First Camping Trip!

We love camping. Dave and I did a bunch of tent camping before we were married but decided to buy a pop-up camper when Solana arrived. We went several times every year ages 1, 2, and 3. We even went on a couple of trips when I was pregnant with the twins but obviously quit camping when we were diagnosed with TTTS and went on bedrest. We ended up taking off most of the 2009 season and all of the 2010 season (after Chloe came home...camping with an oxygen tank and tubes just didn't seem appealing or smart). This is Chloe's second summer at home and now that she's off oxygen and doing really well we decided this is the summer for her to begin our family tradition of camping!!!

Memorial Day weekend is traditionally our first camping trip. For our first trip with the baby we decided to get a cabin at one of the Ohio State Parks. Our good friends, the Maggards, joined us.

We've added Chloe and Monty to our brood since our last camping trip and they're both a handful. So we thought we should leave one dog behind to make things just a bit easier. Of our two dogs, we only have one that would be welcome spending the weekend with friends so Bluebell got to stay behind. Our neighbors were great and offered to take her (even though they were taking their own trip to Cincinnatti!) But don't feel sorry for Bluebell missing camping. Our neighbors have a dog that she got to play with all weekend long!

Our cabin was great! There was a living room, kitchen, two bedrooms, and a screened in porch. I even let Chloe crawl around on the floor! Gasp! (After I got on hands and knees and scrubbed the whole thing :-) And everyone was so cute taking off shoes before entering the cabin the whole rest of the weekend! Such great friends who cater to my anxiety! Hehehe :-D

We spent a lot of time hanging out near the cabin and relaxing.

The boys are checking out the ravine behind the cabin. (Or is Jas just taking a smoke break?)

I love this picture! I don't know what Kylie's saying but it seems incredibly interesting!
Ari was admiring Dave's hat. She is toooo cute!

Chloe tasted her first marshmallow! Bah! All done!

Solana tasted her gazillionth smore. The best part about camping! Angela brought the biggest marshmallow I've EVER seen! I swear they're as big as Solana's fist!

Chloe had a seat by the fire...

The girls all love crafts. They set up their own nature craft center. I don't think they used the lighter fluid but I'm not sure...


We went to the Lake one afternoon. The girls had a BLAST! I don't know how they got in that freezing cold water, though. Fortunately, I had the excuse of watching Chloe so I only had to get in ankle deep. Ha!

My buddy, Angela, and me.

The girls dug around in the sand forever. I remember when that used to be fun. I was so glad they had a good time!

Chloe walked about five miles that day. Back and forth. Back and forth. Back and forth. When I got tired...

she recruited Dave and when Dave got tired...

she recruited Angela. She's such a little stinker. And I'm crazy about Angela's swimsuit. So cute!

Our other outing was for a hike in the woods. Here's Chloe getting buckled into her cool hiking backpack.

Ready to go!

Jason went into this pond to retrieve some water lilies for the girls. Fortunately, his flip flop made it out with him!

Angela took this picture of the girls in a cave they found along the way. I LOVE THIS PICTURE! Kylie: Serene. Ari: Goofy. Solana: Crazy! Hahaha! The funniest part is that this does not necessarily represent their personalities. :-)

It was so pretty...

Monty enjoyed the hike and the cave, too!


It was a great trip! We were lucky the rain stopped just in time for our trip and we had great weather all weekend long. We're glad to have such good friends to camp and hang out with! Everything went swimmingly and we can't wait for the 2011 camping season to continue!