Lions & Tigers & Bears

How does that saying go?
Lions and Tigers and Bears, OH MY!!!!
A camping we will go! A camping we will go!!

And a camping we did go, over a month ago, I took some special, young friends of mine camping for a night. Nothing extravagant or fancy, but for four little kids, it was the time of their lives! And for me!! :)  My special Peter, and his brother, along with their nanny, and their two neighbor girls, all decided to go camping before school started and everything gets really busy again. I got everything prepared, and had the trunk of my vehicle packed. We picked up the kids in the afternoon, and headed to Fremont Lakes! I personally had never been to those lakes before, but have heard so many good things about them. And the kids have never camped before, or slept over somewhere without mom and dad or grandparents. So it was exciting for all of us!

These specials!! <3

We can't ever be together without a "silly" face picture!

When we arrived, we got to pick the campsite we wanted. That was fun for them! Somewhere close to the water, park, and swimming! We found the perfect spot!!

Perfect spot! We were only about 20 feet from the beautiful lake!

So peaceful!

This tent, was a little bit of a challenge... you see it's my family's tent (6-8 person tent), and to be quite honest, I haven't exactly put it up recently. So... I tried to get some advice from my sister Angela.. but we still had some trouble. As we had to make sure the #6 poles connected to the #3, which then connected to #1.. , etc.. and then somehow pull it all up together. Well... with little kids, who've never did it before, I will just say it was the biggest challenge! BUT we did it!! We got it up!! And after face-timing my sister to make sure it looked right to her, a few giggles, and a lot of sweat, we decided it was good! And the kids biggest fear never happened... the tent never fell on us!! That has to equal success, right?!?!!! :)

Home sweet Tent

So what do we do next?? Swim of course!!! Who cares about eating! We want to get our suits on and get in the lake!! It was the best! We played all sorts of games. But I think the one the kids liked the best was something they called "latch on" Two of them would grab on to us, and we would have to try to pry them off... while they tried to stay on! Let me just say, a few scratches were made. Haha! But it was still fun! So many giggles!! And the water being sooo green... that was new to them too! ;)

Playing in the sand!

Ketchup mustache!! :)

And note to self... for when I do this again, or have my own kids someday... when one takes little ones camping, grill out, etc... bring hot dogs, not brats! :) And all you moms out there that are laughing at me right now... I thought having "maple syrup" brats that tasted literally like pancakes and syrup would have been a hit. Haha! Nope! It's just plain old Oscar Meyer hot dogs that they love! :)

Then after supper... more lake time it is!! So much fun! And the sunset was beautiful!!

Thank goodness for a selfie-stick! :)

This... sunsets... will always be my favorite!! God smiling on us!

Goof Balls! ;)

:)

Love!!

:)

They love her!! 

Real life... when I mention.. "one more picture... please!!" haha!! :)

Now what they have been waiting for all night long... S'MORES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  And s'mores we had! Thank goodness I brought extra marshmallows and chocolate!! It was the best!! And I'm pretty sure everyone had at least 2-3. And Peter.. I think he was up to 5! :)  Perfect way to end the day! And definitely worth the sugar high right before bed! ;)

Wish I had a post picture... covered in marshmallows and chocolate everywhere! We should have gotten back in the lake to clean off! :)

And then it's time for bed. We are camping, so of course we are staying up way past bedtime hours! And as we all climb into the tent... we realize it's sooo HOT!!!  Thank goodness after we opened the windows, there was a little breeze. But it all makes for the camping experience! And as you can see from the picture, everyone is sleeping on top of their sleeping bag.. all except Peter! No matter how hot and humid it was, he wanted the full experience... inside the sleeping bag, all zipped up! :) I tried to talk him out of it, but no go. It took awhile for all to fall asleep, but eventually all scary things and missing moms all went away, and we slept! Well mostly.... minus the trains that blew their whistles every 20 mins ALL night long!! Haha!! oh well... so so worth it!!

Then, I also forgot, that no matter what time kids go to bed, they always get up at the same time the next morning!! So yes, we were up by 6:30am ready for breakfast and more lake swimming!! :)

Morning sunrsie!

Breakfast time.... donuts and orange juice! 

Looking for treasure!!!

Early morning swim!! Pretty sure we were in the water by 8am!! :)

Building a village for the ants! :)

His face says it all.. yes, it was a little chilly so early! 

I love this! ;)

So many little homes for the ants. And so much thought into how to keep the water out! :)

Finished product!! :)

Love these guys!! 

And the geese! Next to our campsite! When asked if wanted to feed them bread, "No, we want to chase them!!" Haha!! What was I thinking!! :) 

They eventually did decide to feed them, and collect feathers!

 And then... before we all pack up... "Can we have more S'mores?!?! Please!!!"  Of course!! So, started up our little charcoal grill again, and s'mores for a morning snack we had!! :)  It was the best!!

Love!!

:)

Then once home... we were pooped! So movie time it was! :)

Then a few weeks ago, one of the girls had to write a story in school. Her mom sent it to us, said she found it in her backpack. So funny what little kids remember most! What is silliest to them!! :)  Children sure keep us young and real! And just another reason of the little things meaning the most!