Camping 2015

We only fit in two camping trips this year.  It’s at that point when we question if it’s worth it to own the camper!  The kids overheard us talking, and they are horrified at the thought of selling the camper.  So for now, it stays.  We’ll see how often it gets used next year, and then bring up the discussion again.

Our first camping trip was a rather wet trip to a campground in Bristol, IN called Eby’s Pines.  My brother’s family loves that campground, so we thought we would give it a try.  We had a nice weekend, but the weather kept it from being a great weekend.  I hope we can try again next year!

Our second trip was close to home, as Max had a soccer game that weekend.  It was hot, but the only rain came during the night, so that was nice!  We enjoyed the campground, cooled off in the lake, left for Max’s soccer game and an air-conditioned lunch at McDonalds, and then headed back to the campground to jump in the lake again.

Here’s a random assortment of pictures from our second trip. I don’t think I took many pictures on the first trip because of the rain.  These are all cell phone pictures, so the quality is nothing great…

LOTS of time at the beach, which was perfect for the hot weather!  It’s so nice that the boys can both swim decently enough that they don’t need floaties.

Using a pool noodle, filled with water, to spray water all over






Obstacle Course at the campground

obstacle course at the campground


roasting marshmallows



We have a great debate over the best way to roast marshmallows.
Daddy and the boys like to set them on fire and eat blackened s’mores.
Mommy likes them lightly and evenly toasted.
Jensyn likes them slightly melty, but still white.


The boys had a great time biking down this hill, over and over again.
I think Daddy is the one in this picture, but it’s hard to get a picture of a blur of bikes!


Every Saturday night, this campground has a “Gotta Glow To Go” wagon ride around the campground.  Kids (and parents, if you’d like) parade around the campground on a tractor-pulled wagon.  Campers wave and cheer as the kids come by, and many of the seasonal sites have special light shows on their campers.  It’s fun!  We do this every year!  This year’s ride was super-speedy.  I still enjoyed it, but it was almost scary-fast this year!

Our campsite neighbors were the BEST!  They were two adult couples, both of whom have older children that did not come along on this trip.  They had three dogs, and our children adored the dogs.  We couldn’t keep our kids away, and these sweet couples were SOOOO good to our kids.  They even came out to wave to our kiddos on the glow ride route.



Alex fell asleep wearing his glowing glasses.  He slept this way all night.
I know the picture didn’t turn out, but it is still hilarious, and I want to remember it!

First Camping Trip of 2014

Last weekend was our first camping trip for this year.  We were a little slow on planning trips and getting the camper ready to go this year.  We’re still hoping to fit in four camping trips, but we’ll see…it might end up being only three trips this year.

We tried Potato Creek State Park for this first time, and it was a great weekend!  We had beautiful weather on Friday and Saturday, so we were really able to enjoy the park and all it has to offer!  (It rained while we were sleeping – or trying to sleep – on Saturday night, but the rain ended by morning, so we were able to enjoy our Sunday morning as well.)

I only brought my cell phone – no camera – so the pictures aren’t the best.  I didn’t want my cell phone getting wet, so there are no lake pictures.  We rented a paddle boat, spending 45 minutes pedaling around the lake.  The boys each took a turn pedaling, but their little legs just weren’t long enough to reach the pedals very well.  Mama and Daddy did most of the work!  (Including pedaling our legs off when we got our boat stuck on a tree stump hidden under the water!)

The kids also enjoyed the swimming area in the lake.  It’s not super deep, and it’s sectioned off from the rest of the lake, so we allowed the boys a little more freedom than they usually get.  With their Puddle Jumpers on, they had SO MUCH FUN swimming all around!  Jensyn stuck closer to shore, but she enjoyed herself as well.

We went to a SNAKE class at the nature center.  After learning about the snakes in Indiana, we all had an opportunity to touch a Western Fox snake.  Mama & Jensyn were brave; the boys didn’t touch it.    Alex and Jensyn made this adorable snake craft; Max wasn’t interested.

It’s made from two thin strips of felt and 15 pop can tabs.
Add google eyes and a felt tongue, and you’ve got yourself a cute little snake!
I found directions HERE if you’d like to try at home.

