Labor Day Camping Trip

We took our first camping trip with the new camper this weekend. I will say that generally, I am an indoor girl. Unless I am going to the beach or the pool, I don't really want to be outside experiencing nature. At all. But, Mike and the girls LOVE camping. It is the highlight of their summers. And who am I to rain on their parade? So, I go. Because I love them. Overall, I would say the trip was a success. Kids had fun. Husband had fun. Dog had fun. Wife survived. I was expecting a repeat of Ellie the Dirty Dog, but she managed to stay relatively clean (mostly because she was confined to the camper most of the time). Briana got completely banged up. As soon as we got there, she got on her bike, sped down a hill and crashed into a tree. She forgot how to use her brakes. She had a skinned up knee, a skinned up leg and maybe a bruise. She fell off her bike at least two more times over the course of the weekend, landing herself more cuts and bruises. Sydney didn't get hurt at all, I don't think. But, she did have two dead flies land on her after Mike fly swattered them, and that was just as bad. And a centepede crawled over her foot. Also equally bad.

The second day we were there, the Hagemeisters came to camp (in a tent, those poor people) for one night. The girls were very excited to play with Makenzie, and I think they all had a fun time (I think Ellie put up with a lot while they were there).

On Saturday, Mike said he had a migrane and spent most of the day like this:

I think he just wanted an excuse to lay in the camper all day and relax. Lucky for him, his headache mysteriously dissappeared in time for dinner. I forgot our dinner that we were going to make that night in the freezer at home, so we had to go into Dennison, IA to eat at a restaurant. I grabbed my camera before we left and got these funny pictures:

Briana is pretending to crash into Sydney's bike in this shot. In case you couldn't tell by looking at her face.

My little camping hippie.

Since I had my camera out, I told Mike and the girls to stand together and I would get a picture of them in front of our new camper. I took three different pictures, and this is the one that turned out the best. Sigh.

Mike generally likes to stare off into space when I photograph him, and when he does glance torward the camera, I tend to get this type of expression on his face. I also think this picture has a bit of a seventies feel to it, don't you?

Once we got in the car to go to dinner, Sydney asked if she could look at the pictures on my camera. I said sure, and handed her the camera, and she left me a wonderful surprise when I next looked through the pictures.

It is one of my favorite things when the girls do this!

That night, we had smores (ok, we had smores every night).

After Mike and I sat around the campfire by ourselves for a little bit, we went into the camper to see what the girls had been up to, and this is what we found:

A picture Briana made of Mike's cousin, whose wedding we recently attended. They are kissing. Notice the person on the side giving them the thumbs up and exclaiming "Wow!" And the time on the clock is midnight, or possibly sizzlenight. So funny! And Sydney made a similar picture of Mike and I on our wedding night:

Ha ha ha! So funny.

Here are the girls in their sleeping quarters in the camper:

Briana in her bunk bed.

The table transforms into a bed for Sydney.

Oh! I almost forgot! I put a top knot in Ellie while we were there so she could see.

Is she the cutest dog ever? I think so.

On Monday, before we left, Mike found this toad for the girls:

They named him Toadie and we all had a hard time leaving him behind. But, Mike was quick to point out that we all know what happens when Mommy gets a toad at home (I kill it.) (Accidentally).

Briana with Toadie in her hands

Sydney with Toadie in her hands (she was a tad excited about it, and Toadie was tickling her hands)

Then while Mike was getting the camper ready to leave, I took the girls down to the lake and I think I got some pretty good pictures of them.

This one is my very favorite shot of Briana. May have to frame it at home.

I was kind of dreading coming home because I knew I had 22 loads of laundry, plus all the unpacking and dishes I was going to have to do. And Ellie needed a bath. We all did, really. But, I was greeted by this, which made it a little bit better.

My mums! They are blooming!! And they are a really pretty fall orange color. Yay!