Ward Camp Out

Two weeks ago we went up to Sharron VT (Joseph Smith Birthplace) for our ward camp out. It was great to get away to such a gorgeous place. We were wimps and asked for a little cabin to sleep in with two sets of bunk beds and just enough room for a pack and play in between. The kids did great and we loved being able to spend so much time with so many cool people from our ward.

Camp Joseph (a church camp where we stayed) was breathtaking and perfect for little kids. Huge fields to run and play in with grassy hills to roll down and a little play structure for the kids to hang like monkeys.

It's amazing to me what a year of getting bigger can do for a kids camping abilities. Hazel and Charlie were pretty darn good (we were scarred last year when Jeff had to take Charlie home in the middle of the night because he was keeping the whole campsite awake playing "fire engine" in our tent.). Charlie slept great. In fact, after the first night I woke up and looked down from the top bunk at him....he was grinning at me and said, first thing, "mommy, I love you." Heart melter, I tell you.

I'm surprised all these pictures look so sunny, because it actually poured with rain for most of the weekend. On Saturday I put Charlie down in his pack and play for a nap and then got stuck out in a torrential down pour. To avoid waking him up I ran for cover in a friend tent across the field. After a few minutes of crazy rain a friend in the little cabin looked out the door and said that there was a little kid in the middle of the field. Sure enough, Charlie hadn't gone to sleep, but instead had decided to explore around in the pouring rain. Poor guy was soaked and sobbing by the time I got to him. He's been telling that story to everyone like it was the great adventure of his life........makes me feel like a great mom!

We discovered the the "Farmers Diner" was just 10 miles from us. Barbara Kingsolver writes about this diner in her book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. It is a diner that uses mostly local food....meat from local, happy cows, organic potatoes freshly cut and fried, cheese from a town nearby etc. It wasn't anything spectacular (and the service sucked) but it felt pretty good knowing that we were supporting local farmers.

Not sure what Jeff's doing here....but I thought it was kind of funny.