Camping

We went camping for 2 nights last weekend at Pinewood Lake, near Carter Lake just northwest of us. We went with my aunt and uncle, Judi and Bob, who are experienced campers, which helped a lot. We were a little bit apprehensive about camping with a 2 and 4 year old, but they were absolutely awesome! It was an adventure for sure and Zane and Emmy got to experience a bunch of "firsts."

Within the first 15 minutes, Emmy fell about four times and cried her poor little eyes out. It made us a little worried, but I think she just realized she needed to toughen up and she did.
Here's her fat lip.
Bruise on her temple
Holding ice on her face while we finished setting up our camp
It was fun watching the kids find ways to entertain themselves. Filling these buckets with rocks, sand, dirt, etc. was a big hit.
They were pumped to roast marshmallows and make S'mores so they brought their own "special" sticks from home. Yes, Emmy is on the ipad. We had to have at least one backup entertainment plan. ;)
Lounging around
Judi is a master roaster so she helped show us the technique. The fire was too hot, so pretty much all their marshmallows caught on fire.


Yum!
They couldn't have been more excited to sleep in their sleeping bags in the tent. Zack brought glow-sticks for them, we had a night light, and they both had a flash light. Yeah, we were a little bit prepared for the dark. They stayed up talking and telling each other jokes for a while each night, but eventually zonked out. The funny part was that our tent was on a hill, so they kept sliding down all night and we had to keep pulling them back up. They slept amazingly well. It was so much fun. After the second night, I decided that being 30 weeks pregnant and sleeping on the ground isn't a good match but oh well - it was worth it!
Glow sticks!
Hanging out with dad...
The second day, we got all ready for our big fishing venture. I'm pretty sure that their favorite part of it all (almost) were the worms. They played with our worms forever while we got ready to go.


We hiked down to the lake and went for it.



It was tricky making sure that the kids stayed safe from the hooks and helping them cast was hard too. Luckily, Bob did all the dirty work for us, like putting the worms on.
Here's Emmy, fishing with her Disney princess pole.

Zane couldn't wait to wear this hat. He wears it at home every time we pretend we're camping so he was so happy to get to wear it for real.
I caught the first fish with the princess pole. We were all yelling and screaming and so excited. They loved holding it.




Zane caught the second fish with his Spiderman pole. He was holding it and waiting patiently all by himself and all of a sudden he started telling me he felt a tug. He said he was sure he had a fish and I didn't really believe him, but told him to start reeling it in. Well, he was exactly right and caught it all by himself!! He couldn't have been more proud of himself and happy. It was a really memorable moment.

Untitled from Josie Weingartner on Vimeo.

Brave little Emmy with no inhibitions, holding the fish and loving it.

My big fisherman!
Afterwards, he told us the big story...

Untitled from Josie Weingartner on Vimeo.

Zack and Bob gutted and cleaned it and we cooked it later that night.
Zane even tasted a bite and we all thought it was great!
That afternoon, we also got to swim in the lake. They kids had their life jackets and floaties and loved getting out in the water. Emmy spent most of the time playing in the sand.
Our last morning, we made a big pancake breakfast.

Sweet, happy monkeys...
We did get a chance to have a little down time. Zane was really good about sitting and working on his sticker books or coloring. Emmy actually napped perfectly in Judi and Bob's camper. It was so nice to be disconnected from life and just enjoy each other's company. I want to go again!!