Camping with Grandma and Grandpa

 

I have to start off saying camping is a lot of work and by the time we got home Mike and I were ready for another vacation.  We have been wanting to go camping all summer and haven't made it until now.  Mike was able to get 3 days off so we could go camping with grandma and grandpa O'Dell.  They asked us in the winter to go and we have been looking forward to this a long time.  I am so glad they were able to come out and have some time with the kids.  They haven't had a lot of one on one time and I am happy to report we survived and had a little fun too.
   
    
So the kids have been fishing a little but it has been a long time and they were so excited to attempt this.  Mike surprised us all by buying two fishing poles.  He convinced me to buy a year fishing license and even though Mike didn't fish he was out helping the kids.  I was so happy to see Mike helping the boys so much. I think he actually enjoyed it.
    

We had some success in catching fish but the kids had a hard time sitting and waiting.  Kaden and Elsie caught fish and even learned how to gut them.  Grandpa didn't make them do it but they learned for future fishing trips.  He even gutted my two fish I caught.  It was nice to not have electronics and tv around to fill our time.  Although there was sibling fighting we managed to make it.
    

Spinney was having so much fun helping the kids she went and bought a license the next day and caught some fish.

We took our boat out for the first time in the 8 years we have owned it.  Mike patched up a little whole and it worked beautifully.  We borrowed oars and life jackets from Chris.  Thank you so much.  The kids loved it.  We went for rides in it and even fished in it.  When I first asked Mike if we could take the boat with us I thought it was smaller than it was.  But we were able to get it around with some effort on my part.  By the end of camping Mike was beat from paddling everywhere.  He went out with my dad one morning and took him around the lake in the boat. It gave him a good workout. 

Two days we went and played in the water.  I think the kids liked the sand the most.  

  

 It was very pretty up at Payson Lakes.  The first night it rained nonstop for a long time making everything muddy.  We thought it was a fast storm but it went a long time.  We ended up going to bed at 8:30 that night.  The rest of our stay was beautiful and the kids stayed up way too late.  We are now paying for that and in our recovery stages.  We went on a scavenger hunt, saw a deer,  lots of flowers, chipmunks, ducks,  butterflies, and cows.  Have you ever seen a duck run on water?  They are so fast.  I have never been woken up by cow mooing.  Spinney claimed to talk cow and had a long conversation with the kids about cows.  They really believed her and when we heard the cows they asked Spinney to translate.   

 

You can't go camping without getting dirty.  I don't know if that is a rule but it sure happened.  There was a great place for the boys to dig in with their trucks.  Grandpa even brought some of his tractors for the boys to share.  I failed to get some good pictures but this one of Elliot face was on their faces all day.  Camden, I think was the worst.  He had dirt from head to toe.

  

This was our first family trip for more than one night and Mike is talking about going again so I am excited.   Next time I will try to pack lighter.  We did eat really well.  Spinney brought some great snacks.  We had a bbq, dutch oven pizza, and foil dinners.  The pizza turned out really great.  If you plans on going camping check out pinterest.  There are some great ideas I used and awesome recipes.  We didn't even get to use some.  I kept telling the kids "camping is so fun" even when things weren't so.  I hope they enjoy these times and see the beauty around us.  It will make it worth the effort.