Family Campout!!!

On Friday night we went on our very first ever family camping trip. Savannah & Connor had never been camping and Savannah's been looking so forward to it. We went to Buescher State Park, which is about an hour away (a little past Bastrop if you're from Texas). Dallin was able to leave work early, so we got there about 4:30 on Friday. We went with 3 other families in our ward (minus one mom who was away visiting her sister...we missed you!).

Dallin found this butterfly right when we got there. It had a "broken" wing and couldn't fly very high or far. Zach was FREAKING out and screaming hysterically. Luckily our fellow camping families weren't there yet and missed out on that lovely drama. Savannah loves to help Daddy with everything...

This tent actually fit all of us pretty well. The majority of the tent is screen and we left the cover off. It was pretty warm and that helped keep it cooler. It was awesome though because the trees were all overhead and it felt like you weren't sleeping in a tent. We just didn't get eaten alive by the millions of bugs (well almost).

This is what Zach was waiting for all week. Our friends have a chihuahua named Dobby. Zach hardly gave that dog a moments rest (Savannah too). Sorry Dobby!

Dallin & I had foil dinners while the kids roasted hot dogs.

This is what happens to the bishop when he stays up too late playing Settler's of Catan.I went to bed at 12:30am or so but the game didn't finish until 2:00am I think. I was awake for most of it, but just not coherent enough to play anymore.

Connor did amazingly well sleeping in a tent for the first time. About 8:15pm he got pretty cranky. He cried for a few minutes, but once he calmed down he just lay by himself for another hour in the tent quietly until it got dark. He woke up periodically through the night but always just lay back down and went right back to sleep. After he woke up at 7:00 he just lay there for a while, taking in the trees above him (he's pointing at them in the picture).

The kids loved playing with friends all morning. One girl brought her bike and chased them all around. That kept them all busy for quite a while. It also made all the kids running blurs in all my pictures.

All the men getting breakfast ready...

It was fun to get to know these families better!

Savannah was in heaven with all the little girls to play with (the girls definitely outnumbered the boys).

Connor was in dirt heaven. He couldn't just play in the dirt. He had to pour it all over his hair and down his back into his diaper.

But it kept him happy all morning!

Then he found the mud. He wasn't so happy about the shower that followed.

We tried to go fishing at the lake, but all they caught was moss. Connor was tired and threw a big fit so we went for a walk most of the time they were fishing.

He threw the fit because he wanted to head right into the water.

We got home about 12:30 I think. While the boys took baths I discovered that they had been bit from head to toe. The worst is on their ankles, hips, bums, and other spots I won't mention. But they've got them everywhere. Dallin's ankles are pretty bad too.

We had an awesome time and look forward to doing it again when it gets a little cooler! Thanks to the friends who made it so fun!

Last night was our Ward Talent Show too. We only made it through part of it though. The kids were asking to go home and go to bed. We were exhausted too, so we left early. I'm sad we missed some of it, but it sure felt good to hit the pillow!