Camping and Biking

This weekend was our maiden camping voyage for the year.  We have been building up our camping supplies throughout the winter months and finally had a weekend planned to go out and camp!  We went to a place about an hour and a half from our house, so just far enough to be on a mini "vacation." 

We headed out on Friday night, hopeful that we would beat the rain.  We had planned our trip such that we would go past a Casey's store right before we got to the campground because Friday is pizza night and Casey's pizza is a favorite that we usually only get when we are in Iowa.  We don't have a Casey's store by our house, but southern Minnesota has a few!  So, we stopped and grabbed our pizza and headed to our site.  We did beat the rain, and got our tent set up and a fire going quickly.  It was about 7:00 when we got there, so we knew our night would be short.  We ate pizza, had some s'mores and pretty much headed to bed. 

Anna dove right into the pizza while Mommy and Daddy worked on putting the tent up. 

 Tent up...this is our new 9 person tent.  Definitely an upgrade from our old one.  It's made for us...tall people that is...it's 7 feet tall in the middle and we could actually walk around in it rather than hunch over the entire time.  And we had room for two mattresses and all our stuff...it was very spacious.  All we need now are a couple bathrooms and a finished basement and we could call this home!

 Anna helping Daddy keep the fire going.

 Resting with Mommy by the fire.

 Anna got her jammies on and was really excited about sleeping in the tent...

Not much sleeping seemed to take place that first night.  Anna was like a jumping bean the first night, going from bed to bed to floor to bed to floor to bed to bed....all over the place!  When we woke up in the morning Anna was in my sleeping bag with me on the queen mattress and Daddy was on the twin air mattress sleeping soundly.  It was a long night for everyone...plus it rained and as Anna said, "Thunder, just a little bit." 

Saturday we had an adventure.  We made breakfast, french toast and bacon, and then since it was kind of starting to rain we decided to go do a little shopping in town.  We hit Cabella's and Walmart for a few forgotten items and then headed back to camp.  When we got back it was still raining so Anna wanted to play in the tent.  While we were in there, we noticed Anna had a HUGE bug bite on her arm.  And it wasn't just a big bite, it was swollen...about a third of her forearm was puffed out and red and really warm to the touch.  I am not an expert on bug bites and may have overreacted a touch when I saw it.  We ended up at the ER and happily left with some benedryl, an ice pack, a popsicle, and a prescription if it didn't improve within an hour.  Now we know the procedure for future bites....they did say it could be an infected bite, so I was relieved we did come in to get the prescription, although we didn't end up needing it.  By the Sunday the swelling was completely gone and it just looked like a mosquito bite again.  I think after our hives incident when she was 10 months old, allergies and reactions really make me jumpy. 

After that adventure we headed back to camp for lunch (yes, this all happened before noon).  Our friends Jessica and Seth were coming to camp with us on Saturday night.  When they arrived it was still raining so we decided to go and buy a tarp to build a rain shelter.  Once that was assembled we sat around enjoying the outdoors...and it of course, quit raining.  We spent the afternoon wandering around the camp ground, playing basketball, playing on the playground, and just checking it all out. We came back and had hot dogs and brats on the fire and of course made pudgy pies on the fire.  YUM.  Ann was pretty tuckered out by 9:00 so she and I went to the tent and she was asleep within 15 minutes.  The girl was tired this time!  The rest of us enjoyed a little more campfire time, of course we made popcorn on the fire too, and stayed up till we couldn't stand the bugs any longer! 

Sunday we got up early, of course, ate breakfast and went swimming in the pool.  Anna loved swimming and kept saying we were having "swimming lessons." 

After swimming and playing in the sand, we came back to pack up and head out.  Here are a couple last pictures of our trip.  (Sorry there aren't more, but Saturday was wet, which means the camera is not a good idea, plus we had a little drama!)

Enjoying a strawberry in her Father's Day t-shirt from last year...gettin' a little small.

When we got home...and had unpacked...and had mowed the grass...and reorganized the camping gear for next time...she was still like this: 

Sunday after recovering (aka showering), we headed out for some groceries and a new purchase...a bike trailer for Anna.  Along with the trailer, she got her own new helmet.  She loved her new "hat helmet."

Getting ready for the maiden voyage in the trailer: 

Let's GO!!

First ride!

And of course a ride with Daddy!

"Stay IN!" 

Anna loved her ride in the trailer and cried when we made her get out, but it was approaching 8:00, way past bedtime.  I promised her more riding in the morning....and riding we did! 

 

Today was an exciting day.  We got up early, of course, and got ready, and then headed out on the trail on our bike/trailer set up and went to the library.  We stayed for story time, checked out new books, came home, ate lunch and then it was nap time.  Anna was kind of excited for nap time because we told her when she woke up Aunt Katie would be here.  She did struggle to get to sleep, but then, as promised, when she woke up Aunt Katie was here!  She was so excited and has already enjoyed every minute with Aunt Kate.  They played at the park while I shopped for some fabric for the new quilt Grandma S. is going to make for Anna's new bed; she got to sit by Kate during supper; and she drug Kate downstairs right after supper and convinced her that she had to watch a movie.  Kate is going to get some serious Anna time this week.  It's going to be a mini-vacation for Mommy and Daddy! 

 

We have a fun week planned, lots on the calendar, Two's class tomorrow, lunch with Quarve, Sandra's on Wednesday while Mommy and Kate go to school, shopping, playing and lots of fun!  We probably won't get to the beach again this week...forecast says rain all week, but I'm sure we'll find plenty of fun things to do!