Oh boy. So back in July we had this BRILLIANT idea that we should take the kids camping. Well, it's been about 10 years since *I* have been camping (real camping, not the drunk beach camping DH & I did while we dated, that doesn't really count) and it had been about 5 years since DH camped. Now, for him, that is a BIG deal. To say that he's an "outdoorsy kinda guy" is putting it lightly. The man lives and breathes the outdoors.

So after getting out of taking 4 kids camping for 5 years I was finally worn down by the man and I said "FINE. We'll GO ... now stop CRYING DANG!" ;)

So we arranged to have all the kids on the same weekend and we made preparations. We got all the gear, got all the last minute stuff, got all packed up ... but what we DIDN'T do was make reservations ... WHO KNEW ALL THE CAMPSITES WERE ON THE RESERVATION SYSTEM?!

Well, they are. And those who aren't ... well, there's a reason.

We had some minor complications on the way up like picking up the Boy at 4pm and the truck overheating TWICE on the way up, so we were VERY late getting to the site DH picked out.

The site we got was THE last site available as this is one of the few remaining "first come, first served" style campgrounds.

It was awful. You can read the whole story - in list form - HERE. There is just too much.

There was NO.SHADE and 100* plus weather, and about 3 inches of loose dust in place of top soil, we were there for about 5 minutes before Madelyn fell on her face and stood up looking like she'd gotten a spray tan.

but we pressed on ... Brandon made a fire, set up the HUGE tent and started making dinner ...

So I told them annoy the other campers nearby ... with GOOD campsites ... by singing campfire songs. I like to instill good wholesome values into my children.

This, my friends, is Bazooka - Zooka Bubble Gum LOL

Then the hunger madness set in ...

And then the kamakazi BUG attacks began ...

The kids waited oh-so patiently for dinner ...

By the time we were done with dinner it was like 10 so we gave Mad some marshmallows and sent her to the tent since she was screaming that she wanted to go home and go ni-night ... OHHHH me too girl ...

Then we set the kids up with their sticks and marshmallows and suddenly all was right with the world again. The bugs left us alone, the AUTHENTIC FIRE ROASTED smores made us (or ME) happier than I thought I could be, and the kids were happy ... and it was only 11pm :-/

The rest of the night didn't go so well. None of us slept very well. Rianna ended up sleeping sideways across 3 beds, Belle sleep smacked Rianna in the face (maybe thats why she moved lol), Madelyn stuck her feet in Belle's face, & Marcus rocked back and forth so hard Brandon thought there was a racoon in the tent ... it was a LOOOONG night ...

But we awoke refreshed and ready to tackle the day (that started at 5:30am with full sun and a tent at 100*)! Hahahahaha little did we know what the day held ...

The river was actually just a short walk from our campsite, which was convenient later when I hobbled back up the hill ...

Flower Child loved holding the pole. Unfortunately this was ALL she got to do because there were no fish lol

Upstream from our spot ...

and downstream ...

This spot on the river was actually quite pretty ...

when I wasn't being attacked by meat bees and exiled to the rock in the middle of the river cause they didn't seem to go out there ...

So I did what I do best, put my feet in the water, try to avoid bugs, and take LOTS of pictures LOL

Eventually everyone, except the boys of course, got tired of fishing with no results so us gals played in the ICE FREAKING COLD water

And this was the last picture I took before ... the incident ...

I went to get out of the ice freaking cold water and because my feet were numb I fell. I fell HARD. I ended up bruising my leg from knee to ankle as well as my hands and boob cause I fell RIGHT ON IT. I ALSO fell on my @#$%ING CAMERA. In the water.

Fortunately, my husband understands my camera whoreishness and thought to leave it in the 150* truck disassembelled so it could dry out while we went to YET ANOTHER fishin spot.

The kids played in the water, I sat with a migraine from crying, it was just a JOYOUS experience ... really. *dripping with sarcasm*

But it was working that night! We ate dinner early and the kids had a 'freaky face' contest ... it was fun :) I actually started to enjoy myself at this point ... maybe it was the just wine ...

This was Lil Miss's FIRST S'More!

And it was GOOOOOD :)

We really ended up enjoying this time together as family, or at least I keep telling myself that ;-) And I think it would have been AWESOME if we had had a better spot. So we'll try again I'm sure, if only for the pictures, cause looking back ... away from the bugs & heat ... it was a great family vacation :)