We went camping....in a tent.

This past weekend we went to our church's annual Family Camp! We get together one weekend a year at a campground overlooking Ontario Lake in North Western NY. We have been going to this particular campground for....9 years now? And it is always so much fun. We come home super tired and very sore from all the sports and games we play.

You have the option to stay in a tent, rv/camper, bunkhouse/cabin or a lodge. So, for 6 years now, with the tenting being the cheapest option we, of course, have always opted for that. This is the first year that my whole immediate family wasn't there. My parents wanted to send my 3 youngest sisters, and stay back to get some work done on their house. Although, my mom ended up spraining her ankle a week before, so she hopefully spent the weekend resting. Dean and I offered to take my sisters, and we all crammed into my parents big red 12 passenger van. In the past we usually just pitch our tent back in our little corner, and then spend most of our time at my family's cabin where they have the whole set up: Canopy, picnic table, grill, food, electricity! But this year...this year we took over the tenting site...

And I took on the role of resident mom, taking care of the planning, packing, food making and clean up. Big props to my mom who has been doing that for all these years. It's a LOT of work! But in the end everything came together well, and we all had a great time.

When Will was a baby, and now for Sam, we'd stick a porta crib in the back of a van (it used to be Deans work van) and hope for the best. Thankfully my boys are super sleepers, and it has always worked out great!

 Our home away from home.

There are always a bunch of planned activities that you can choose to participate in, whether it's water games and relay races, volleyball and dodgeball tournaments, kids crafts and swimming. There is always something going on. This year I led one of the kids "craft" times, and we made some good ol' cornstarch and water...goop. As you can see the kids had a great time making a big mess.

We had beautifully perfect weather. Warm in the sun, yet nice and cool in the shade. The nights were crisp and a bit cold. Perfect for wearing sweatpants and hoodies and huddling around the campfire with friends.

Will and Sam haven't been huge fans of the water so far this summer, but were more than ready to get in the pool. Which, of course, I wasn't fully planning on. I packed Will's swim trunks just in case, but nothing for Sam. He went right in regardless, and well...you'll see.

Uh, hott?

We also played mini golf...

And air hockey.



Played volleyball...

Ok, tried to play volleyball.

Made silly faces.

And watched the beautiful sunset.

Switching to color for this one ;-)

On our way back from camping it has become a tradition to stop and get ice cream at a certain little spot right down the road.  It's always fun to get all packed up and say bye to your friends, only to see them again 3 minutes later for one last hoorah before heading home.

Ice cream and curly fries.

He always has something to say.

 Friends.

Sunglasses. Oops.

 Aww!