The McBrides: Family Campout

Camping.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

That statement couldn't be more true of our camping trip.

The past several years we have had an annual Hornberger camp out at the lake. It has usually been in June and blazing hot.

This year we decided to go earlier so it wouldn't be quite as miserable.

So even though the entire month of May has felt like summer, Thursday night (our first night out) the temperature dropped to 47 degrees.

Now if you're planning on winter camping, that's fine. But this was supposed to be summer camping. We had checked the weather and brought some warm things, but probably not enough. It was so COLD!

Friday morning the temperature was in the 60s, nice for walking around, but not swimming.

So the husbands took the kids on a walk to feed fish at the marina and play at the playground. The wives went home (about 30 minutes away) to gather more blankets and warm gear.

(Miriam loves playing with Braden, I asked her later who her favorite cousin was and she said it was him)

And my sister and sister-in-law were nice enough to stop by and pick up a birthday cake for me on their way back. Lemon filled, it was yummy!

Later that afternoon, the sun peeked out and it felt warmer, so we packed everyone up and headed down to the lake.

I just love this chubby girl!

Eliza loved the sand. I really had to watch her though because she kept putting everything in her mouth.

Stan and Rebecca weren't brave enough to get in the water as the clouds had rolled back in and the breeze picked up.

Miriam enjoyed herself, though was scared of the waves.

After Miriam started shivering and turned purple we quickly got out of the water and tried to get warm. I'm not sure how my Canadian relatives can stand swimming in the cool weather.

Rebecca and I sent the kids back to camp with the hubbies and she and I went on the boat for a ski. I didn't bring the camera, but the clouds had rolled in more and it started raining. But that didn't stop us. We both skied and I took a turn on the wake board.

Back at camp we enjoyed yummy camp food of hot dogs and brats. My brother was even nice enough to give me some of his delicious steak since it was my birthday.

Miriam enjoying her s'more.

I haven't yet mentioned some of the difficulties of getting the girls to sleep. To simplify, let's just say that Miriam, although completely exhausted both nights, did NOT want to lay down and go to sleep. This resorted in several tantrums, locking her in her car seat in the van, and eventually Stan taking her for a 30 minute drive until she fell asleep. To top it off, Friday night, Eliza wasn't feeling well (teething, earache? Who knows??) She woke almost every hour through the night, one of those times waking the entire campground at 2:00 a.m.

But we made it and thankfully Stan let me sleep late the next morning to try and catch up on some sleep.

Saturday was back to typical summer weather so we headed down to the beach for a more enjoyable time.

Cousin Brooke joined us this time.

Stan and I took Miriam for a ride on the boat.

She had a good time and thankfully wasn't scared.

She also enjoyed sitting next to her cousin Lydia, who is 6 months older than Miriam. It's fun because their age gap is not as noticeable now and they are starting to play together more.

Thanks to my awesome brother Jared for taking us all out on his boat.

Stan and I both took a turn on the wake board.

I had a blast being on the water again, not having been out for two years since I was pregnant last summer. It all came back to me. Of course with the fun comes the very sore muscles afterwards!