Gone Country {Our Camping Adventure}

Memorial Day Weekend... the weather was gorgeous, and the time was right to take the girls camping out at Michael's parents' ranch.

We found our campsite down by the lake and my rugged Grizzly Adams man got to work setting up the tent.

The greatest thing about camping on family land (versus the state park) was being able to let the girls roam. See them, there? Waaaayy across the lake? 


They had set off on a hike to Michael's parents' {Nana and Papaw's} house. I didn't even bother to tell them to look out for snakes. 


Just kidding.

But Papaw drove them back to the campsite in style.

Even diva girls love spending time in the woods... who couldn't be happy in gorgeous surroundings like these?

Well, maybe not these diva girls. It was a long way from the dream house. I suspect this was Michael's first time to bring Barbie dolls on a camping trip, but I can't be sure...

One of the very best parts of camping... the junk food, of course. Anything goes when you're camping, and hot dogs are THE BOMB when cooked over a fire out in the woods.

Michael's cooking setup. He put a grate from a grill over these two logs.

We laughed... a LOT. Annie even laughed when she fell backwards out of her tiny green chair. If you know Annie, "falling out of chairs" is one of her skills.


We did decide that it was time to pass her tiny green chair down to baby Conan and get Annie a real, grown-up chair. She's a first-grader now, after all.

Then, you know, everybody had to take a turn falling out of the tiny green chair. 

See? Camping is the best form of family entertainment. 

(Yes, Annie needs a new chair... and those two blue ones are on their last legs as well. We did find those beside the dumpster at my old apartment building, after all... )

Waking up in the tent. Sleep is the greatest out in the woods... though we did hear some spooky coyote noise around 4am. We weren't scared though because we're tough like that.

Michael got up first and got the fire going for breakfast. Did I mention how great the food tastes cooked over a fire out in the woods?

More visitors the next morning... Nana and Dora. I think they smelled our breakfast burritos cooking from across the lake and came to investigate.

Katie Beth helped by poking the fire with a stick.

Seeing as how we forgot to bring a mixing bowl for our scrambled eggs, we got creative and cracked eggs into a used (rinsed) Gatorade bottle and shook them up good, because we have ingenuity and creativity and don't need a darn mixing bowl.

And they were delicious. 

Mmmmm. Camping food. 

Breakfast burritos were SO good.... crumbled, browned sausage, scrambled eggs, and shredded cheese on a tortilla. There is NO better breakfast.

We set up our breakfast buffet on the back of the golf cart. Heck yes, Velveeta shreds! Junk food is THE menu when you're camping, and don't you forget it.

The fire seemed to follow Katie Beth around no matter which side of the fire she sat on. Smoke follows the pretty people, we told her. I wish I was ugly!, she said.

See? Smoke. Following Katie Beth. *I like how the sun is streaming through the trees in this picture... 

An expedition down to the water to look for fish. They mostly found frogs.

Just because he's mine and I'm lucky...

The kids' favorite thing? Getting to drive the golf cart. We drove for miles through the woods and around the ranch.

Driving the golf cart = Annie face - level fun.

And I can't wait to go back.

Pin It

I'm reading: Gone Country {Our Camping Adventure}