Camping

Back in May, we took our first family camping trip. We'd been preparing for quite some time--we purchased a large tent and sleeping bags for young John and me, John found a camp stove on eBay, we borrowed John's parents' Thermarests from their camping trips from days gone by, we bought some camp chairs at Husband's favorite retailer Sportsmans' Warehouse, researched our site, made a meal plan, and since the weather had been nothing but cold and rainy in Lexington, a weather plan.

We went to our first Derby Party as Kentuckians and headed out the next day after church. The trip up was a little long and at one point I may have said that I wanted to go home (a whining toddler who wasn't napping and a packing fail on my part motivated the statement) but we arrived just before dark and John got us settled.

We spent the following three days lounging at our camp site, letting young John go here and there and William enjoyed sitting in his Bumbo and being outside. John and John went on walks for most of the day, we made meals on the camp stove and John baked a mean potato in the fire one night. We enjoyed s'mores and avoided most bug bites, John and John took a dip in the cold creek while William and I watched from the bank, I washed my hair in a big sink each day, and we all enjoyed the simplicity of camp. John picked a great camp ground. It was in the middle of nowhere outside of Gatlinburg, so quiet and well-maintained. We're planning our next trip, hopefully for a weekend in early fall. With two curious boys, this will turn into a regular thing for us!

Here are some pictures--enjoy!