Camping

This year, we decided to get in touch with our adventurous side. Every year, a big group of friends from our ward head out for a fun weekend of camping at Shenandoah National Park. The group grows larger by the year(88 people attended this year). We have never been camping before as a family (the last time was when we were kidless at BYU). We were nervous that the kids would get scared of the bugs and sleeping outside in the dark. However, we declared this year as the year to start the tradition, or at least see if it will ever become a tradition!

So with that said, I stayed up till 3am packing and finishing up on work (G had a field day the next day at school that I had to help at and we left right after). Who ever knew camping would require so much packing? Thankfully, it paid off. To much of our surprise (and delight), camping was a huge hit! The kids loved gathering the firewood and helping dad build the fire. The hike was a little rough; Cedric had to carry T the whole way up and I was stuck with M in a baby carrier (we were too lazy to pack the hiking backpack). G cried half of the way down because his ankle hurt. However, the view at the top was spectacular. It was worth it! G said he'd never do the hike again, however, if you ask him what his favorite part of camping was, he said it was climbing the rocks at the top of the hike. I think he really gained a sense of accomplishment from it! Final verdict: A tradition is born!