Skip to main content

Adventures in Camping: Part 3


Part 3, you say?? What about Parts 1 and 2?? Well, since you asked...

Part 1 took place in 2002 at Devil's Den State Park in Arkansas. It was our 5th wedding anniversary, pre-kiddos and we were all gung-ho to go camping. We had a cool *camping* vehicle~a 1970 International Scout, a small tent and an air mattress. But there were issues: We couldn't get a fire started to save our lives (Vince had refused to let me bring charcoal~he wanted to build one *from scratch*) and it rained. So we had only part of a meal~the part that didn't have to be cooked~and we were pretty damp by the time we got up and left the next morning. Somehow that didn't dampen our enthusiasm for camp though, we continued to add to our camping gear little by little, knowing that camping was an activity we wanted to do as a family.

Part 2 didn't come until the fall of last year (7 years later!!). We were going to be traveling through Kentucky and decided to camp one night with the kiddos at Mammoth Cave National Park. This time we had a big truck, a big tent and a little more gear. And we also bought a bundle of firewood. But there were issues on this trip, too: we couldn't get our fire to stay going (thus no s'mores), there was a burned finger and it rained. And rained. And rained. For 6 straight hours. I had to keep getting up through the night to drag the kids' beds to a drier spot (notice I said drier, not dry). By the time daybreak came we were all surrounded by puddles. We packed up quickly and headed home. Yet even though our camping trip record was looking wet and unsuccessful, it only made us want to succeed at camping even more.

So now for Part 3: Because we are apparently gluttons for punishment, we decided to take yet another camping trip. I'm telling you, people, we were determined to succeed!

We thought about camping during Memorial Day weekend, but Vince was guest speaking at a church on Sunday morning in our area, so we needed to stay home. Plus there was the whole forecast issue. I had already made up my mind that there was no way we were going if there was some chance of rain anywhere near. So after checking the forecast for three days for three different state parks, downloading an ebook all about camping (Thank you, Molly!)and grabbing some last minute supplies we took off on Monday for Mt. Magazine State Park in Arkansas.

And can I just say... perfect!! We had the best camping experience! There was no rain whatsoever, we were successful in building a fire and keeping it going (Go Vince!), even more successful in cooking over the said fire, there were no injuries, the bathhouse was great, going to sleep while gazing at the stars was amazing...I could go on and on.

We finally know what a good camping trip is like. I knew there was a reason we kept trying to do this. It truly was a great memory-making time for our family. Can't wait to do it again!

Labels

Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

The Making of an Egyptian Death Mask

We are learning all about the ancient world this year with Story of the World I and loving it! We've been learning a lot about Egypt, of course, which is completely fascinating. Most recently we have studied the New Kingdom of Egypt, which includes the story of King Tut. So we decided making an Egyptian death mask in the style of King Tut's would be a fun project. First since it was too cold at the time to paper mache in the garage (it probably would have frozen instead of dried-ha) and it was too messy to do it in the house, we decided to pick up a couple of cheap craft masks at Hobby Lobby. Next we cut out cardboard shapes to complete the shape of the death mask, attaching them with hot glue. Vince even put a little detail on the *beard* with the hot glue per The Princess' request. Then the kiddos started to paint them with this metallic gold tempera paint. It worked okay for the cardboard, but would not coat the plastic of the mask. We thought maybe a second coat ...
Read more

Door Hanger Chore Charts

My kids have had a chore chart for a while.  It's one of those magnetic boards and they share it.  However, it's not by their rooms and often they (and I) forget to update it.  Plus it's a little bulky.   When I saw the concept of a door hanger chore chart on Pinterest, I loved it!  It was compact, right there were the kiddos could see it coming out and going into their rooms, and it costs almost nothing to make.   I headed over to one of my favorite stores: Hobby Lobby, of course.  They  have these little wooden door hangers for .79.  I also grabbed a couple of packets of decorative buttons for $1.99 each.  I already had the clothes pins and the paint so those cost me nothing.   I began by painting the door hangers (I used tempera paints because that's what I had).  Then I grabbed a fine point Sharpie and the clothes pins and started writing chores on them, making sure to write them correctly so they will ...
Read more

Fun With 4th of July Crafts: Part 3

I love my new patriotic front door wreath!! I had fun putting this together, although I must admit this is more of an adult craft than one for kiddos. I was inspired by this article in Family Fun magazine. I didn't have quite everything I needed for this one, but all I had to purchase was a few sheets of scrapbook paper and some double-sided tape. Then all I had to gather up were some scissors, regular Scotch tape, a ruler and some cardboard. First I cut four (5"x 6") pieces of each paper. Then by placing a piece of double-sided tape on one of the short ends of the papers, I rolled them into cones, pressing the seams together well. Then I cut a 10" circle out of cardboard and began to stick the cones on it. I used another piece of double-sided tape to stick the cones on, arranging them in a circular pattern. Next I used regular Scotch tape to attach them on the back to the back of the cardboard. After getting all the cones on, I was ready for my centerpiece. He...
Read more