More Camp Pics

Rockbridge Arch trail

Love this one- they were so happy the entire hike! No complaining!

My mountain man

Love Luke's pose- this was toward the end of the hike. He has binoculars aroun his neck!

Heading home- we camped at site 32 this time. Another tradition, always take a pic by the campsite post!

Back from the woods!

Ready for a big hike!

Priceless!

Roasting marshmallows

Eating his smore (just a graham cracker) - he was unaware!!

Sharing a snack at the campsite

We went camping Wednesday afternoon - Friday afternoon. The weather was perfect! It was so nice to be outside enjoying the beautiful weather. We went to our favorite campsite, Koomer Ridge campground at Red River Gorge. The boys had a blast. It was very difficult having Tyler all over the place but overall everything worked out. Camping can just be so much work! The boys loved digging with shovels, collecting fire wood, hiking, playing catch, and hanging out by the fire. On Wednesday we set up our campsite and went on a short hike nearby. We came back and made dinner - we had to keep the food easy! Tyler is still so hands on and there is so much to do when camping anyway so we kept it simple. Roasted hot dogs on the fire and then I made green beans and mac & cheese. I had to do 1 delicious camp food so I did potatoes (peeled and thinly sliced) and onion sliceds in foil packets cooked over the fire. They were delicious - even though I had to borrow butter from some neighbors! Then smores and finally had all the boys asleep by 10pm. Wilson and Luke were so excited to cook on the fire!

Tyler woke us up pretty early on Thursday. After breakfast we took a drive down Tunnel Ridge Road hoping Tyler would take a nap. He eventually did fall asleep. My mom and her friend Terry joined up with us at lunch time. Then we went hiking together. We went on a new trail for our family but my mom has done it before. We went on the Rockbridge trail - it is my favorite hike! We were gone for about 3 1/2 hours. It was the best afternoon. The boys were such good hikers and Tyler did very well in his backpack. He loved looking around. For dinner we ate at Miguel's. They have good pizza and that it is a family tradition to go there when we are at the gorge! If you haven't been to Miguel's you should go! Interesting local pizza place. We had the boys to bed by 8:30 last night after smores - they were exhausted. Andy and I enjoyed a great campfire and star gazing- the stars were unbelievable.

Today was the hardest day. Tyler woke us up around 5am. He played for a little while and then cried. It seemed like forever. I'm sure the other campers were hating us. He finally fell back asleep for two more hours. So we were tired and we had a lot of packing up to do. Tyler was making that very difficult. We finally got things done (took about 2 hours) and headed home. It was a great time! I'm thankful to know that next time we go camping Tyler will be older! Never have to camp with an 18 month old again!!!

Picture Post

Here is the dinner from our PF Chang's post. Hungry anyone?

Andy got some really good pictures on his backpacking trip. I picked a few to share. Here's the group shot. I think this is the only picture with Andy in it!

He has a cool waterproof case for our camera which allowed him to get this picture.

He is planning to rappel off THIS in June. Don't even get me started...

Pretty flower!

Camping Trip!

Here is the camper we used!

Two peas in a pod!

Hanging out around the fire on the first day.

We had a great time camping this past week. We went to our favorite spot with Danny, Steph & family and Uncle Bill. We had a nice campfire going the whole time we were awake! The weather was great (a little chilly) until Thursday morning when we were packing up. The kids had a great time being outside, hiking, and playing together. I'd say eating smores was a highlight too! We had good food and lots of fun! Enjoy the pictures!

Goin' exploring!

Man, the food you eat when you're camping sure tastes good! Luke gobbled up his green beans!

Ladies turn washing dishes!

We stopped for pizza at Miguel's on the way home.

Ahhh...this is the life!

