August Camp Trip, Part 1

I have a lot of catching up to do, so here's a start. In the second week of August we took a week up at camp. Katie and Stephen joined us half way through--they actually flew into Rochester and drove up to camp to meet us. They stayed with us almost a week--half the time at camp, half in Rochester. It was amazing to see them, and a huge treat for everyone!

Katie and Stephen time will come a little later. To begin with, here are some photos from my overnight in Higley Flow State Park with the boys. I wanted to make sure to take them camping for at least one night--Josh's first time!--but was willing to make it a quick trip, so we set up camp in the afternoon, ate dinner at home, then the boys and I went back to the camp ground, and didn't return until lunchtime the next day.

A couple of things made it interesting. First, Susan had no cell phone. It wasn't until I was lying in bed after lights out, around 11 PM, that I realized I could text her email account, Fortunately Susan realized it too, and we were able to stay in touch. 

Second, the forecast was for torrential rains starting around 6 AM and continuing until late morning. Clearly hadn't known this when I chose that day! As a result, when we settled in for the night, I made sure everything that could be was safely stored away in the van, with clothes for the boys handy in case we needed to make a break for it at sun-up. 

But first, the evening: We went to the beach right away. The lifeguard was off duty, so the boys had a blast jumping off the guard seat. 

When we first arrived, Sam was very happy to just sit and read in the van. Nice to see that venerable tradition continues--I remember many times as a kid sitting in the little automotive bubble of civilization.

Josh in the freshly set-up tent

They took turns jumping off of it onto the pile of sand in front of it. Fun stuff you can only do when no lifeguards are around!

Gorgeous sunset!

And of course, we made s'mores. 

I had expected an early bedtime, but that was not to be. After fun around the fire and a trip to the latrine (a strangely lonely experience when Susan's not along), we ended up settling in and reading books and turning out lights around 10:30 or 10:45. Took the boys a while to fall asleep. I saw midnight.

I also saw 6 AM, which is when Josh woke up to the bright morning light. Thankfully, the rain never arrived, aside from a brief sprinkle. So Josh and I managed to hang out in the tent until 7 AM, when I took him out to let Sam sleep. After a little breakfast, we started a new campfire. I told the boys about how, when I was a kid, one of our first jobs was to go around to the empty campsites and find half-burned wood we could salvage. The boys took to that task with great delight. The theme of the morning was "how well does this burn?". :-)

Josh, first thing

Found wood!

The little chimney sweeps

What a great morning fire!

After hanging around at the site for a couple of hours--the boys burning things while I broke camp--we headed over to the beach and playground again, and I finally had to drag them away at noon to have lunch and see Susan.

I have always planned to take the boys hiking in the Adirondacks when they are older, and it's important that they get enough camping experience to feel comfortable doing it. So this was a great overnight. I had hoped we'd also do a weekend as a family, but that might have to wait until next summer. 

As for Josh's first camping trip, it was a huge success. He's asked several times since then if we can go camping again.

That might be the s'mores talking.