Spring is for Camping

I've always loved going camping. We used to go camping as a family when I was growing up in California, but we had mountains where we could hike and a stream for fishing. Southeast Texas camping is a little different, but it's still fun to simply go camping. A little challenging with little ones, but still tons of fun! Marcus starts getting the itch to go camping soon after Christmas. We can't really plan a weekend camping trip until about March because of the wonderfully unpredictable weather of southeast Texas, and even then we still take our chances. This year we've been camping twice already and both times we got rained on! The first time we were lucky enough to be in a shelter, but the second time, over Easter weekend, we were in a tent...ugh! Everyone and everything stayed dry, but it's not as fun when you can't sit around the campfire and enjoy the nightly ritual of camping...s'mores!! We made the most of it and had some really fun family time in our tent while Peyton slept. Ahhh...memories!

Marcus and his brother, Justin, matchy matchy....so cute!Cruisin' on the pontoon boat."These are MY chips Grandma"Austin and his cousin, Hunter, enjoying the ride on Grandpa's boat.JD and Caryn cruisin' kidless

The first time we went camping, we went with another family that has three kids....one's 15, one's 9 and one's 6. The exact opposite ages of ours and reverse gender...girl, girl, boy and ours is boy, girl, girl...which actually worked out nicely. Their oldest liked my baby, their middle girl played with Cali, and their little boy and Austin both turned 6 in January! Perfect! And we had a great time with the parents too. :)

The Men fishing

Marcus and his "mini me"

We went for a walk out on a trail and Cali found herself a "walking stick"....lol
Bringing up the rear

Peyton just couldn't last

Austin and his sticks....oops, I mean swords!

Crossing the bridge

Cleaning the catch for dinner...yum!

The kids liked being on the boat, even when it was docked.

I had a great time camping, but I got my fill and I'm done for the year. Time to rest up for camping 2011.