Here’s the snake we touched:

We then took a look at the other animals in the nature center – turtles, lizards, snakes, and more.  They also have a viewing window where you can watch squirrels eating.


Jensyn looking at a stuffed osprey – we also saw live ones in their nests outside.

This Little Miss snuck a Hershey bar when no one was looking…she ate NINE SQUARES!



s’mores – yum!

catching frogs in the little ditch next to our campsite
(our camping ‘neighbors’ happened to live near us, so the kids were all playing together)

conked out on the way home

We decided to try bringing the crock pot along on this trip so our Saturday night meal could cook all day while we played.  That SHOULD have worked out great…except that Max got a little carried away and knocked over the table where we had set the crock pot.  Our dinner ended up in the dirt, and we had hot dogs instead!

Since both boys can ride two-wheelers now, we gave them the freedom to ride around our circle in the campground together…without grown-ups.  They were so proud of themselves and their first freedom!

We’re hoping to get to Oak Lake and Turkey Run yet this year, and my extended family is doing a camping trip in Michigan later this summer.  We’re looking forward to more fun camping trips!  It’s SOOO much work getting ready, but it’s so fun once we’re out there and enjoying family time together!

Camping at Turkey Run

Last weekend, we took the kids down to Turkey Run for a weekend of camping.  Honestly, though I’d never been to Turkey Run before, I wasn’t really looking forward to the trip.  Life has been crazy and busy, and both Keith and I would have been glad to stay home for an ordinary weekend. 

Since we’d planned the trip months ago, and since we knew the kids were really wanting to go camping again, we got ready & headed out on our trip.

The camper had some electrical issues, and most of the 2+ hour drive was made without turn signals or brake lights.  We made a few stops at auto parts stores and a Ford dealership for fuses and lightbulbs, which turned our 2+ hour drive into a 3+ hour drive.  I don’t think we’ll forget that drive any time soon!

Thankfully, the CAMPING part of the trip was very worthwhile!  The weather was BEAUTIFUL, and we had a great time!

early morning snuggle with Daddy…

random campsite photos…

Jensyn’s point of view (yes, she took over the camera for a while…)

more random campsite photos…

Alex made a new friend…ironically his name was Alex…and our boys and the other Alex spent a LOT of time riding their bikes around the road that looped near our site.

Jensyn couldn’t keep up, so Mommy walked around very slowly with her

at the nature center…

Our first time hiking with the kids…we were prepared for crying and complaining, but they LOVED it and would have gladly continued!

This little girl was AMAZING!
Though we did carry her through some slippery places and a few big climbs, she did a LOT of hiking on her own!  We were so impressed with her!

This little guy knows NO FEAR.  At one point, he was CLIMBING OVER the railing at a scenic overlook that has a HUGE drop-off.  We had to keep him really close to a grown-up at all times!

And, finally, THIS little guy was adventurous, wet, and muddy by the time we finished!
Alex wore his crocs (instead of tennis shoes like the rest of us), so he stomped through every bit of water he could find and waded in the streams.  His pants were SOAKED!

We hiked all of trails 1, 6, and 7.  Since the suspension bridge is still closed, we would have needed to load 3 car seats into a shuttle bus (car seats are required) in order to get to the other side of Sugar Creek.  When we were ready to return, we’d have to wait for the correct shuttle bus (the one with our car seats in the back…) in order to go back to the nature center.  So we opted to stay on our side of the creek just for convenience!

Max didn’t want any more picture, so I just got these two cuties…

It is SO BEAUTIFUL …

There’s nothing like hiking way down and then looking UP to realize
what an amazing world God has created!

We also spent an afternoon in the (CHILLY!) pool water…
Alex took pictures of us:

…and of himself, as he does all the time lately…

…and then he asked me to take one of him by the pool…

At the end of a beautiful weekend, we packed up the camper and made the (turn signal-less and brake light-less) trip back home, and (thank you Lord) we arrived home safely!  Our camper is now at Campland, awaiting repairs. 

We’ve got one more camping trip planned for this year, as long as our camper is repaired & ready to go!  I’m pretty confident, though, that Turkey Run is going to be my favorite trip of the year.  It’s definitely on my “must do” list of campgrounds for next year!