Mostly Happy Campers...

We just got back from our camping trip. I had been sick the night before we left, so I was worried that this wouldn't be a fun trip, but it turned out to be really nice. We found a beautiful spot up Hobble Creek canyon. The creek was only yards away from our campsite, and there was a bridge that went over it that the girls had tons of fun on (and luckily none of them fell off of it...actually, Dad was the only one who fell in the river the whole trip!) It was so nice and quiet there (especially for the first night since we were the only campers in the whole camp ground). Shortly after setting up our tent we got rained on, so we sat in the tent with the girls and played card games and read stories. It was fun just to spend time together doing quiet activities while we listened to the rain on the tent. The rain let up long enough for us to roast some hot dogs and some marshmellows before we all went to bed at 8:00p.m. I don't remember the last time I went to bed that early. It was so nice! The next morning we woke up and started cooking up some pancakes on the camp chef. We had just finished cooking when it started raining again, so we hurried and hauled our breakfast into the tent and had a picnic on our sleeping bags. It rained for a couple hours, but then the rain let up and it was beautiful outside. We decided to go for a little hike. This was not a highlight of the trip. The trail was narrow and bordered by lots of shrubbery. Since it had just finished raining all the shrubbery was wet, and we got soaked. My 3 year old (who should have gotten the award for the grouchiest camper) was throwing fits, so my DH ended up carrying her on his shoulders. This normally wouldn't have phased him, but he was also carrying our 1 year old in a backpack. So he was hiking with half of our family on his back (luckily it was the lighter half!). I tried to help carry the girls, but I still was not feeling very well. We traveled up the mountain for awhile, but decided to turn back before we reached the trails destination. I think the dog had a good time hiking, and my 5 year old was having a good time, but they were the only ones! My 5 year old kept saying that we were going "bush whacking" because the bushes would hit us as we walked by them. After our descent down the mountain (much more enjoyable than the ascent I assure you) we had some lunch and awaited the arrival of my husband's family. His sister and brother and their families joined us for that night, and also his parents decided to come up. We had fun cooking up dinner, making smores, and staying up late around the campfire. It was a lot of fun to get together with them. Sometime in the early hours of the next morning I got hit by the flu bug and was horribly sick....campsite bathrooms are not the best place to be ill!! Just the smell in there makes you feel worse. We managed to get packed up (thanks to my husband who did all the work while I sat and looked green) and home safely. I am feeling a little bit better today, but still not myself. They baby was also sick while we were camping. We also picked up some colds along the way. It was still a fun camping trip, even if we are all sick now. I forgot to take the digital camera with us, or I would have shared a few pictures.