I love Spring Break! Although, I will admit I was in a bit of a bad mood Sunday night and part of Monday. Why you ask? On a week off? Feeling like crap. But the second half of Monday, yes, even into the evil time of day (late afternoon/evening) I felt pretty good. I guess I don't know what it feels like to feel normal anymore. But I'll take pretty good. So yesterday I had my hair trimmed and highlighted, lunch at my grandparents, planned our camping menu, and started laundry. Then we took the boys to their first ever movie theater movie! We went to see Horton Hears a Who. It was cute! Wilson was in a trance stuffing his mouth with popcorn. Luke sat in Andy's lap the first half and switched to my lap the second half. It was fun. We wrapped up the kid evening with dinner and playing at Mcdonald's! Talk about Andy and I being awesome parents! Movie with popcorn and McDonald's with playland! We totally rock.
Today I have baby appointment #3. I've been to both of the others alone which is fine, just totally different from the first two pregnancies! I think Andy had missed 1 or maybe two appointments with Luke. None with Wilson. But, that's what happens with 2 kids! I don't want to parade in with the whole family for every appointment, that's for sure!! (Hi, yes, I'm here for my appointment. We don't have a baby-sitter or birth control. All said while smiling big so the lady doesn't think we're loony). All around the appointment we're getting ready for camping! I've planned the menu, still working on the laundry, made trail mix. Which I have been craving and wanting to make. Now I have my excuse. It has yogurt raisins, almonds, honey roasted peanuts, sesame sticks ( I LOVE these!), craisins, and M&M's. It is yummy. Wilson and I made it this morning. Then I made Andy's- honey roasted peanuts and m&m's. That's all he liked out of what I chose. He would want peanut butter M&M's, dried pineapple, pretzels. He does like the yogurt raisins I think, but they are all in the big bowl.
We're taking my grandparents old camper. Which I am excited about! I think it will make camping a little bit easier with the two boys. We're going with Danny, Steph, Meghan, Lily, Trey, and Uncle Bill. It will be fun!
Here is the menu:
Dinner #1- Marinated BBQ Chicken grilled over campfire, potato packets (potato slices, onions, butter, salt, pepper) all wrapped in foil and cooked over campfire, green beans, and french bread
Followed by smores later!
Breakfast #1- Pancakes, Sausage, Eggs, Hot Chocolate - It's gonna be cold!
Lunch #1- Sandwiches, chips, fruit
Dinner #2- Hot Dogs on campfire, mac & cheese, fruit
Follwed by smores later!
Breakfast #2- oatmeal, hot chocolate
We plan to hike! Play in the dirt! Sit around the campfire! Nap! Read! Enjoy the outside. I think I'm finally excited!
P.S. The National Board box should arrive to it's final destination today!

Guys Campout!

Yesterday I posted about the Girls trip to Pipestem. Today, I'm posting about the Guys and kids (ages 3+) Campout. Poppy, Uncle Bill, Andy & Wilson, Danny, Meghan & Lily, James & Ethan, and David (Katie's BRAVE boyfriend ) went backpacking along the Williams River in WV. The hiked in 2 1/2 miles from the cars to a beautiful campsite. Here are a couple of views where they were staying. The kids ages 9, 5, almost 4 and 3 1/2 did really well on the trip. There were a few complaints about the thunderstorms and hiking in the rain but you can't really blame them! At the campout they ate lots of food, roasted marshmallows, had a beautiful campfire, swam in the cold river and had lots of fun! Here is Wilson, ready for bed and excited to be sleeping in a tent with his daddy, Lottie and in a new sleeping bag! Say cheese!

The boys also did a little fishing on the trip. Didn't catch any fish though! This is Wilson's first time to fish.

Hiking with Ethan! Wilson's little legs did get tired!

Wilson and Poppy found some great walking sticks!

Here's the whole gang! Wilson, Andy, Poppy, Danny, Lily, Meghan, David, Ethan, James. (Uncle Bill took the picture!)

Here is Wilson on the drive home from WV after the camping trip. I think the hiking and camping wore him out just a bit...don't you?!

I'm Baaack!!

The days just keep flyin' by! We just returned today from WV for a short trip with Andy's family. It was a blast! There will be a couple more posts later. The girls and babies stayed at Pipestem, a resort/lodge and the boys and kids went backpacking near the Cranberry river. I haven't had as much fun as I did in a long time! I can't wait to tell you all about it! Andy and Wilson seem exhausted from their backpacking trip. Us girls did a lot of talking, laughing, joking, playing Apples to Apples, eating, shopping, and basically reconnecting. It was GREAT! Andy had the camera on his trip so Steph and Erin are going to send me our great pics for a later post!