Unconditional Love: Camping with the Family

We like to camp at least once a year, or once in the fall and spring if we can swing it. So I keep asking and I finally got a everyone to agree to a weekend camping trip. We kept talking about it and Harper was so excited. She kept asking when we were going and when Friday finally arrived, she got herself dressed and told me she was ready! She and I spent the day packing everything, got the car ready, and when Cody got home from work, we headed out. It's crazy how much stuff we had to take: tent, sleeping bags, matress, chairs, cooler, pillows and blankets, jenga, bean bags, firewood, portable potty, and clothes. It literally took up our whole car.

We all got down to Lake Lewisville around dinnertime. Carleigh's friend, Addison, came with them and we all just ate a quick dinner of hotdogs and chips. We got the camper pulled out and the tent set up. The girls hung out and Harper had a blast just playing with everyone. Taylor of course pulled an amazing windbreaker jacket out, which must have been made in the late 80's/early 90's. She's the most amazing weirdo ever. It turned out to be colder that night than we thought, so I asked Harper if she would sleep inside the camper with Cody and I. Nope. She was seriously set on sleeping in the tent. So I gave in, thinking it wouldn't be too bad. She went to bed by herself in the tent pretty easily and we all went to hang out by the campfire. My dad had us play a game of Mafia, which was super fun. Kristi has been watching too much Lie to Me tv and tried to figure out all our lies. Cody didn't talk much except to try to kill me off. Addison hadn't played before so she was pretty easy to tell that she was innocent most of the night. Taylor had her awesome windbreaker on so I kept hearing her everytime she moved and could tell when she was the mafia. Carleigh and I made horrible detectives but awesome mafia. And Dad had fun telling our sad sob stories when we died. It was a great night. We all ate some smores and then headed to bed.

I honestly thought it would be fine sleeping in the tent. I woke up and was frigid cold. Plus, I saw light and assumed it was about sunrise. Well that was a relief that we had made it through the night. Check the phone - nope. It was only 12:30am. Only an hour and a half had passed. It was much colder than I thought. There was a street lamp shining right in our tent. We were sleeping on the slick part of the sleeping bag and sliding down the hill. And every bone in my body was in pain. I tried to go back to sleep, but I just kept waking up every 30 minutes. So at 2am, I finally just made the call and grabbed Harper and a sleeping bag and headed inside the camper. We pushed Cody over and the three of us slept on the dinette set (about a twin/full bed). It was warmer and darker, but much less space. I truly think I slept on about 6 inches of space. Eventually morning came, Harper woke with the birds, and the long day started. Harper got to climb up in Pop and Mimi's bed and play her phone. She showed Pop all her games and he was highly impressed.

We had eggs, bacon, and biscuits for breakfast thanks to Cody and Gary. Plus, we realized there was no coffee so my dad and I ran out to store to grab coffees. It's nice to camp out in the woods but have civilization 5 minutes away. We hung out for the morning and enjoyed the restful outdoors. Eventually, my dad convinced us to play Bocce ball and it was a blast. Taylor did the best and my team lost. But we also had Harper picking up balls, so that might have hindered our victory. An easy lunch and the girls all headed back home to drop Addison off and help Gentry get ready for prom. Pop and Harper played baseball for awhile, then Cody and I played. Then Harper went into the camper to rest and found her Nabi. We had just put Frozen on there and her face lit up when she found it. She is seriously obsessed with that movie. While she rested, we played dominoes, ate snacks, and talked. It was an extremely relaxing afternoon.

After nap time, Harper was bored so we took a walk to the lake. She has been asking since Easter to play in the sand with her new bucket and shovel. She was so excited the lake had a little beach she could play in. It had gotten hot quick and it felt so good to walk in the water. Harper and Pop went out a little farther and eventually she got crashed into by some big waves. They had a blast! After the lake, we got back to the campground and had to give Harper a bath. She had sand in every crevice (I actually hate sand!). I didn't want to head to the bathrooms, so we just washed her off in my dad's bucket. He kept changing out the water and it just kept getting colder and colder. By the end she was not a happy camper! But she got warmed up and we decided to play another round of Bocce ball. This time, Cody made it a combination of Bocce ball and frisbee golf. It was fun to play, I almost broke one of the balls, Carleigh and Cody hit Pumpkin with their balls, and we spent some time finding balls in the trees. But we had a blast. We made burgers for dinner and had a nice evening just sitting, talking, and hanging out. Harper went to bed in the camper this time and we sat around the fire. We also might have eaten an entire pineapple cherry dump cake.

We all got a better night's sleep this time and it was also much warmer in the morning. We all got up and had a quick breakfast. We started the long process of getting all the stuff put up and the camper taken down. Carleigh took Harper to the playground nearby and we all just spent the morning together. I'm sure my parents are tired of the whole process, but I thought it was fun to do together. Taylor made campfire biscuits and Harper played with the dogs. We were ready to go home by 11am which meant we would be home a little early. It was a fantastic weekend and we had such a great time.