camping at the beach...
When I posted on Friday about how I was planning to "kick back" this weekend, I had completely forgotten about our family camping trip at our nearby Grayton Beach State Park that husband had planned months ago. These are the types of conundrums a girly girl regularly finds herself in when she marries a hard core outdoors-man who's hiked mountains, traveled abroad and camped in Alaska for weeks at a time. I've mentioned before my thoughts on camping here.
SO WHAT'S A GIRL TO DO?
I pulled myself up by the bootstraps and prepared to follow this man on our camping adventure. And believe me, with four kids, everything is an adventure.
Despite the fact that it was 78 degrees the day before, the weather at night was F-R-E-E-Z-I-N-G. Our campfire helped keep us warm and dinner consisted of hot dogs and baked beans cooked on the camp fire by the offspring, mac-n-cheese and fresh cherries. I know the cherries are random, but I had to throw in something healthy to offset those nitrates and preservatives.
For dessert we had the BEST smores in town. Big fat marshmallows squooshed in between Godiva chocolate nibbles and graham crackers. Mmmm Mmmm.
After shivering through a gorgeous sunset, the youngest of offspring were crying to go home and curl up in their warm bed. So I packed up the smallest three and headed for our nest. Eldest and husband dropped us off and headed back to campsite for the rest of the night. They tell me they had about a 42 degree night.
The next day while two of my leading men cooked their breakfast over a new camp fire and later went fishing, I was feeding the young ones back at home. Ahhh, a coffee maker and fireplace are such luxuries on a chilly morning. Shortly after breakfast, we drove over to the campsite and brought our Alpha-males a picnic lunch. We even brought along ingredients for home made hot chocolate. First time I've ever made hot chocolate over a camp fire. Delish.
I was amazed at how much fun we all had. Funny how when your children are not suffering from frost bite, they actually enjoy themselves.
This was one of our best family days ever.
I think because everything was so simple and we had no distractions. Only nature and each other. A clever combination. There's something so pure and calming about nature. And about escaping [even if it's just one mile away] without bringing toys, tv's, phones, or lap tops. Even though the kids had nothing to "play" with, they had a blast. They were forced to use their imagination and appreciate the beauty all around them. We had no sibling arguments. Such delight.
The eldest was our Master of Fire.
Yes, I match my girls here. Have I become one of "those moms?" Certainly not. But when your sweet daughter agrees to shop at Crewcuts [hello, we have an outlet here] and she sees that she can match you, how ever do you say no?!!? She's always thrilled to pieces when we wear our green sweatshirts together.
fishing + clowning
Our nature walks were so beautiful. Look at this red treasure I found glowing in the sun.
The camp site is right on the water, which is a rare coastal dune lake. This is the same lake that's in our neighborhood.
stunning + sweet
The girls gathered acorns for at least an hour and loved every minute.
It was freezing outside but my husband was fishing barefoot. Wait,are those jazz hands?
Happy.
I guess I learned that this city girl loves camping with her fam. Before leaving, I shocked my husband and picked out two potential sites for our next outdoor adventure. We're looking at dates. I can't wait!
