Annual camping trip

Right after the kids got out of school for the summer, we went on our annual camping trip with our friends. I love camping, but man, it's a lot of work for one Mama with two kids. 

Finn was doing some math flash cards while I was setting up camp. He has been really interested in numbers lately.

His shirt could not be more fitting to his personality...this one keeps me on my toes.

Fox didn't want to go this year. He told me that it would be ok, if it was in a cabin (which there weren't any), but he didn't want to sleep in a tent, and he doesn't like to be outside. Which is SO HIM. I contemplated to leave him at home with Katie, and just take Finn, but after talking to her and some other people about it, I decided that sometimes you just have to suck it up and go have fun, even if it's not your favorite. I brought about 100 blankets and sleeping bags to make it as cozy and comfortable as I could for him, plus the temperatures were dipping into the low 40's at night, so I wanted to be prepared. He ended up admitting, that the tent was pretty cozy.

Once his friend got there, things started to look up for him.

The weather was absolutely perfect during the day, and a nice change from the 100 degrees we were already experiencing in Phoenix.

We shared a camp site with my friend Tilly, but unfortunately the rest of the group was a five minute walk away, so we didn't hang out with them as much as I would've liked to, because I had two kids to keep track of.

Having a hot chocolate at our neighbor's camp!

 Nature walk with some of the kids!

On our second day there, the group decided to venture out to find a creek, which ended up being a really bad decision...haha. One of the trucks got stuck in the mud for a little while, and driving my old car over a bunch of rocks in the middle of the woods scared me, and I got really lucky that nothing ended up being broken, because I bottomed out so many times. And unfortunately we never found water.

This kid hasn't napped in ages, but took two car seat naps during camping.

We played a lot of Uno!

I think Fox ended up having more fun than he anticipated. All the kids were hunting for lizards, explored the woods, found themselves some "headquarters", and I loved seeing them play outside.

Finn was a little less independent, and I had to be with him at all times (not just for safety, but because he didn't want to leave my side), but it's definitely gotten better over the last few years, and I think we are getting there. Maybe next year I will get to sit down for longer than five minutes and have a conversation with my friends during camping...ha!

All the moms!

One family brought a Can-am and took all the kids for a ride. Fox said it was okay, and Finn absolutely hated it.

I had to hold his hand the entire time (I was in the front seat), and he kept asking how much longer.

The lizard crew! Fox begged me to let him take one of the lizards home. That didn't happen.

We already booked a campsite for next year, and while it is sooooo much work, I can't wait!