Lil' Campers

Our sitter, Alicia, asked if she could take the kids camping.  It's an annual adventure that her family takes along with a number of other families.  We were unsure about it since they would be about 90 minutes away, one of the kids doesn't handle new situations as well and because we, ourselves, haven't been there.  But then Poo Pa's surgery was scheduled for Friday.  At that point, it seemed that God was giving the kids a unique opportunity while also providing us with a chance to be able to focus on Poo Pa and the family.  Alicia was quite the little mommy and packed everything so that I didn't have to stress about it.  My job was to dig out the long sleeves and heavier jackets and leave them out for her to pack. 
They were gone for two nights and it sounds like they had a blast.  Another surprise was that our other sitter, Nanny Barb (who has been away for a few weeks), met up with the group.  Both families are very close, so this annual camping excursion usually includes all of them.  Bonus!  The kids were able to spend some time with Alicia, Alex, Sue and Greg (Alicia's sister and parents), Nanny Barb and Mr. Jerry in addition to many other campers.  It seems that there was no shortage of people willing to let a little one take a break in their lap just before darting off for more playtime. 
Alicia took our point-and-shoot and got some pictures and I thought I'd share some of those tonight.  I've also heard that there are more pictures on Sue and Nanny Barb's cameras, so I'm excited to check those out soon as well.

 Some of the activities during the camping trip included:
Bathing in a Rubbermaid tote in Nanny Barb's camper -

Eating - (I've heard this happened a lot.  And since different campers might eat at different times, the kids might have had more than one round of a given meal.)

Playing at the playground -

Playing in the sand -

Spending time with new and old friends -

Stopping for ice cream on the way back to Knoxville -

We can't thank Alicia and her family, Nanny Barb and Mr. Jerry and all of the other friendly campers enough for giving the kids such a wonderful weekend in the outdoors!  Alicia did an amazing job getting everything organized, keeping the kids happy and safe and brought them back to us in one piece!!!  Looks like we will have to start looking for camping equipment since it was such a hit with our "Lil' Campers."

Happy Clean Sheet Sunday!