Camping!!!

Two weekends ago we had the opportunity to go camping in Douthat State Park in western Virginia.  It was a beautiful drive, and the weather was perfect (if a bit windy - the wind kept knocking our tent down until we finally got it secured!).  It was a GORGEOUS park, and we had a wonderful, relaxing time as a family.  Coming out of a busy season, it was a much-needed getaway.

 

 

Oh - we almost tried to kill our dog, Roscoe, on the hike.  We forgot he's a basset hound who sleeps 18 hours a day and whose exercise routine consists only of following me around the house during the day.  :)  He slept all the way home after our 4 mile hike.  Here was one of our gorgeous views that weekend:

 These pictures are Shiloh's handiwork - she's quite a good photographer!

 Love this picture of me with my Doodle Bug. She was a bundle of energy!

Here is a boy ready for camping:  (i.e. Redneck training is almost complete)  He even created a homemade fishing pole only to have his hopes dashed when we tried to buy a bobber at the country store and were told that he needed to fish with a licensed fisherman (even for catch-and-release!). 

Cora is trying not to fall into the lake and I'm not looking (Shiloh took the picture).  Yikes.

My girl goes nowhere without her cleats...ya know, just in case she might need to play a soccer game while she's camping.

 Roscoe was a little chilly, so the Cora and Abigail wrapped him up in a blanket.  He stayed that way until it was time for bed and he climbed into our tent to snuggle down next to the boys.  He's a wee bit spoiled, but he's such a good dawg.

 Beautiful, beautiful Adah contemplating deep issues of life and death:

 Nope!  Not really.  Just waiting for dinner and being her usual smiley self. :)

 Girls in action:

 The mama staying warm by the fire:

Shiloh's pulling her weight:

 Nathaniel, a budding redneck-in-training, because he doesn't have a blaze orange hat yet:

A blurry picture, but it's attempting to show Jackson with his homemade spear for spearing fish.  We did NOT eat trout for dinner, however. :)

Mountain man with his...uh...mountain dog?  Lazy basset hound mix?  Weirdest looking dog ever?

They only posed like this because we bribed them with food.

Hey, hey!  Look at that good lookin' couple married almost eighteen years! :)

 This was the view from our campsite, which I enjoyed the next morning with a cup of (barely tolerable) coffee.  Someone teach me the trick for percolators, please?  Turns out they don't have a Dunkin' Donuts in the wilderness, as my mom later advised me.

All in all, it was a wonderful, relaxing, trip that was way too short.  We're planning on going again over Memorial Day weekend, and I shall work on my percolator skills before then.  Actually, I think I'm just going to be all frou-frou and bring my french press. :)

Get out there and enjoy spring!!!