dirt+smoke+bugs= one fun camping trip

Last Sunday we decided it would be fun to go camping for memorial day weekend. Leave it to us to wait until the last minute to make plans...and for those of you who know a little about camping, memorial day weekend is one of the busiest time. So come early Friday morning Jay, Zack, Eleanor and I all headed up to Payson Lake in hopes of getting a campsite. We got to Payson Lakes about 10:30 am and there were only 4 or 5 campsites left. We were surprised that we got such a great campsite. It was close to the lake and very secluded. The rest of the clan did not show up until 8:30 and 10:00 pm, so Jay and I had a few hours to burn.

John totally lucked out on this camp trip. He got out of packing, loading the car and most importantly setting up camp! Lets just say its not very easy setting up a tent for your first time alone with an eight month old! By the time I was done Eleanor's face, mouth, hands and clothes were covered in dirt! She LOVED it!

Friday night Eleanor woke up at 2am screaming! We could not get her to calm down so John and I took her to the car (we didn't want to wake the entire mountain). She finally calmed down and we ended up sleeping in the car. The next afternoon we discovered Eleanor no longer had just four teeth, but that her firth tooth broke through. Poor girl!

Saturday morning John, Eleanor and I got up around 7 am and headed down to the lake to do a little fishing. Within 5 minutes John caught his first fish. He then put me in charge of watching his poll and we missed a few bites.

When we got back to camp, everyone thought we had left last night after Eleanor started screaming and they were surprised to see us (The thought of leaving did occur). The rest of Saturday was spent fishing, hiking around the lake, playing games, cooking the fish, eating and enjoying being in the great out doors!

Saturday Eleanor had played so hard she was OUT all night! That next morning we had our tent down and packed before 7am. Again we headed down to the lake to do one last fishing trip. John was the only one who made it down to the lake. Eleanor and I took an hour and half nap in the car. When we got back to the camp site everyone else was packed and ready to go.

We got home around 11 am and spent most the afternoon unpacking, doing laundry and resting. Its amazing how tiring camping can be! But we had a GREAT time! Eleanor LOVED being outside and hanging out with her cousins. Hopefully we'll get at least one more camping trip in before the summer is over.