family campout

this weekend we had a super duper fun family campout planned!

but things didn't exactly go like we thought they would.

here's how it went down...

the second we get to the camp ground the boys are ready to hike and they snatched Sari up to go with them.

little Samuel has a mind of his own so he went on his own little walks.

well, more like we would turn around and the little ninja would be 100 feet away walking through the woods.

Matt and i set up the tent and he laid out our sleeping bags and everything.

Christy and Dad set up the mansion Christy bought!

Samuel thought their tent was the coolest thing ever

look at him relaxing!

the boys were completely obsessed with the camper!

we sent them on a wood hunt so we could start a fire and man oh man was that cool!

this is what Matt did when i asked him to show me what he was doing.

and of course, being a boy, Matt had to find one that looked like a gun and strike a pose for me

Samuel relaxing again, this time in a very odd place.

he just walked right in the middle of us and laid down.

Bubba found a gun just like Uncle Matt

why is it every time i go camping there are cows nearby?

Robin Hood Trey

and his trusty sidekick Little John Matt with an eyepatch

Dad and i played some horseshoes

but it was a little difficult with 3 little boys running around stealing them from us

but they turned out to be better than me at the game!

Sari being cheesy

getting a fire going for dinner time.

Mom busting out the Barney napkins i'm pretty sure are from my 4th birthday party.

Christy being...funny? naughty?

who knows.

weenie roasting

Matt keeping Samuel busy.

one cheeto for each hand makes Samuel a happy boy!

but not for long.

Samuel gets burned the first time by putting a flashlight into the fire and holding it there.

Trey checks to make sure the flashlight still works after the whole ordeal.

then we all sit back and relax a little.

until Samuel gets burned a second time by grabbing a hot coal from on top of the dutch oven.

then as if that isn't bad enough, it started pouring rain and we were all forced to take cover under a canopy that Christy brought.

and seconds after this picture was taken Christy realized all the windows on her tent were open and the whole mansion was flooded including beds, blankets, clothes, everything.

Christy and Dad did their best to fix the situation while the rain kept coming and Bubba and Trey saved me from bugs while i sat with them under the canopy.

basically the rest of that night was a total bust.

the kids went to bed as soon as Christy got the tent situation somewhat under control and the rest of us followed soon after.

then i got to spend the rest of the night laying awake.

oh the joys of camping.

when morning came Christy told me she didn't sleep either and we both said we heard Dad walking around for a while after we were in our tents but after speaking to Dad we found out he never left the camper that night.

so Christy and i decided either the cows were walking around our tents all night or a serial killer was on the loose.

yikes!

anyway...so morning came and we really thought the rain was going to leave us alone and we could salvage the rest of this camping trip.

we ate breakfast...kinda.

Matt and i made pancakes which turned into crepes which none of the kids liked.

but they forgot all about that when Dad started getting the quads ready for a ride.

that's when the rain started again.

it quickly went from somewhat dry to very very wet and very very muddy!

it rained the whole time which just made things icky!

i missed my chance to ride with Matt but when he came back caked in mud i wasn't sad anymore.

getting muddy and not being able to take a shower? no thank you.

but the boys just HAD to do it!

Christy and i passed the time by sitting in her dry van and listening to Tom Petty!

aren't i the most photogenic person in the universe?

i dare say i am.

and we were glad we stayed in there when we saw how yucky Dad got.

he's trying to tell us he's not THAT muddy.

please, he looks like the swamp thing!

and as a bit of comic relief, when we came back from muddy quading we found our marshmallows had disappeared.

where were they?

oh yeah...a squirrel stole them and put them up a tree.

so Sari rescued them

Chelsa and Steven finally made it up to the camp ground during the quading and they made the most delicious chicken tacos for lunch and we ate under the canopy to stay dry.

family photo

after lunch the kids played in the rain.

we could hardly keep track of Samuel.

and then the boys asked us to please shut off the rain because it wasn't fun anymore.

Matt agreed.

and we finally had to make the hard decision to pack up and go home.

the boys, Sari and Mom hid in the camper while the rest of us cleaned up in the rain.

Matt and i got our stuff packed up pretty quickly but it took everyone's help to take down the mansion.

the cleaning crew

taking down the precious canopy that saved all our lives!

Christy is such a genius for bringing that thing!

Dad washing his hands one more time in the faucet that the boys were crazy about.

Dad only got a little wet.

we stopped at the Payson Dairy Queen for one last bit-o-fun before we went home but Trey had murder eyes.

the boys were very upset about having to go home a day early.

but they were all so tired they couldn't keep their eyes open on the way home.

neither could Matt.

he fell asleep in about 10 minutes.

i still think the trip was really fun but if that stupid rain had just left us alone it could've been AMAZING!

i already told Dad we should wait another month and try again.

that way the monsoon season will be over.

it might be a little colder but cold is much easier to deal with than rain.