The fun of our family camp out started Memorial Day weekend with pouring rain and highs well below 60 degrees.  Honestly we were so depressed that we considered calling off the camp out and flying somewhere, anywhere but here.  Shane even made me a batch of PA sticky buns for one breakfast to cheer me up. Thankfully ticket prices were not in our favor and we spent all of Tuesday getting ready for our camp out post Memorial Day rush as we had planned many months ago.  Wednesday after lunch we started out over the mountains to Winthrop and it was raining hard even after we got over the mountains, but things cleared up and although it wasn’t as warm as usual it wasn’t raining!  Thanking Heavenly Father at our evening prayers we slept pretty well and woke up to a beautiful day.  The kids could not get enough playing with Daddy in.  We went for an adventurous bike ride around the lake, swam, read books together and ate ice cream.  It was nice to just be together and play.

Friday started out pretty miserable with a cold morning and lots of rain, but we made the best of it with hot oatmeal and warmed peaches. Then we went for a drive.  The kids slept as we climbed higher in the mountains, we were planning on going in a loop.  It got a lot cloudier and then we hit a huge burnt out section of forest.  Snow began to appear on the ground and then finally the dirt road so we turned around.  I can’t describe how desolate it looked and the sight impressed the kids who woke up.  When we got back to camp the clouds had broken up and the wind had dried everything so it was off for more fun in and by the lake.  We ate out for dinner and enjoyed a windy evening reading new books and flying kites.  Saturday was sunny and everyone slept in.  After we dried everything out and packed up camp we had a picnic lunch and one more swim.

The drive home was beautiful and uneventful…except for the van sized boulder in the middle of the road.  The kids were so helpful unpacking when we got home I went out and got them root beer floats.  As Marie was tucked into bed that night she told me, “Mom it’s nice to go camping sometimes, but it’s also nice to be home.”  Click here to see the MANY more photos and details of our wonderful trip.