Gone Camping...

Every now and then nature calls and this weekend it called via a little trip to North Carolina for some camping with the good ol' family.  Our initial plan was to hike two and a half miles into a remote campsite, but that quickly changed when we were told there were no rivers or ponds near those sites, but an alternative option was to rent a canoe and paddle our way to a campsite.  You don't have to twist our arms much...hike 2.5 miles with a 9 year old, a puppy, three sleeping bags, a cooler, 3 backpacks OR load a canoe up, pile the kiddo, puppy and luggage in and paddle away. 

We got a little lost.  There were two sets of orange buoys and we followed the wrong ones first.  Typical.  Luckily, Ryan brought the map with us and we were quickly on our way.  The total trip was under 45 minutes with a detour as we'd like to call it. :)  The boys quickly got to work putting up our three person tent and I sorted through food and clothing so that I knew where everything was when it got dark which always seems to happen sooner then expected. 

 

Looking good boys! Chopping wood was the next item of importance!  Ryan chopped while Jared and I gathered all sorts of branches. 

I have to admit, I love it when Ryan does manly things like chop wood, work in my car, weed wack, fix the dishwasher...it just gets me every single time and he thinks I'm crazy!  Needless to say, I was smitten to see him chop wood and be all sweaty!  Love you babe!

Now that we had the goods to make a great fire, it was on to finding the perfect marshmallow roasting sticks!  Jared was stellar at finding long skinny ones and super animated about showing me how he was going to carve the tip to make it pointy.  His method was to use a tree.  My method was to ask daddy to shaved it with his knife.  I won.  Not that it was a competition though.

We took an afternoon siesta on the pond... Well, I took a siesta while Ryan and Jared paddled and Lira tried to jump overboard. 

FYI, there are fairies here.  The live in the Bald Cypress Trees, ride dragonflies from castle to castle, skip from lilypads and dance in the moonlight. 

This little guy let us get right next to him!  Literally, we could have touched him if we stretched far enough.  It was pretty neat.  He had the right amount of camouflage and had a knack for doing leg lifts.  Needless to say, I watched him for a long time.

 Wait, did I say Lira tried to jump in???  She succeeded! 

Crazy Puppy. I got nice and wet after her little escapade, but she was happy.  She needed a little cleaning as it was.  Little shaggy dogs and the woods don't mix well. A bath was first on my list of things to do once we got home the next day. 

I represented LaSalle and my dorky headlamp side while Ryan hicked his head and feet out with camo and wore a Banana Republic shirt.  We had fun and enjoyed being dirty in each other's arms!

Hot dogs were roasted and devoured.  We were hungry bears and it showed in our eating habits :) 

After 7:30 PM marshmallows were roasted and smores were made!  They tasted beyond yummy!  Did you know that Graham crackers come in mini packets for freshness?  I didn't, but I do now! 

The best part of waking up is Folgers in your cup!  A big kudos to Folgers for making these nifty coffee bags!  Folgers, I've always thought of you as a mediocre coffee, but you have proved me wrong on this front.

Chilly mornings in the woods with a little fire, coffee and your hubby are wonderful!  We look super special here :)

 All good things must come to an end...

That's a monster.  I didn't kill it.  We were in his home, so he deserved to live.  Nothing this ugly could possibly be a she, so it's gotta be a he.  Sorry boys. 

And a little trivia...  You know you're in the south when???

Cotton on the roadside, cotton in the ditch

We all picked the cotton but we never got rich
Thank you Alabama for getting that song stuck in our head the entire trip! 

Much love.