Camping - Part #1

Well, Mike just happened to get a couple days off last week and we were thinking about what we should do.....and when we asked Anne Marie - we should have known... "CAMPING!" she said. So, we thought well, it isn't expensive, the weather was supposed to be great and we told her we would, so in one day we made our list, packed our gear, got food pre-prepared and got ready for our very 1st camping trip (at least since I was a little kid anyway). And may I just say, this trip was meant to be. Believe it or not, God wanted us to be at this campsite, I just know it!

We were trying to visit a different area, but they would not take "same-day-reservations", so I was too afraid to drive 1hr + & get there to find out there were not sites left (there were only 2 when I called 1st thing in the a.m.) So, we decided to go to our 2nd choice that we found online. It was a KOA campground. Do you remember in my post about buying a tent how my dad would have been so proud of us? Yea? Well, not so much! This is not my daddy's camping let me tell you!

We get there and there is a cute little store w/ EVERYTHING you might ever need while you're camping. (it was a 2 minute walk from our tent) There was a swimming pool w/ lounge chairs & kids floaties to borrow. There was a playground for the kids. The bathrooms were a hop-skip & jump from our tent, they were well lit, heated, VERY clean, had hot/cold showers, they were even wallpapered & had silk flower arrangements on the sinks!! There was a man who would ride around on a golf cart & deliver your pre-purchased fire-wood & other items from the store. I even saw him pick up someones trash & take it to the big bins. There was phone service w/ our cell phones & they even offered free Wi-Fi (we did not take our computer!). We even saw 4 campers get PaPa John's Pizza delivery while we were there!

Back to part #1 of why we were supposed to be there. (We'd like to think becuase God wanted to make it easy on us the 1st time around...but really....) because we met a little boy on the playground that saw Anne Marie and said "Hey! My sister is from China!" Then we were able to meet their parents, (and the little girl) and have a nice little chat with them about China, adoption and the adoption ministry we've started at our Church! Part #2 will be w/ tomorrows post, so don't forget to check back!! (don't you hate when people do that?)

Anyway... on to pictures from our 1st day......

Daddy & Anne Marie getting the tent set up.

TaaaaDaaaaa!!!

Taking a little dip in the swimming pool. It was nice (not heated) but nice, clean, had chairs to sun-tan in, and even fun pool toys/floaties for the kids to use!

Then, it was on to the playground to have a little fun. We met our friends from Chicago (the adoptive family) there..Anne Marie loved the big slide - and fire-man-climbing-station!!

We all brought books! This is daddy still reading to Anne Marie once it got too dark. One nice thing about camping is you actually get to catch up on all that reading you've been meaning to do! I read more in 2 days than I have in the last month!!

After a basic dinner of grilled hot-dogs, veggies & dip & chips we made s'mores - Anne Marie's favorite part!! (Check back to see our "gourmet" meal tomorrow night..heee)

And finally -- sleeping in the tent. She was so excited about getting to sleep in the tent that it took her a little while the 1st night, because she would talk & sing & laugh. It was so sweet. I wish I could have recorded the whole thing w/ voice. I'll just have to remember it. It was so cute that some people we met in the bathrooms the next day said they could hear her singing and thought it was too cute. (We hope they meant it...haaa!)