Camping Trip

Rick got 3 consecutive days off, in a row, one day after another. So, we took a little camping trip 20 minutes from home. You may remember from a previous post a little spot in Toledo called Oak Openings. It's a preserve used most often by scout troups, etc. When you're in the park, you really feel like you're deep in the woods somewhere. It's really beautiful.

The kids were more than anxious to get our camp set up. I just got out of the way and read.
Though it was completely unnecessary, Jacob lashed a latrine for us. I don't think it could've actually supported any member of our family, but it did make for some fun pictures.

Here's the hole he dug that was never used.

Here's a side shot:

Normally I don't sleep well on campouts, but Rick gave me a nice cocktail of Benadryl and pain pills and I was out. When I got up at 10:00 the next day, the boys had set up a shooting range for the BB guns.

Emmy is cross-dominant. It's cute to see her shoot because she screws up her face and squints her eye.

Rick was an excellent safety monitor. He had to repeat his lectures a few times with Emma in particular.

Emma got into the spirit of building things too. She put together her own little teepee using 3 logs and her blanket.

Taking advantage of the lovely weather, our family took a little hike through the woods. Shelby accompanied us sans leash and was so well-behaved.

I needed a nap after hiking mile after mile for 2 miles.

The kids were ready to shoot some stuff once naptime was over. Here's a better view of the "shooting range" that Rick and Jake made:

In the background you can see the tripod "camper's sink" that Jacob created. He lashed 3 pieces of PVC pipe together and tied a jug of water from the top. Rick made a little hole at the bottom of the jug and stopped it up with a golfer's tee. He also placed a bar of soap down the leg of some old hose and fastened that to the contraption. It was clever AND useful.

We were smart enough to bring our awning to keep bugs out of the kitchen and protect us from rain. We got sprinkled on Friday night so we played Uno and Skipbo for quite a while. Fortunately we had already made and eaten our Dutch Oven Dump Cake before the rain started. Yum!

Though it was still raining on us the next day, the canopy of trees held back some of the drips while we packed up. Shelby was covered in burs, leaves, and mud by the end of the morning. In fact, she was such a mess that we drove straight to Petsmart to get her groomed. Doesn't she have a face only a mother could love?