3rd Annual Robber's Cave Camping Trip

We went on our annual Sunday School camping trip this past weekend. It was near perfect weather. I love going camping when it is cold. Cold however is a relative term as some people may no think high 50's low 60's is cold. As for us, we loved the cooler weather and enjoyed pulling out our sweatshirts and heavier coats. We were the first of the 8 families to arrive. As soon as we got here, Caleb wanted to go to the playground. One of the best parts about this place is that the cabins that we rent are directly across from a very nice playground. It is so nice to let the kids go whenever they want to go. There is hardly any traffic (I mean literally none), so we really didn't have anything to worry about b/c we could see them from our cabin and the campfire that we spent a lot of time around (funny how I didn't get any pictures of the campfire...it was there, trust me, we went through a bunch of firewood). So, while we were getting settled in our cabin, the kids were playing on the playground. Here is Caleb with his buddy Daniel playing Mario vs. Bowser...I will let you decide who was who.

This is a lookout spot just up the hill from our cabin, we tried to get a family picture here last year, but my camera broke and I couldn't ever get the picture off the memory stick (actually I think it was the memory stick that was messed up, not the camera). Anyway, it is a great spot for pictures. A little scary for those of us (me) who are afraid of heights....but a good picture nonetheless.

The crew goes out looking for a walking stick for our hike tomorrow.

Josh and Caleb discovered that directly behind our cabin were some great rocks to climb down, so they did this for quite awhile. Parker joined in right away when he arrived. Anyone know how to turn pictures once they are in the blog?

So, Friday night, we made dinner for everyone (we and another family, Daniel's as seen above), hamburgers and hot dogs, baked beans, potato salad, and chips, brownies for dessert. People were straggling in until about 8, so dinner lasted way longer than I thought it would.

We had devotions around the campfire after the kids went to bed (ours anyway), sang some worship songs, and then played murder....very fun game (nothing to do with devotions).

Saturday morning we had breakfast (sausage and egg burritos and fruit) then went on our hike. Here are Josh and Chloe getting ready to go....or rather getting warm by the fire, it was pretty cool in the morning. Before you start to wonder, Keira stayed with Grandma and Grandpa Lunn. I am sure she had a blast and would much rather have stayed in the warmth of their house. We enjoyed the time with Caleb and Chloe, but we sure were happy to get back to our Keira.

Here are some random pics on our hike......

Paul, Sarah, and Halie - our very good friends. Their youngest, Austin also stayed with Grandma and Grandpa

Family pic from near the top

Chloe and Halie in one of the caves

I wish I would have taken more pictures of Caleb climbing. I think I didn't because Chloe wasn't far behind and thought it would be better if I helped her instead of trying to take pictures. But, Caleb and Josh climbed every rock they could. Caleb would have stayed there all day if he could have. He was mad when we had to leave. Josh of course loved every minute of it, he was right in his element. They had a great time. Chloe was a little harder to deal with. She wanted to do all the same things Caleb did, however, she couldn't, so I ended up pushing/carrying her up the rocks. We had fun though and that is all that matters

Here they are at the top of one of the rocks.

Finally, a smile :) She wasn't too happy at the beginning of the hike, but once we stared up the path, she perked up and had a blast.

Yet another rock they climbed

Chloe coming out of a small opening between two rocks, all the kids wanted to go through it. It was a tight squeeze for adults, but the kids did great.

Caleb was up this rock before we even knew it, he and Josh ended up getting really far ahead of everyone because Caleb just kept going and climbing.

Paul and Sarah

Caleb hanging from a rock......

Here is the group of kids that was with us. Ranging in age from 3-9? not sure on the high end, but they were all pretty young.

After our hike, we went back to the cabin to eat lunch, then we headed over to the lake and played at the playground. The guys played flag football, and the women watched the kids. Caleb, Chloe, Carly (in the picture), and Ryanne played together most of the time. It was so nice for them to play together. They are the same age, so that helps a lot. This family is such a great family and I am so glad they have come to our class. I am sad that they are moving soon, but glad at the same time that I had the chance to meet them and get to know them and their kids.

I took the four kids to get snow cones....I know it is cold, but we have gotten them every year and so we had to get one this year.

Here are Ryanne and Chloe enjoying their snow cone

This year was a first for putt putt, but I am sure as the kids get older, it will become a tradition. No one was very good, and we definitely weren't following the rules, but the kids had fun and we did it as a family. That is what was important to me.

Saturday night we had fajitas and of course smores. We also tried banana bombs on the fire (cut a banana through to the bottom peel, put marshmallows, chocolate and peanut butter chips, wrap in foil and cook on the fire for about 5-7 minutes....pretty yummy) and they were pretty good, rich, but good. We then had a devotion with the kids where we did family communion. It was a really neat time and the kids asked a lot of questions. Caleb was hungry, so he was mad that we wouldn't let him have any of the bread. On a serious note though, he is very interested, so we are going to take him to a class that they offer at the church that really explains salvation and what it means. Sometimes coming from someone else helps understand even better.

We had a blast on our camping trip. Sunday night Caleb woke up with a 103 fever and has been out of school all week including tomorrow in which we are going to the doctor. Hopefully, it isn't anything serious, he has been acting normal, eating normal, and besides a fever and a little stuffy nose, he is fine, so maybe we will get some answers tomorrow. Another day..... can't wait.