SHADES OF SHERWOOD

We went on our very first camping trip of the season this past weekend. And it just so happened to fall on a weekend that I was sick. Not just a little head cold kind of sick, but a knock-you-right-out-and-make-it-nearly-impossible-for-you-to-drag-your-poor-aching-body-out-of-bed-much-less-go-camping-kind of sick.

Seriously. I had the stuffy head, the kind that feels as if your head is going to literally explode at any moment. I had the whole if I move my eyes even a little bit to the left or right it ached like all heck thing. I had the my noise is running so much I may as well just stick this kleenex up each side of my nostrils and leave it there to save me some work. I had the sore throat and the no voice thing going on too. Not fun.

But I could not bring myself to cancel, as I knew the kids and the Mr. would be devastated as they had all been looking forward to this weekend for quite some time. So I tried to ignore my state of illness, and spent Friday morning packing, grocery shopping and organizing the camper. After that was accomplished, it was time to pick up the kids from school and get everyone ready to go.

At 7pm that evening we finally arrived at our campsite, and began our fun weekend of camping.

We started off by playing on the swingset just a little ways down the road from our site.

Bed time came all too soon being that we got up there so late Friday night. As you can see, the girls were not ready for sleep.

Saturday was spent playing in the sand,

Doing some more swinging at the playground,

and spending some quality time with our good, VERY big friend, Butterball.

Miss Liv Grave just loves Butterball so much. She spent much of the weekend happily following him around our campsite, petting and hugging him to death. Thankfully, he did not mind.

We played in the woods and took some time out for Mom to get some pictures.

We rode bikes around in circles on the dirt road,

and those of us who have yet to learn how to ride a bike found joy in pushing toys around on the dirt path instead.

We made silly faces and had fun running around the campsite with friends,

stopping on occasion to show us their water guns, along with those silly faces.

The weekend ended up being so much fun, it almost made me even forget I was sick. O.K. maybe not. But it did not stop us from having a great time.

Beautiful weather, in the company of some of our best friends, camping at our favorite campground, Shades of Sherwood - what more could you ask for?

SHADES OF SHERWOOD

Getting ready to go camping the Shelton house is NOT an easy task. Packing clothes, food, blankets, pillows, bikes, toys, and all other paraphanalia for 6 people, 4 of them being kids, tends to be quite the arduous task. I am usually quite crabby on the day we venture out (just ask Mr. Shelton) because of all the work that is involved in this whole camping thing. This time around was even higher up on the stress level indicator as I was asked by the Mr. to pack the car and head down to the Marina in order to unpack it all and get it into the Motor Home to go. That meant I had to pack a cooler, sheets, kids blankets, sippy cups, diaper bag, all the food, suitcases, bags, bikes, cooler and stroller 4 kids and myself into my SUV. Easy? Nope.

But I managed to stuff it all in the car, sweating profusely by the end of this task and in desperate need of another shower, but it was packed. Here is a look at the car as we headed out the driveway on our way to meet Dad. Nice, right? I am glad we did not get pulled over as I am most certain I would have gotten a ticket for having an overstuffed car. Is there such a law? I bet there is.


Once we got there, and got settled in, the fun began. Well, actually not. We got there so late, the kids had minimal time to play before melt downs were had by all, and bed time was needed.

After a good nights rest, the fun DID begin.

Ava and Liv played together, taking a moment to stop and let Momma get a picture.

As I knew it would, the novelty of playing with her baby sister wore off, and she headed out to play with the bigger kids. This left Olivia no other choice than to get into anything and everything in site.

Here she is climbing up the stairs to another campers Motor Home, checking things out....

After getting her down from there, she meandered around our site, and managed to find a fishing bobber on the ground and decided to give it a taste. Why not, right?

Then she headed over to the cooler, decided she was thirsty, took out an ice cold beer and attempted to drink it.

I finally contained her in her high chair for a while where she happily drooled away and ate some dinner.
Ava spent much of her time riding her bike in circles around the camp ground.

Anthony decided his idea of camping this weekend was to sit inside the Motor Home and play Star Wars on the Play Station. And me, being Mother of the year, decided what the heck? He was happy, so why not. [For those of you that know Anthony, you surely understand.]

