We went camping!

If you know us, you know that we are not outdoors people generally. We did enough of that in the military. However, as the boys get older we have decided that we need to get them out more. So we took the kids camping this past weekend and we had a great time.

We went to a state park along the Mississippi River. It was nice and out of the way and it was a quiet campground until we got there. We went with another family because they are experienced campers. They taught us a lot, but more importantly the kids had a great time. They played football, soccer, rode bikes, sat by the fire, played card games, all the usual stuff. We even took a hike. The only 2 things that were bad actually had up sides. It rained all night, but it started at 10pm and ended when we woke up. Thanks mother nature. The toilet in the area was an outhouse, but it was clean and the boys didn't have to flush. (It's hard to get them to remember to flush at home:)

Liam with his "walking" stick. It became firewood later when he wasn't looking.
Hanging out at the camp fire.

Lance enjoying S'mores

We went for a small hike on Sunday before we left. The campground is up about 500 ft. on the bluffs of the river. We chose a path that took us down to the water and then we had to come back up. It was a tough hike for kids and inexperienced (unprepared) hikers. It was only about 3 miles but it was mostly up and down the bluff. Everyone did a great job hiking, no one complained and it was getting hot near the end. The 3 year did have a small meltdown close to the top, but she did great!

The bottom of the trail was so worth it, but we still had to go back up.