I’ve had so many projects to document and share lately, I almost forgot to write a post about our annual camping trip that my family takes each year.
*This post contains affiliate links*
My parents, all the siblings (7 to be exact) and their spouses/children have been at this tradition for 10+ years. Each year, there’s either a new baby or a new family member via a younger sibling getting married. This clan is constantly growing! And we think it’s super fun to sleep on the ground and live without running water for a few days every summer.
Camping with kids is a LOT different than camping without kids. But it’s also more fun in some ways too… watching the littles getting dirty and making memories.
Our girl Della is always looking for a baby to love on. Chubby baby on left: Rollie. Chubby baby on right: Cypress Jean.
Speaking of Cypress, this was our view of her pretty much the whole weekend. Now that she walks, she simply canNOT stay in one place. She’s constantly taking off to go exploring. Her daddy and I are getting our cardio in chasing this girl all the hours of all the days. #exhausting
Another example:
And this is her RBF (resting bitch face) when we make her stay put for any amount of time. What a grump!
Since I know there will be a handful of people wondering about that brilliant camping highchair (affiliate), you can find it and lots of other handy items I rounded-up in this post about camping with small children. We bought it the day before we went camping, and it was SUCH a lifesaver. In fact, now we take it everywhere with us (to the park, friends’ houses, out to the garage when we’re working on a project) because it keeps our little adventurous toddler in a safe non-wandering location, and it’s so conveniently portable.
Each family unit signs up for a meal or two to bring, prepare, and share with everyone else.
The all the brothers (and Nick) play lots of full-contact frisbee and 500. And my little tomboy Paisley always has to be right in the middle of it. The big boys are so good about including her.
While Paisley is spending time being social and aggressive, my sweet Della loves to just sit quietly… alone with her thoughts. These twins couldn’t be more different!
Yet at the same time, they’re also best of friends.
We go camping in a different location every year. And this year, we were nestled up alongside a little babbling brook. There was lots of fishing and digging for worms!
Every year, there are more wonderful memories made to cherish!
But I have to admit… this year will be remembered as ‘the camping trip where I got Lyme Disease’ …so there’s a bit of a dark cloud over my camping memories this time. Many of you sweet readers have been asking how I’ve been feeling lately…. and the answer is BETTER! Lyme Disease affects everyone differently, so it’s very hard to know what to expect. The first month was really hard, and I was VERY sick. But since then, I’ve felt almost normal! Occasionally I will start to feel sick and very achy, but it never lasts more than a day. Keeping my fingers crossed that I’m not going to be facing a lifetime of chronic symptoms like many Lyme patients do.
To read about our family camping trips from previous years, here’s 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, and 2011.
~Bethany
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Hello hello friends! Things have been wild as we've been navigating the holiday season, schedules,…
I love this! What I think is especially fun to see in this post is the progression of life events. If your family has been doing this for ten years, then you must have had many camping weekends on the other side of fertility, wondering, hoping and praying for little ones to bring with. It might have been hopeful, it might have been painful. And here you guys are this year with your three beautiful little ones playing football and fishing. It is always so much fun to see dreams realized and the hopes and desires of ones heart manifest. I’m so sorry the Lyme disease brought such a dark cloud, but there is still so much to celebrate in a family weekend with the little ones you prayed for. Cheering you on from afar!
That’s so true Kelly. I love that you ‘went there’. Yes over the years the dynamic has changed greatly (and will continue to I’m sure), and there were some painful child-less years. But it’s all part of the journey! And all the memories are good ones. I love sharing it with our little girls now. And we know just how blessed we are. <3
awesome memories (except the lymes)
Oh what a lovely trip (with the exception of the Lyme disease!) and I love the pics of Cypress confined in her chair. Not a happy camper to put it mildly. The twins are getting so big! I am glad that you are feeling better and hope the trend continues. Your summer camping trip looks amazing.