4th of July Camping

We went camping at Chain-O-Lakes State Park in Albion Indiana. We love it there because we can get a campsite RIGHT next to the playground, which means, we don't have to TAKE the kids to the playground, they can just come and go as they please, which means a lot more relaxation for mom and dad. We left R with another foster family for the weekend - He's so busy and untrustworthy, that we just can't really relax at all when he's around. We really needed a break. And a wonderful time we had! Our friends the Hall's went with us. I took about 100 pictures over the holiday weekend, so I'm going to try to condense it down to about 30 or so...

Parker and Sage eating breakfast Friday morning

Mmm... nothing like cooking over a campfire.

I managed to get into one picture!

We went on a hike Friday after breakfast. It was about a half mile "to the beach", and then a half mile back again. No big deal, but it was pretty long to a 4 year old.

are we lost?

tired babies

grumpy kids at the end of the hike

picking wild flowers

this is where the baby spent most of the weekend

THIS is me sitting in my chair at the campsite, watching the playground. THIS is how close we were to the beloved playground. The playground was our lifesaver this weekend. The kids spent hours and hours there each day. THIS is the reason we had such a relaxing weekend, even with kids in tow.

some close-ups of the kids on the playground

in the sandbox

time for s'mores!

oops, sideways picture.

Saturday morning blueberry pancakes

the ultimate camping lunch - fire-roasted hot dogs, and watermelon slices!

Saturday night we tried to go see fireworks. We were a little late leaving camp, and the place was a little farther away than we thought, and we didn't know exactly where it was. It was... lame. We drove 2 tired kids through the night, only to pull over into some random parking lot to watch the grand finale of some random fireworks show. Jayna missed it because she had zipped her jacket around her seatbelt and couldn't get out of the car. Sage saw the 30 second show and thought it was beautiful - luckily it was her first fireworks show since she was a tiny baby, so she has nothing to compare it to. Hopefully next year we'll do better.
Anyway, the camping trip was wonderful. I miss it. I don't really like being inside my house right now. But I have lots to get done, so here I am blogging...