The Experience

This weekend was quite the experience!  Grant and I had planned on going home to Kentucky this weekend to attend the wedding of one Grant's childhood friends.  We also decided it would be a good weekend to attempt our first camping trip with the Lovett family!  Grant had asked for a tent, sleeping bags, chairs, and all the necessary camping items for Christmas, so we were needing an excuse to go try it all out.  We loaded up on Friday after I got off work and headed to Hillman Ferry Campground, which is only about a 20 minute drive from our hometown, for a weekend of family fun!

We kept checking the weather throughout the week and realized we were going to get a little chilly on this first camping experience...the low on Friday night was 34!  We then realized halfway there, that we forgot to pack our air mattress.  So, we would not only be freezing, but sleeping on rocks...awesome.  We had to remind ourselves of the motto we developed for the weekend, "It's all a part of the experience!"  Once we arrived at the campsite on Friday we set up our tent, (which turned out to be great) grilled cheeseburgers and hot dogs, made s'mores, popped popcorn, and just relaxed around the fire. 


Our view on Friday night from the campsite

Trent popping some popcorn!

Tucker's shirt he got in Maryland was perfect for camping :)

Once we all began to freeze, we headed off to bed.  Let's just say it wasn't our best night of sleep ever.  It was COLD!  The metal in my nose and cheek was so cold it was painful, we could only sleep in certain positions so the rocks wouldn't jab into our bodies, and apparently it was opening day of turkey hunting season and all the turkey's were coming to our campsite gobbling and looking for refuge at the crack of dawn.  But...it was all a part of the experience! 

Gabbi had a soccer game at 8:00 am on Saturday morning, so after that peaceful night of sleep we all stumbled out of our tents and rushed to get ready.  We didn't have time to take showers, so Lisa, Gabbi, and I went to the bathhouse to brush our hair and teeth.  Lisa decided she would just wipe her face and butt with some baby wipes that she had in the car since we didn't have time to shower.  She was in the stall getting all ready and came out with the wipes in hand, when Gabbi noticed that those were not baby wipes.  Gabbi had pulled the wrapper off of the container and Lisa had actually used car wipes on her face and butt!  haha!  It was hilarious! Classic story to come out of one of our family functions! We had to remind Lisa..."It's all a part of the experience!"

After the soccer game, Grant and I went to get ready for the wedding.  Luckily it was a 1:00 wedding, so we still had plenty of time after it was over to get back to the campground before dark.  Here are some pics of us from the wedding.

 

 Kem and I

Handsome looking husband!

 

We like to camp in suits and dresses!

 

Saturday night some more family members came out to the campground to eat and hang out.  Before dinner, Grant, Karson, Klein, Tucker, Gabbi, and I all went geocaching through the woods.  It took us on about a three mile hike to find a box of  hidden treasure!  Actually, it was a box with a bunch of random items that people had left, but cool nonetheless!)

 

 

For dinner we fried fish and hush puppies and had french fries and white beans on the side.  It was delish!  We spent the rest of the night just sitting around the fire, doing a little fishing, making s'mores, popcorn, telling stories, and trying not to freeze again!

 Karson and I on the hiking trail!

 

 Ray was a little chilly!

 

Karson and Grant by the fire

 

Sunday morning bike ride

 

Lisa and I scrubbed the grease and cleaned all the dishes! You're welcome, people! :)

 

 

We had a great weekend camping with family!  Any chance we get to go home, spend some time, and make memories we take!  Our family is some of our closest friends, and we are so blessed that God gave us each one of them to fill a spot in our lives.  Happy Camping!