It's That Time of Year...

For Family Camp!  Last year was the first year I took the boys to family camp. In the rational part of my mind I know it wasn't all sunshine and roses. I know I cried at least once, was sweaty hot, thought about begging Brandon to come up, and probably vowed to never do it again. But the emotional part of my mind only remembers how much fun the boys and I had.  Leading up this week, we were talking about camp, what we were going to do, how much fun we would have, etc.  But a couple of things happened that made this week much more challenging.

First, my dear niece suffered a sudden and very sad loss as her grandfather died in a hiking accident on Monday. We were all set to go camping with her on Wednesday, we had just been making plans and finalizing food, when we heard the news.  While, my niece did come out to see us, we missed having her be with us.

Second, it rained. Not in a, oh look it's raining a bit, but rather, OH MY GOD IT'S RAINING. I dug my first trench as I worked to keep our tent from flooding.  That was also the day of the memorial service. So not only was it raining, we also left camp for most of the day.  When we came back Brandon was with us, but we were all wet, tired, and emotionally drained.

It may not look impressive, but it was still a trench that I dug, in the rain, wearing my danskos.

Our reward for having to leave camp. I will confess we went not once but twice that day.

But I love family camp. I really do. I loved going as a kid, I have fond memories (and a few hard ones) of working there when I was in high school, living there for a summer before finally saying good-bye when I went off to college. And I love watching my boys take off on their bikes and head off to their classes.

Finn mastered riding his bike. Now I have three pro-bike riders in the family.

A rare moment of quiet time.

One of our favorite things to do on camping trips: car repairs!

In the end, it wasn't the week we had planned, but it was still a good week. The boys are singing camp songs all day (which is both good and bad). They have good memories of camping with grandma and Aunt Lisa, who is the most prepared person they know (according to Micah), and meeting new and old friends.

Miss Renna Jean, next year you will be 2 and twice the force to be reckoned with.

Of course we already signed up for next year.  Now on to recruit a few more friends to join us!