1st Camping Experience

Victoria and Bella hiking at Lake Ray Roberts.

Daddy, Victoria, and Bella hiding in the brush.

Victoria finds some time to rollerskate.

Victoria's war wound from falling off the picnic table.

Note the Scobby Doo bandaid.

Daddy teaching the girls how to cook a hot dog.

Daddy teaching the girls how to cook a marshmallow.

We took the girls camping at Lake Ray Roberts this past Saturday. We left after their naps. It took about 35 minutes to get there- not bad, although Bella was still not a cooperative passenger. Jer bought a new cool tent at Target, because we can't find our old one- I think we lent it out, but can't remember to who. So if you have it, give me a ringy ding. This new tent sleeps 6 people and at night you can watch the stars in it- really cool. When we got to the campsite, we set the tent up, went looking for firewood (Victoria loved finding it), and got settled in. Then we drove around the lake. They actually have a beach area with sand and water to play in, but I didn't bring the girls' suits. Then we took a walk on a paved trail- nice for the kids. Victoria was even able to get some roller skating in. Later that night we had a feast- hot dogs on wire hangers, green beans from the can, Cheetos, marshmallows, and New York Peppermint Patties. At night we turned on the lantern and taught the girls how to play War with cards. They loved this. Ahhh, we lost. We won!!! Yeah! Over and over again. We put the girls to bed and tried to read our book outside, but Victoria kept waking up and talking, so we ended up going to sleep at 10ish. The one thing I hate about camping is the sleeping, or lack there of. It got so cold (50s or low 60s) and we really didn't bring much covers. Jer, Bella, and Victoria kept waking up throughout the night and complaining. Every sound woke me up. I swear I heard someone/ something in the bushes behind our tent at least 10 times during the night. Acorns or leaves kept dropping and making weird sounds. And then there was the most uncomfortable thing of all- the bedding itself. I think I slept/laid on a rock the entire night and I kept moving from this side to that side with no real difference. I will be buying an air mattress before our next excursion. In the morning, we made another fire and ate some more hot dogs for breakfast- they were good. I feel like I have a hangover- my back hurts, I have bags under my eyes, I'm so tired, and I just feel plain beaten up. But really, I wouldn't have changed it. I made some wonderful memories and so did Bella and Victoria and Jeremy. My favorites were of Jer teaching the girls to set their marshmallows on fire, me teaching Victoria what a Praying Mantis was, and playing a great game of war.