There are many pros and cons of camping - and this past week we got to experience both at El Rancho. A big pro, relaxing by a camp fire at night and looking out at the beautiful sun set.
Well, after arriving at El Rancho on Sunday and hanging out down by the lake with the 3 kids for nearly 3 hours, Jake worked hard and had our camp site all set up.
If you can't tell, the kids love the camper.
Even Carrine - aka "Bubbles" - enjoyed the beach with me and the big kids while Jake set up camp.
Jake and his lil' "CC."
Carrine's first camping trip to El Rancho at 4 months old.
Piggy back time!
The cons of camping...shortly after Jake had camp set up and we ate a late lunch (at 3 pm), it started to rain. Then the wind picked up, blowing our awning on top of the camper and ripping off two metal poles. It rained so hard for nearly 20 minutes that when the weather cleared up, we walked out of the camper into 4 inches of water. WE WERE SOAKED!
Even the kids were hesitant to walk out of the camper in the new lake that we were sitting in the middle of!
Jake's pretty sure we were in the lowest part of the campsite...we got drenched.
Making positives out of negatives....the kids LOVED running through the huge water puddles while Jake and I debated on moving to a different campsite.
Future Cross-Country runner?
Once we took a look at our camp fire ring and saw it had also been flooded we decided to move to a dryer campsite....so that meant 3 more hours of packing every up (both dry and wet things) for Jake, moving the camper, setting everything back up again. I on the other rounded up the 3 kids and headed back to the beach to try to keep the kids busy for 3 hours.
So grateful the two big kids are independent and can play on the beach without my constant help.
Also very grateful for Carrine being such a laid back baby. She slept in my arms in the shade while the big kids played in the water and on the jungle gyms.
Water time - can you tell it's getting late?
Sun set is nearing.
Jungle gym time...
Swing set time...
I could honestly watch Roslyn swing all day - she's really got that pumping thing down!
By 7:30 pm the bugs were getting too bad to be on the beach, so with no where else to go, the 3 kids and I piled into the back of the van for 2 more hours while Jake continued to move our camping gear and set things up.
So, one might ask what I did in the back of the van, on the floor with a 5-year-old, 4-year-old and 4-month old in a 4x4 foot area? Thank the lord for DVD players, Andray sat in his car seat and nearly fell asleep sitting up he was so tired. Roslyn found all the loose change in the van and I taught her what each coin was and how to count the money. Carrine, thank God again, nursed well and I changed her diaper on the floor of the van. Then, the happy baby she is, just hung out in her blue bouncy chair in the back of the van next to Roslyn.
Finally at 8:15 I told Jake that we were all hungry and since we had no camp fire or grill, that we maybe should head up to the Ranch House to get a pizza. Our luck, he calls the Ranch House and they're closed! Holy Crap! Now what are we going to do? Thank the Lord Jake thought of trusty old Marnatelli's from Cold Spring - never in my wildest dreams did I think I'd ever order a pizza for delivery to El Rancho while camping.
By 9:45 pm we finally had our pizza in hand and we drove through the camp ground in darkness and silence (because the kids were all so tired), we made it back to the camper that Jake had worked so hard at setting back up in a different location.
The big kids ate awesome under the one light bulb in our camper - Roslyn seriously had 3 pieces of pizza she was so hungry!
And let me tell you, Marnatelli's has never tasted so good!
Carrine had her last feeding and the 3 kids were all sleeping in their beds by 10:30 pm -
WHAT A DAY/NIGHT!
(as Jake would say, he's never been so crummy!)
Oh, the non-joys of camping...
Then Monday came...and what a difference a day makes!
SUPER FUN!
The kids had swim lessons in the morning, then we headed back to El Rancho and spent over 8 hours in the water that day - it was a blast.
And the best part, we had the entire beach to ourselves for most of the day.
These water launchers are the best invention ever.
Roslyn posing while heading back to the campsite for supper.
By Monday night our camp fire wood had finally dried out so we could roast some marshmallows!
Roslyn loves to take photos now with the camera - here are just a few of her master pieces.
Her knee of course :)
This is one of my favorite photos that Roslyn took - captured both the great camp fire and the beautiful sunset - very relaxing.
"CC" was camping in style - might be one of her last nights in this Duke sleeper!
Go Blue Devils!
Was very peaceful having the camp site to ourselves this week.
Wouldn't you know, it rained hard again on Tuesday morning and our awning went flying again and all our stuff got soaked. But it was worth it having that time alone as a family.
The pros and cons of camping...can't make it up...memories for a lifetime.
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