Camping Fun

I started this blog to share, and after leaving my other blog, I knew that this one would be about our family as a whole, and not just adoptive stuff. We don't have many adoption related issues in our family, so this blog serves as my scrapbook if you will. So going private on my blog made me realize that who ever is stalking me is sort of winning. Although I am not competitive, I am determined. And by that I mean, I will fight through what feels like a personal attack and not actually a professional one. I have contacted and have the support of the professionals established to help teachers when things like this happen, so I kind of feel like  I will not let fear take away my 1st Amendment right to express myself, whether I am a teacher or not. It's sort of ridiculous anyway. The person who complained about the blog was never really a friend, as much as they pretended to be, so in the grand scheme of things, I have to ask, "Who cares?"

So onto the good stuff...
I did the thing that I swore I would never do..


I   WENT    CAMPING  !!!

Actually, I didn't fully commit to it. We went day camping.
I had no idea how fun it would be, as I really don't think I am outdoorsy, but this was truly awesome.
The beauty in this area are the national parks. Growing up, we really didn't have many large parks like we have here. Well, there are the beaches but you get where I am going..
We got up and packed smore stuff, and drinks and snacks. It's very cool here so we got blankets and chairs. I went to the Dollar Store and got all sorts of nets and insect containers and we headed to Burke Lake. It was such a beautiful day. Cool enough for a light jacket, and the sun warmed the air just enough. The cicadas are here, but they stay near the ground, so no worries there..
Burke Lake has a train and carousel and tons of playgrounds dotted here and there. After we had ice cream and took a ride on the train with our group, we headed to our campsite.

 There were 3 families and we had packed our cars as if we were moving in forever. Our campsite was in a wooded area with a playground just a quick walk away.

Hippy Teacher brought her tent and the kids loved pretending to be a thousand miles from civilization. All the kids were loving it. We hung out and made hot dogs and grilled cheeses on the fire, and then had a Disco Party in the tent. Lilz was a riot. (another teacher's baby girl) She is growing up so much. Another family came by with their daughter, so our campsite was chock full of little ones. Rolling Thunder is in town, and I think we scared THEM with our glow stix and silly songs and games.

The dads took the kids to the playground, and that gave the moms a chance to catch up and chat..I miss our time of 3..Our conversations are so easy. Mainly because each of us know that our hearts are with our children. All of us can always find fun ways to share ideas from Pinterest and the web, and each of knows that we are doing our best to bring our "Happy Momma Love" into our class rooms..
The kids came back and we made Smores, and kicked up the Glow Stick action. It was awesome.
We hung out in the darkness, and enjoyed the beauty of the fire..Winding down around 10, we packed up and said Goodnight to our little family of friends. Of course Anna said, "this is the perfect day" at least 3 times. She is such a gr8ful child. And while she was taking care of the little ones, Auggie and I got in some quality hula-hoop time. AR showed no fears while we were camping. I though she might over worry about snakes or bug bites, but no..That tells me that she was feeling good...

















It was a most needed, perfect day!