{In the Wilderness}

After six years of begging, Dean finally convinced me to go camping. He told me he now feels like we are a "real family." (Apparently to be considered a real family you had to have spent time in a tent together!)

We went with my brother and his family and our friends The Thompsons. We stayed at a campsite called Burnt Rancheria on Mt. Laguna (We highly recommend it). The campground was really nice and we had a spot right by the bathrooms (with flushing toilets and they clean them twice a day!).Our site was closer to the bathrooms than we had intended, but it worked out great. When you have 9 kids, you can never be too close to the bathroom!


Dean was super excited to use our new tent and Lauren loved playing in it.


When we first arrived, it was a bit chillier than we had intended. Luckily I had plenty of warm clothes for Lauren and Kylee. (Notice the building behind Kylee---yep that's the bathrooms)


Daddy was making Kylee laugh like crazy!


It started raining at about 10:30, so we headed for the tents. As soon as we were all in, the rain stopped. We figured, since we were in we might as well go to bed!


I brought these warm Christmas Jammies for Lauren to wear so she wouldn't get cold. She was so confused and kept asking if it was Christmas. I tried to explain, but she wasn't getting it. The next morning, the first thing she asked was "Is it Christmas yet?" I wish!


7 of the 9 kids playing and exploring!




This is only a small showing of the amount of dirt that was covering Lauren. It took 2 baths before she was clean again!


Kylee loved sitting in the camping chair, playing with all her toys! She loved being outside!


What's camping without a "Timeout"?


And a few "I am so exhausted" emotional breakdowns!


Dean playing a friendly game of horse shoes with the boys.

We had to reserve the campsite for two nights, but we left Saturday evening, while everyone else stayed another night. As we were leaving, I checked to make sure we weren't going to run over any kids and found Lacie, sticking her arms up Bradley's tail pipe for the second time!

She was a mess! They tried to get us to take her home, but we left her there and laughed as we drove away! Gotta love those curious minds, especially when they are not your kid!

In the end, I will be the first to admit, we had a really good time. Lauren sobbed when we told her we were going home! She loved being outside and exploring. Most of the time she wouldn't wear shoes and loved playing with the "Big Kids." Maybe camping will become a new family tradition for us...maybe. My only stipulation: all of our children must be walking. Although Kylee did a good job, it would have been easier if she could have gotten down to play. So that gives me at least 6 months before I have to go again!!!