Camping Update

In the time since the last update was put up, we have been camping once and been out to our church's camp twice. I will start at the beginning.
We went up to Northfield, Minnesota to Nerstrand Big Woods State Park. This was our official first time camping together as a family. It was interesting, and overall great. We learned really quick where all our deficincies are. Dependency was top of the list. We depended way too much on our friends to know where the garbage dump was, on fire being built, and thier kids to keeps ours occupied while food was being cooked. Thankfully, these things were no big issue in comparison as to what could have been. Steve was able to get the fire started second time out (and even able to keep it going during a rain shower the next morning!), there was a trail cut thru to the bathroom, the bathroom had family showers, and the garbage was just down the road. It could have definately been worse.
Anyway, once we arrived, and the fire started, I started the task of cooking and setting up eating arrangements, and Steve set to work on setting up the tent. After we ate, Steve and the girls went for a walk while I and JohnMark did the dishes. Once this was finished, we had Smores for the girls, and then showers. The kids went down after we got back, and then Steve and I stayed up a bit later eating our own Smores and then we went to bed. Sometime early the next morning it started to rain off and on. Steve was able to get the fire going, and keep it going while breakfast was cooked. To keep kids busy and parents sane, we waited out the rain while traveling over to Red Wing. We had a picnic lunch of sorts at a park in Red Wing, and were able to see a couple of historical markers in the process. After lunch, we headed back to the park, packed up the tent, checked out of our site, and then took a hike down a trail to see a hidden waterfall. We then went to look at the interpretive center (in the air conditioning).
That ended our camping trip. We have also been to our church camp twice this season, and both times have been great! The girls had fun both times, and both times we were able to hear the Word from a couple of great speakers. The second time out, Abbi managed to overshoot a swing and scrape up half of her face. She cried, and then told people about it as if it were no big deal.
So far that is the update on our camping season. We are not sure if we are going anywhere else as of yet. Hopefully there will be one more joint trip and one more family trip to go. We are already looking into next year and what all we are wanting to do. There is talk and thought of possibly going on a joint week long camping trip with some friends out in Ohio (though camping may be in Wisconsin), and also a week out at familiy camp. Keep checking in for further details:)

Camping Season Has Begun

Camping season has officially begun here. Unfortunately, we dont have any pictures from our first expodition to put up. Our first outing of the year was up to the Upper Souix Agency just south of Granite Falls, Minnesota. We made it up to the campsite in time to catch the first of a few storms that hit the area due to a cold front. The tent made it up in record time, and the campsite missed all the activity. This was not at all a bad thing either. The girls enjoyed the camping as much as they did last year, and JohnMark handled it pretty well for first time out. The next day we again dodged storms as we happened to be in WalMart at the time it hit. Our tent wasnt so fortunate this time around, as high winds blew rain up under the rain flap. This made for a messy clean up as there were more storms in the area. After we cleaned up and packed up camp, we went to a near by swim beach to swim. The girls again loved this idea, and enjoyed the ability to wade. JohnMark and Steve sat on the beach to enjoy the weather. All of this to say, we are heading out this coming weekend for another camping trip. This time around we are going to Nerstrand over by Northfield, Minnesota. We shall see how it turns out, and this time hopefully there will be some pictures to get up:)