Thursday - Saturday: camping

We went camping with Nathan and his family for a few days.  It's been a while since I've camped in a tent, but really, it was wonderful.

It helped that it didn't rain and the bugs weren't too bad.  At least, not for me.  The kids ended up with a few itchy bites, but we weren't swatting at bugs all the time.  

We met up in Big Rapids for a late lunch.  The kids immediately started being their crazy selves together.

We got the tents set up and the kids ran around for a while while Nathan and I pretended to read but really just talked to each other.  After dinner we went to see the sunset.  It was on a rocky beach and rock-lover Isaac was in heaven.

Friday the kids woke up early but not too early.  The quiet hours at the campground surprisingly ended at 6am, but we attempted to keep everyone quiet until 8am with mixed results.  After breakfast we went to a nature reserve for a hike.

Watching for sticks that they threw in the river on the other side.

I liked all their colors in the green forest.

In the afternoon we went to the beach.  We walked out to the sandbar and Isaac was entertained by going back to the shore and bringing us rocks on the sandbar.  After we got out because we were getting to cold we sat on the beach, but I didn't last very long.  It was hot.  And sunny.  I took Joshua back to the campsite and we had some hammock time.  Isaac actually followed soon afterwards and read. He read a lot more than I was expecting this vacation, but I loved it.

We went back to the beach right at sunset, but didn't spend as long there.

There was a small night hike to throw away the garbage.

Saturday.

We were planning on leaving Saturday afternoon.  Everyone slept in a bit in the morning, which was helpful.  Making a fire from the embers was a fun project right after breakfast.

We went on a hike on the campground trails in the morning, had an early lunch, and went to the beach.  There was some shade this time so I was much happier, but this time Joshua was ready to leave first.  That was fine; I needed to start packing anyway.  The drive home was uneventful.

It was a lovely vacation and I was happy to camp...really camp...again.