Our Camping Trip--Yes, I Went Camping

A few weeks ago, we had a somewhat last minute invitation to go camping with the Millards and the Scheuchzers.  I've mentioned before that I'm not exactly the outdoorsy, rough it, kinda gal...so we rented a camper.  We packed up and headed to Beaver's Bend in Broken Bow, Oklahoma.  Our traveling band included three vehicles pulling trailers, six adults, eleven children and about a hundred bicycles.  Broken Bow is only a little over two hours away from Hometown, but with an entourage like that you can imagine that it took quite a bit longer...

We arrived late on Tuesday and each family began setting up camp.  We quickly realized our

 "advantage" over the other two families:  our children are older, and we only have two.  While everyone else was trying to feed little mouths, bathe the bug spray off little bodies and put sleepy heads to bed, HannahKate and Hallie were organizing their own bunk spaces and drifting off into dreamland without so much as a "Tell me a story" or "I need a drink of water".

  

The next morning began with BigJoel making us a gourmet breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon and toast.  We don't eat that well when we're at home!  

I have decided though, that "Oklahoma" must be the Native American word for "Really-hot-and-unbearably-humid".

The kids all had a blast riding their bikes back and forth on the road. Whenever someone would yell, "Car!" and everyone would abandon their bikes in the middle of the road and run to safety. They eventually got the idea that they needed to get the bike out of the way as well.

We all had lunch at the park's restaurant (roughing it, I know).  Again, quite the spectacle with just the sheer number of young children we had running around.  A lady from another table said to Bart, "This is going to sound crazy, but have you ever heard of the group MercyMe?  You look just like the lead singer."  It made us laugh and then our service kicked up a notch.

After lunch, we rode a little train which was nice. Then the girls decided they wanted to ride horses.  I can't really remember the last time I rode a horse, but I wasn't going to let my babies ride off into the woods alone.  We had a great time.  Hallie talked to her horse the entire time. The only problem is that now both girls want a pony for Christmas...I can't seem to make them understand the concept of city zoning laws.

Since I went on an adventure with the girls, but without Joel, I went back to the camper for a well-deserved nap.  Joel took the girls to the river to swim.  They came home laughing and telling "redneck" stories.

That night, we all cooked hot dogs and smores around the campfire.  So much fun!

The next day everyone headed to the river.  The water was frigid!  Mike was the only adult brave enough to get in with all the kids.  What a man! 

HannahKate didn't want to swim again, so she and I rented a pedal-boat.  Bart told us we'd be sorry because he'd been with a couple of the boys the day before and it was a lot of work and not much fun.  Again, what a difference a 13 year-old makes as opposed to two 7 year-olds. Hannah pulled her own weight and we had a pleasant little cruise down the river and back. 

The day was over all too soon and it was time to pack up and head back to Hometown.  So while I'm not usually the camping type, it was so much fun being with friends and family that humidity and bugs didn't bother me one bit.