Ward Campout

This last weekend was our ward campout and the boys really liked it! Aaron and I would have enjoyed it more if our air mattress hadn't gone flat during the night. I gave up quickly and went to sleep in the car. Sort of sleep. Doze. Wish very hard that air mattresses had never been invented :l

Anyway, we bought a new tent for the occasion since our old one had a couple of broken zippers and a ripped corner. It was also too small for our family anymore. So, we upgraded to a nice and roomy 8-man tent! LOTS of room now to sleep and space for all of our gear. It took us a little while to get it set up since the wrong directions were included. But, as you can see, we figured it out. The boys also got new sleeping bags and were very excited to break them in.





The campout was at a Boy Scout campground and so it had all sorts of fun things to do, but not conveniently located bathrooms or running water. It did have a nice kitchen and dining area that was a good gathering spot. Right behind it was a pond and a fort. Yes, a fort! So cool!





It was nicely set up with a catwalk around the top of the interior with different activity stations. One of the corners was set up with shooting targets, another with flag signal training, and I'm not sure about the others. Inside, at ground level, there was a "jail", table tennis, bathroom, knot tying station and lots of empty space for whatever else Boy Scouts need to do.





Our boys tried out the jail with our friend Michael and they were some funny little jailbirds! Adam didn't want to leave and tried to convince us to let him stay while we went home. Until we actually started to walk away :P But then they discovered that the door had gotten stuck and they really couldn't get out! Oh, the weeping and wailing could be heard for miles! (or maybe not :P) Thankfully, only a hard adult tug was needed to rescue them :D

Earlier that morning, our friend Ben took the boys on what Samuel calls an "adventure". They explored the campground and various designated activity spots, like the archery zone, the zip line over a creek, empty cabins, etc. It kept them busy while Aaron and I tried to recoup a bit from the night before. Thank you, Ben!

We left soon after exploring the fort and returned hope happy and sleepy. I was the most sleepy and slept for four hours after we got home. That's what happens to me when I don't sleep for most of the night :P

This was our only camping trip of the summer, since Aaron has spent most of his time since March, working on his paper. Hopefully, we'll hear soon if it's been accepted for publishing! Keep those prayers coming, please!