cold mountain

This weekend we went camping on the rim with our friends Mark & Lisa and their 5 cute kids.

It. Was. Cold.

Last week when we started planning our trip it sounded like a great idea. We'd get out of town, our kids would have a great time, etc. etc. Once the event started getting closer, I admit, I tried getting out of it. I started thinking of the laundry - before and after the trip - that had to be done. Oh, and all that packing. Packing kids clothes, my clothes, making the menu, buying the food, packing the food, packing something to entertain the kids in the car and while we're there, packing something to entertain myself, pack the chairs, tables, flashlights, bedding.....

Point made - there is a lot to do to prepare for a trip. I really miss the good old days when all this was unnecessary - all I had to do was show up and complain when asked to do something minor.
How is it that I am now the mommy with all the responsibility?

Anyway, back to camping...

We all stayed good and bundled and Taylor was able to stake out his place in the sun. Whenever we go someplace cold, Taylor always reminds us that he is an "Arizona boy" and he'd much prefer it to be 100 degrees out.


I thought I'd just run down through some highlights and low lights of our trip:

LL (lowlight) - carsickness. Paige needs to really focus on the road (not on the movie) to avoid something unpleasant happening in the car when we're taking windy bumpy roads. Recent developments: I also cannot read or write while a passenger in the car or I too will feel very unpleasant.

HL (highlight) - realizing that the heater in our pop-up trailer does, in fact work. Saved our life!

LL - DIRT. We went through 1 package of wipes in two days

HL - fishing. We spent 4 hours on Saturday afternoon fishing. We went away with 9 fish between our 2 families. Even the girls loved it and they each took a turn gutting and cleaning them when we were done.

LL - 6 o'clock wake up call. Apparently, our children don't realize that we are on vacation. If it wasn't hunger, it was a call of nature.

HL - Paige's willingness to "do her thing" in one of Gabriel's diapers first thing in the morning rather than go outside where it was freezing.

LL - Satellite tv in an RV. Mark and Lisa really know how to rough it. They have an RV complete with satellite tv, tivo, microwave, oven, sink, toilet and shower. The guys spent several hours watching the ASU game on Saturday.

HL - bathing after a day of camping and fishing...

LL - ...it was in the teeny tiny sink in the trailer!

HL - our kids enjoying kick the can in the forest.

LL - packing up the kids bedding and finding boogers all over the blankets and sleeping bags!

We really did have a lot of fun. When we left there it was a lovely 68 degrees and came home to 93 degrees. Mother Nature hasn't sent us November yet.