First Tent Camping - Part II

After we put the boys to bed, Todd and I were able to sit up and just visit and relax for awhile. The night was pretty uneventful - success.

Todd made us breakfast on his great camp stove that I got him for his fortieth birthday.



Leo played with the glow sticks some more. Hours of entertainment. He actually made a glowing chandelier with them for our tent while we slept.



Delicious breakfast!

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There were two boys at the campsite right next to us, and Leo finally worked up his nerve to go over there after breakfast and introduce himself. They were best buddies after that. Then Henry got brave and went over too. They had a great morning riding bikes and playing together.


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Playing with a handful of algae down by the lake.

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Leo and his new friend. (The other little boy wouldn't let me take his picture.)

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We had such a good time. We loved the convenience and family friendliness of Ray Roberts Lake. It seemed like almost everyone there had kids - we have already made reservations to go back for a weekend in April.

And here is my real life bullet points, just so this is honest.

-Until they made friends with the boys next door, they still fought constantly. The constant fighting drives us insane.

-We did not have enough changes of clothes. I did not think about the fact that they would be in the dirt or mud all.the.time. They also needed rubber flip flops or shoes of some sort for wading.

-Getting out of town on Saturday was a beating. I had organized it as much as possible, but we still needed to make a Wal Mart run, get it all loaded into vehicles, eat a quick lunch, etc. They were fighting over the computer and whining and carrying on the whole time while we were doing this, and I about came unglued. When we are working so hard to do something fun for them and they act like brats while we're killing ourselves - well, I don't handle it well. Also, while playing in my car while we were trying to pack, Leo stuck a charger in my car outlet that we thought had been thrown away...well, that charger shorts out the outlet. So now that has to be fixed AGAIN. Then we got to 7-Eleven to put gas in both cars....my credit card would not work b/c Todd had already put his in. We were scared it had thrown up a flag on the credit card, but thankfully it did not. Just a hassle.

-Henry is terrified of bugs and loud flushes. Every time he had to go to the bathroom, bugs and public toilets had to be involved unless I could convince him to go in the woods. He would not go in a stall by himself, so we had to both be crammed in a TINY one if the handicapped was occupied. Then he would see a bug and refuse to go - even though I knew he REALLY needed to. It was super fun.

But, of course, we are going back - so obviously those are just my little gripes!

And just for fun....here is my list of things we needed that we did not have. I am liking this game of making a plan for everything you need to live there for a night. I like lists.

-Foaming hand soap (for our campsite, and the bathroom ran out)
-Spoon rest for cooking
-Paper towel holder (probably overkill? but it bothers me to have a naked roll of paper towels just lying around)
-Trash Bag Holder (we saw that many people hung a trash bag from their lantern hook. One person had a collapsible trash can lined with a bag - I liked that. It looked neater)
-Appetizer tray for completion of making camp
-Play tent and other kid activities, horseshoes, etc.
-Chip Bag Clips
-Metal fork for turning meat
-Spray Surface cleaner for wiping tables
-our electric griddle from home
-scraper for cleaning cast iron