Camping trip

This weekend we had our second annual Memorial Day weekend camping trip at Fall River.
We had a great time, but the weather was both great and crappy.

Friday afternoon, we had great weather to set up camp, but at 3 a.m. Saturday morning, a big storm blew in and we got a few hours of rain.

Saturday was a little cloudy and breezy, and luckily, without rain.

Sunday was beautiful. It was hot enough to take the kids swimming in the lake and for rides in Terry Brown's fishing boat. It was also great weather for the killer sunburn I got on my shins.

Sunday night, the camp host visited us twice to warn us about the weather. First they were afraid of tornadoes, which luckily never materialized. Then she told us to expect a major thunderstorm. She wasn't kidding. It started raining at 12:30 a.m. Sunday night and didn't stop.

At noon Monday, it was still raining and we were camping out in the picnic shelter trying to figure out how to pack our tents in the pouring rain. We managed to do it with a lot of teamwork, and man, it's good to be back home.

I will give you a tour of our camp site and then post some highlights.

Terry Brown's campsite


Jeff, Kathryn and Lauryn's campsite


The Loving campsite
(The boys never stayed in the little tent because
we were afraid it would blow away in the rain.
Ironically, their tent stayed dry the whole weekend
while our Coleman tent leaked.)


The Lacey-Nagy campsite
home to Melissa and Joe


Doug and Terry Wenzel's campsite
(They always show off by bringing
outdoor lights and yard decorations)


The picnic shelter
(We store all our food and supplies in here
and make our campsites around the shelter)

Friday night:

After all the excitement of making camp
and eating all the smores they could handle,
Brett and Casey crashed

Saturday's highlights:

We drove to the lake to let the boys fish

but the wind was brutal. Casey kept

hooking the hood on his sweatshirt


Brett casting


Brett and Dan fishing off the dock


Joe and Melissa hanging
out in the shelter


Brett "roughing it"


Doug, Terry, Joe and Jeff
getting the grill ready for dinner


Terry making her specialty,
campfire stew


Me, relaxing with a magazine
while the guys made dinner


Hey! Who took this picture?!

This year, Jeff got the brilliant idea to borrow a projector and hang a sheet in the shelter where we could have our own version of a drive-in movie night.

Doug and Jeff hanging the "screen"


We watched "The Incredibles" and
"The Simpsons Movie"

Sunday's highlights:


It was really hot and humid, so we headed to Fall River Lake for swimming and boating fun.

Casey and Brett splash around


Mahvelous Melissa


Captain Terry and first mate Brett


Terry, Brett and me


Terry, Jeff, Casey and Dan

Since the boys have been learning to ride their bikes without training wheels, we thought it would be a good idea to bring their bikes on the trip. They loved having them at the campground and rode them back and forth to the bathroom and all around our campsite.

Casey and his bike

Everyone really pitched together to make dinner each night. Saturday night, Kurt and Kasey made fajitas and Joe and Melissa grilled corn and the fajita veggies.

Joe and Dan man the grill


Kurt grilling the chicken and steak


Kasey and Dan working on dinner

Each night, the guys got a campfire going. We had every type of marshmallow imaginable for making smores: strawberry, chocolate, toasted coconut and, of course, traditional.

Tending the fire


Campfire fun with Casey, Lauryn and our dog, Wanda

Monday's highlights:

There weren't many, but we managed to have an awesome breakfast of cinnamon rolls, eggs and breakfast fajitas despite the torrential rain.

We can't wait to go again next year!