He did occasionally come out of the camper for some fun. Here he is pulling his shirt up over his head, calling himself a ghost from Scooby-doo.

On Saturday we all headed down to the crick with our chairs and coolers to dip our feet in the water and enjoy some libations. The kids had a great time catching minnows in their nets and playing in the sand.

Lucas posing for a nice photo by the water, in his clothes.

He decided to get down and dirty in the wet/muddy sand and build a castle. Notice the very white socks and new shoes off to the side?

Well, here they were after our little excursion down by the crick. He decided, when Mom was looking, that he wanted to put his socks and shoes back on. He then decided he wanted to go walking around in the crick and find some minnows, with his new shoes and socks on. Can we say ruined? He obviously did not mind, as he spent the rest of the day with his soaking wet, mud/sand filled shoes and socks on his feet. These kids never cease to amaze me.

So besides having to throw out a brand new pair of socks (not a big deal), and a brand new pair of shoes (a bit bigger deal), we had a great time camping. Fun was had by all. Here's to looking forward to next summer's camping trips!

RAINY DAYS

We spent the weekend camping. Camping in the rain - pouring rain that is.

We woke up early Saturday morning to the pitter pattering sounds of the rain drops hitting the top of the motor home. I was hopeful that by the time we got up, made breakfast and dressed ourselves it would have subsided.

Not the case.

It rained right through breakfast, right through showers, dressing, a movie, an hour or so playing PSP's, and through lunch.

Then it stopped. It really stopped. I quickly gathered up the kids, got outside, strapped Liv in her stroller, and we all made the journey up to the general store, where they had a small Arcade and some treats to buy. It wasn't much, but it was going to get us the heck out of the camper for awhile, and I was desperate for that.

Not two minutes into our walk to our much anticipated destination, it began pouring out. Again.

We hustled our buns to the general store, meandered around the arcade for a few minutes, went into the store, bought some treats, then ran back to our campsite.

We arrived at the door of the motor home, wet, with mud splashed up the backs of everyone's pants and shirts from the running we did on the muck filled gravel roads. We got in the camper, cleaned up, and hunkered down for what was to be a long afternoon pent up in the motor home.

I resisted the urge to tell Mr. Shelton to pack it all up and head back home. As much as this weather was to my dismay, we were together. Having family time, not being interrupted by constant cell phone ringing, calls that needed to be made, and emails that needed to be returned.

I would take being pent up in a motor home on a rainy miserable day, with 4 kids under the age of 6, my husband and I, and nothing to really do any day over being at home, where Mr. Shelton would most definitely have work on the mind.

Yes, I would take this any day, and take it I did.

So we spent the day doing pretty much nothing, just being together, playing, taking naps,

We made the most out of this rain filled camping trip, and I believe it turned out to be a memorable one.

HAY CREEK

This weekend was cold. Cold, a little rainy, and VERY windy. BRRRR....

And I know first hand how very cold, rainy and windy it was, as we were camping in it. Alright, we had our motor home to shelter us from the inclement weather, but we really did spend most of the time outside, dealing with it. After all, we were camping and it did not seem right to hole ourselves up in the camper and watch movies, right?

Aside from the weather issues, we really did have a fabulous time....

Riding in the motor home to our camping destination.... The kids were very happy - they were actually hugging eachother in all their excitement!

Warming up by the fire, which was not much of a fire due to the incredibly strong winds on Saturday.

Flying kites....

Taking fun pictures... (see Anthony peeking through between Lucas and I?)

Eating hamburger buns - Livi seemed to be especially fond of these.

Having a few beers - Livi was apparently in need of a beverage to wash down that hamburger bun with as she seemed pretty interested in that Bud Light Daddy had.

Being SiLlY....

Finding sticks which were used as make shift light sabers....


Playing in the woods, along with all the ticks (none were found inhabiting their little bodies which is always nice).

Putting the kids to bed and having some adult time, hanging out around the campfire, having some cocktails.

Spending time with Mr. Shelton, who still managed to have a great time even though his allergies were crazy bad. (What a trooper.)

Way too kick of our first camping trip of the year - great times were had by all.