Camping Trip

This past weekend, we braved the colder night temps and took our three little munchkins camping in the "real" woods. Honestly, I was pretty apprehensive that day before we left.....Is it too cold? Will we get any rest? Do we have everything we need? Are we crazy to take 3 little kids camping? Are toilets available close by? And the questions kept coming and coming......
However, my fears were all for not. Everyone had such an awesome time! We got to the campsite (about an hour drive from our house) and found the perfect little spot. Up on a fairly flat little ridge overlooking the woods and lake below. Just beautiful with all the fall leaves. And most importantly, close to the bathrooms! We (meaning David and me.....the kids were too busy playing on the logs and rocks nearby) got to work right away putting up our massive tent. Just picture if you can a pack-in-play, blow-up double mattress for mom and part of dad, two sleeping bags for Sarah and Luke, bags of clothes, extra blankets, and cooking supplies with room to spare! We definitely got the mac-daddy of tents!!
After set up time, we took a stroll down to the lake (or what was a Lake.....severe drought in our area right now). Sarah and Luke enjoyed running and finding little treasures along the shoreline as Andrew peeked out from behind Daddy in his backpack. After a dinner of Chick-fil-A (I know, we had to cheat a little....) the sun began to set and the kids immediately got out their flashlights. We started a fire and spent the rest of the evening roasting marshmallows and watching the stars in a little clearing above our tent. Then it was bedtime! Luke could not wait to sleep in the tent. He had been asking all night when he could sleep in his sleeping bag. We all put on two layers and bundled up for the night.......everyone slept well (except me....of course, I kept waking up worrying if everyone was warm enough...especially little Drew) It did drop to about 44 degrees by morning. I had Andrew in 3 layers, plus two blankets at night and coat and hat in morning....He looked like the little brother from the movie Christmas Story. He could hardly move, but he was sure warm!
David got up about 5:30 am and ended up staying up and starting a fire for all of us for breakfast. What a man!!! We cooked bacon and eggs over the fire...and then gathered up all our gear and headed home. But of course, no camping trip (Shaw style) would be complete without stopping by the local Starbucks and getting a hot chocolate.