Camping Disclosures

If you remember in this post, we added a new member to the family last year, Martha.

She hosts our family on camping trips like this past weekend at Lake Jocassee which I

would rename as Lady Jo. Prince Charming grew up camping. His parents have almost always for

as long as he can remember owned a camper so I would say he is experienced. I on the other hand

did not grow up camping. I can count on two hands my childhood camping experiences. My parents are divorced:: my dad moved to Montana when I was a child, so my brother and I flew out every summer for some awesome visits.

My dad would take us on camping excursions from the deep woods of Montana, to Flathead Lake, Glacier National Park and Spotted Bear. The difference of camping with my dad and Prince Charming camping with his parents is that they did all the work. We just got to go and enjoy the adventure.

Now the duties are our (my) sole responsibility:: wash all the clothes, sheets, pack towels, pillows, toiletries, food, movies, snacks, back packs....now I realize this camping business is a.lot.of.work!!
So sometimes I need direction.
Here's the low down. We planned this trip months in advance with a group. The week of our trip our household became ill. I decided to pack the day of the trip which included washing the whole house, and packing the whole house. We departed at 2:30pm thanks to procrastination. I was anxious and a wee bit snippy- ok a lot snippy. You would be happy to know that it did not take much to make me melt. Prince Charming put on a baseball cap and I went weak in the knees. Just sayin. I am a sucker for my man in a baseball cap.
So the plan was to leave early and not have to set up in the dark- we set up in the dark.
We (I) did not take inventory of Martha before our departure so when it was time to cook dinner
we did not have any pots and pans.
I had a whole lot of food and nothing to cook it in?!?
Where was my dad?? Where were my in laws???
I told husband I could cry.
We did remember to bring the satellite, tv and dvd player so I suppose our priorities were in order.


Did I mention that we didn't even bring marshmallows, graham crackers, or Hershey chocolate??
But we did eat some s'mores by the camp fire!!
O. I highly recommend camping in a group because what you forget, someone else remembered.
And what you did bring- others might enjoy.
It was a co-op process.



Do you see the beauty in God's creation? The moment where time stands still

and you can be mesmerized by the simple things in life such as the leaves of the trees,

the sound of water falling only to be caught by a stream, the richness in the rocks, and

the laughter of the children.

We packed up Sunday morning while the children played steadily:: crinkling the leaves, swinging on tree branches, hiking down the woods, and racing their cars one last time. Prince Charming was ready to be home to get a jump start on the work that was ahead of us:: unpacking, rewashing, homework, rest.

The others decided to ride up to the NC line and take a small hike to find a waterfall. I was jealous to say the least and asked Stacey to text me a picture if they found the waterfall.

Would you believe they found the waterfall pictured above?

Husband had to put his baseball cap back on for the ride home....