games on their Nintendo DS's.
- Every time we went to find Sydney after she ran off with her friends, we found her playing someone else's DS.  That's exactly why we won't let her have one!

The Ugly:
- There was a terrible car accident that shut down the highway on our way there.  A drive that should have taken 1.5 hours took 3 instead.  Ugh.
- The first night was cold and damp and none of us slept very well on our air mattresses.
- One little girl didn't notice that there was a bee in her drink and was stung on her lip.  The poor thing was miserable.


Overall, it was a fun weekend.  Camping is still not my thing, but I'll do it because my kids like it.  I'm just glad the family trips only come twice a year.  :)