A Campin' We Will Go....

And that is exactly what we did do this past weekend! We went camping at Chickasaw State Park. The weather was wonderful, and we had an awesome time! I've always said that one night a year is about all I can take - well, we had such a good time, I might even be willing to go again IN THE SAME YEAR!!!

After we got there on Friday evening and we got our campsite set up, we ventured across the bridge to the big playground. The kids (as you can see) had a blast!!! Noodle the Poodle was even in on the fun - stay tuned for some pictures of how Noodle ACTUALLY felt about the whole thing!!
We stayed at the playground until dark, and then the kids spotted the lightning bugs! Then the fun really began. We chased lightning bugs for quite some time (I got lucky on the pic. of Kinlee's bug actually lighting up!) and then headed back over the bridge because it had gotten VERY dark and we didn't have a flashlight!

Needless to say, we made it back just fine and just in time for some yummy s'mores by the campfire. Notice below the picture I warned you about - Noodle was less than amused at the whole outing, but did seem to enjoy the campfire. When she wasn't being "lugged" around, she could be found curled up in the chair, lifeless, and unamused, thinking we had all lost our minds....
The next morning, we headed out on a nature hike. We saw some really cool things - baby geese with their mama, a frog on a log, a cool snail, and a tiny frog (Kinlee was so proud that she actually held one!)

Then, it was back to the campsite for some more relaxing, eating, and playing. Look at that campsite would ya - looks like professionals to me!.....
In case you have noticed some strange faces in the pictures, it is because we met up with a super-nice family (the Smiths from Memphis) that we spent a lot of the weekend with. They had 5 kids (4 of theirs, one was a friend), and they were all so nice. The kids enjoyed playing, hiking, and chatting with them all weekend. We exchanged numbers in hopes of another possible "camp date" in the future.

All said and done, we were exhausted, but it was so worth it! We had an awesome time - like I said, so awesome that I just might do it again......soon!

Backyard Camping

Okay, not so much the "camping" part, but we did have the campfire. Every once in a while, we like to build a fire in the backyard (I'm sure we are breaking all kinds of city ordinances) and roast hotdogs and make S'mores. Finally, the rain stayed away long enough the other night to take advantage of the opportunity. It was such a nice night, and lots of fun together.Later on in the month, we are planning a REAL camping trip (State Park, tents, sleeping bags, and all), so I'm sure I will have some more pics. to post after that.

Don't you just love our burning box??? We are not nature people, by any means, and don't just have tons of firewood lying around. The box was all I could come up with. The boxes don't burn long, so we had to have our hotdogs ready on their sticks for round 1 and hurry before the fire went out. Then, we loaded up the sticks with marshmallows for round 2 before we threw on the last box. Hopefully, before the real campout, we'll come up with some better equipment. We would never make it on Survivor, but for our backyard, it was just perfect!!!