Camping With Dirt Friends!

Whoever coined the phrase "lazy days of summer", must not have had 3 young children at the time. Or at least, they didn't have MY 3 young children, bless their little hearts, because I have yet to see the lazy part of this summer. Except for the days leading up to our camping trip with our friends, the Blairs. For one might assume, based on the amount of packing that still needed to be done at 12am of the day we would be leaving, that I indeed had been practicing laziness. Which then begs the question, does laziness, in fact, need to be practiced? But I digress.

Usually, the week leading up to a trip or vacation, my children are the textbook model of health, they are the most angelic of children, I always keep my cool and talk with the utmost tenderness and kindness, I am packed and ready several days in advance, forgetting nothing, we awake the morning of, bright eyed and bushy tailed ready for our next big adventure, and every one hops in the car after being asked the first time, without irritating their beloved brother or sister, and we all break out into "Kumbaya My Lord" as we merrily go on our way. And there was not the least bit of sarcasm in that last paragraph.

Even though all that was NOT the case, even though we started out on yet another vacation with sick kids (This time with fevers, headaches, and the like.), even though I had the craziest of weeks leading up to our trip, and even though we didn't leave bright and early, but instead woke up, finished packing, and hit the road by 1pm...

And even though now, from all the aloe gel that's being applied every 1/2 hour, my forehead and nose resemble Kermit the Frog with a sunburn... (It's a small blessing that it's not in a place where clothing actually has to touch.)

And even though I'm still finding stow-away bugs unpacking camping gear, running loads of sweat and dirt caked clothes in hot water doing laundry, and finding copious amounts of Central Oregon Mountain dirt hosing off shoes...


We had A GREAT TIME!! And one of the best parts was we got to spend it with our faithful friends of 10+ years who we love!

We cooked...

We (parents) stayed up late paying card games and eating popcorn and candy.(Shhh. Don't tell the kids!)

And occasionally the dirt bandit would show up...
We hiked around at our lake...

and up to another beautiful lake...

We posed for pictures...

...of the girls...

...of the boys...
And occasionally the dirt bandit would show up...


We swam...

We slept...

And occasionally the dirt mud bandit monster would show up... (I know. You're simply amazed by my cleverness. I can't even stand it myself.)

We ate s'mores...of course!

We sat around the campfire...
And occasionally the dirt bandit would show up...

And a camping trip wouldn't be complete without...

light sabers?

Boys will be boys...

And boys will tease the girls by taking the food that they were trying to feed the ants with. Yeah. (And WHY do we buy expensive toys when they find the most simple of things to entertain themselves with??)

And occasionally the dirt bandit...oh, who are we kidding, it LIVED at our campsite.

See?!

And maybe, just maybe, by next week our feet will actually be dirt free.

Just in time for the next adventure. :)

The End.

**Sorry to end this post on a sad note but while we were there, the lake we were camping at experienced the tragedy of a 18 year old boy drowning (This local news clip tells the story. The man interviewed is our friend who we were camping with.) and we spent that evening in shock, talking with our children, reminding them of water safety, praying with them, for the friends and family of the victim. If you think of it, would you pray for them too? ...and it's a good time to remind ourselves and our children the smart and safe way to enjoy the water this summer...