Camping day 3- around town and late night at park

We decided that Tuesday was going to be a sort of laid back day, we were tired!
Kevin made pancakes (plain for us, M&M for the girls) on the griddle outside and we had breakfast on the picnic table in the great outdoors. I also got to watch how some other folks were doing breakfast over campfires, interesting.

Then we got reliable directions to WalMart (from the campground office), made a stop at a Country Store that had some great things, and made it to WalMart where we purchased a water purifier for the sink and a blanket for Kellie.
Back at the camper we did lunch, Kellie took a nap (and so did mommy) while Kevin and Megan toured the campground. There are some beautiful swans there.
While out walking Kevin and Megan ran into people we used to go to church with (what a small world, they were camping there too).

Then we headed to Knoebels for some rides. The girls had a ball!


Back at the camper Kevin made a campfire, Megan was scared of the fire, so we put the girls to bed and enjoyed a late night by the campfire and some s'mores just the 2 of us!

Camping day 2- the pool

We got up on Monday and it was HOT, so we decided today would be the day we spent at Knoebels's Crystal Pool.
We had a donut breakfast
and headed to the park.

The pool was great. They had life jackets for the kids (which safety minded mommy loved), slides in the big pool, diving boards, a water fall, locker rooms to change in, space to lay out in. And it felt great on the hot day!

Megan loved the water tube slides that you go down on a tube, they had double tubes so Kev & I each got to go with her a few times.

They had a kids pool with all kinds of cool stuff that dumped water, shot water, squirted water. Kellie enjoyed sitting the johnny jump up seats, both girls liked the slide and the area where water randomly shot out of the ground.

We didn't take the camera that day so we don't have any pictures. But it was great!

We took a ride on one of the park trains before heading home after the pool and Kellie fell asleep.

We went back to the camper where Kevin made a yummy dinner of burgers and hot dogs.

Camping trip day 1- getting there...

I think the saying goes "Getting there is half the fun", well...

With me having been sick the week before, we were behind in our preparations for leaving on our camping trip. We left about 2 hrs later than we planned (would have been later, but our wonderful neighbors Weeze & Dave took the girls for a while so we could focus). But we didn't have to go back to the house to get stuff we forgot like we usually do.

We hit some really rough weather on the drive (I think it was around Lebanon PA on I-81)- really hard rain, really strong winds that blew branches and vehicles. Meg was crying and praying, I was praying (and was pretty scared), Kevin was holding on tight to the wheel. Thank God we made it thru, Kevin is a good driver.

We make it to the campground. Driving in I see nothing but mucky mud puddles and rivers running thru campsites. Some sites were more like swamps. Apparently the storm had hit the camping area pretty hard. But our site wasn't too bad and we were really close to the top of the hill, so just a few puddles.

We parked and leveled the camper in it's spot (Kevin is a good driver and backed it in really well) and got most of the outside set up done. It was around 7pm, I realized I had forgotten a blanket for Kellie, plus we needed to eat and no one felt like cooking. A camping neighbor let us borrow their GPS so we could get to WalMart. (What hotel have you ever stayed in that when you asked for directions someone says "here take our GPS", although they did say if it rained again all 15 of them would be knocking on our camper door to get out of the rain).

Well, apparently the WalMart had moved farther away, but we found a McDonald's and gas station with diesel (which we really needed as the tank was low). And headed back to the campground without a blanket for Kellie. Note to self- apparently some campgrounds are in the "woods" and not near WalMarts and restaurants and Sunday at 7pm is not the time to find a place open in a small town!

We all slept pretty well (Kellie had a beach towel for a blanket and she didn't seem to mind). We were excited for the next day's adventure.

Things I learned from our 1st "camping" trip

Kevin and I purchased a used 5th wheel camping trailer (from Kev's parents), it took some time for him to convince me this would be a good investment and that I'd enjoy it.
He was right. We just got back from our 1st camping trip and it was really nice. I'll post more about the trip itself once we get the pictures uploaded.

Until then I'm going to share what I learned, in case you want to know...

- NEVER assume "I don't know anyone here, I'll never see these people again" and use that as an excuse to eat breakfast at the picnic table in your pjs with bed head. Just a few camper spots down we found some friends from long ago (Ralph and Cecilia W. for those of you who went to Covenant!). Fortunately they didn't see me in my pjs, but I wasn't all freshened up when we ran into them!

-The size of our camper bathroom is NOT meant for 2 people to be in at the same time and when you trip over the 2 yr old child in the bathroom with you, don't think the toilet paper holder will help break your fall, it will not break your fall, it will simply break.

-the size of the hot water heater tank and 4 folks who need baths/showers before bed will teach you water conservation real quick!

-it is great to be on vacation and not have to worry about what icky person slept in that bed before you, that icky person is you!

-the girls felt comfortable there, making sleeping easier.

-once you are packed you don't have to completely unpack at your destination and repack to go home! That is GREAT. Plus as long as you keep it in the camper it will go home with you. And you can take more stuff with you than if you were in the car, the camper has lots of space to store stuff!

-ladies, be sure to have someone along who doesn't mind dealing with the sewer line, the thought grosses me out. Thankfully Kev was willing to take care of it.

-I learned that I can get down in the mud and turn all kinds of T-handles and knobs so we can get the trailer settled. It's nice to get muddy once in a while.

Bubble fun

Megan and Kellie love bubbles.
So, Nana bought the girls a "bubble generator". It makes a lot of bubbles and no one has to use up all their air to make the bubbles!
They are both enjoying it a lot, but Kellie is especially having a ball with it!

July stuff- so far!

We went to Carter and Danielle's for 4th of July and had some great food and fun!
It's always nice to spend time with them. Meg and Kel enjoyed playing with Cara and Nat.

Then Megan went to VBS at our church with Samuel, Luke, and Cassie. She loves having them around. They were so sweet and made sure that Megan got her bible buddies from VBS and the crafts to do.

Such great cousins my girls have!

Megan only made it to 2 days of VBS because she had to have surgery to repair a detached retina in her left eye. She did well with the surgery, recovery has been a challenge, but we will make it thru!



Then we had a great cookout with some long time friends, but I forgot to bring my camera! We had a nice time chatting and being together! It was nice!

We were supposed to be in Gettysburg on vacation (our 1st camping trip), but Meg's eye surgeon said she shouldn't go, so we're hanging at home for a while!

Bumble Bee turns 2!!!

Kellie turned 2 on June 25th, I can't believe she's 2!
Kellie is growing well and is generally a happy go lucky adventurous kid!
I'd always dreamed of having a birthday cookout where the kids could just play (but with Meg's winter birthday that hadn't happened!)
So, for Kellie's birthday we did just that! It was a fun day of the kids just running a playing!
Kellie chose a zoo animal theme for her party (she passed by Elmo and Blue's Clues for an elephant and giraffe!). It was cute!


Here are some pics of the party! For more pics go to our photo site at- http://kevginmegkel.shutterfly.com/