Camping

Not too exciting of a title, but atleast I am posting, right?

Sunday night we headed to the mountains for our first camping adventure as a family of six. The kids were more than excited, I really didn't think Sunday afternoon was going to come quick enough for them.

Friday, Clay and I set up the tent in our backyard to see if our tent would hold the six of us. After reconfiguring a few times, we decided that it would work. It is technically a 5 man tent, but 4 of the "men" are little people, so we thought it would be fine. Once the tent was up and sleeping assignments were given, the kids were dying to start out on our adventure. Paige had all her belongings packed and ready that night.

Finally Sunday came, the sky was filled with clouds. If you aren't familiar with California, clouds are a rarity and when it happens it gets everyone talking and everyone wondering why on earth you would go camping when these clouds are in the sky. But being Indiana folk and knowing that our tent has weathered a few storms in the past, we decided to go ahead and head out. We checked in at the park entrance where the park ranger showed us the weather forecast which consisted of 90% chance thundershowers. Oh well, the kids are most excited about the tent anyway, so we will just spend most of our time in it.

Well, we were able to spend the whole afternoon outside of our tent. We went on a hike, started our fire, roasted hot dogs, and the kids played flashlight war with each other. It turned out to be a wonderful evening. No rain yet.

We got tucked in our beds, all snug. (actually snug is an understatement). The kids fell asleep pretty fast. After a while of Jathan and I not falling a sleep we decided that our 5 man tent was not intended for a family of six, and we were going to have to reconsider that the next time went camping. But it was fun lying there and thinking through our other camping trips. Nine years prior in the same month, our Sunday School class from Clarks Summit, PA went camping in Eastern PA. Then, it was just the two of us in that same tent. (Unless you count Paige, I was pregnant with her) We had plenty of room then. But there was certainly a contentment that came over me as I listened to the breathing of my four beautiful children sleeping. We are truly blessed.

Early in the morning the thunderstorms hit, lots of lightening, thunder and rain, but our trusty tent kept us dry. All the next morning we were in fog and it was a bit cold, but it didn't matter to us. We were together, in the outdoors. The fog kept us from looking up to the higher mountains, instead we focused more on the up close. The kids discovered a tree where a wood pecker was keeping it's winter stock of acorns. We found a mouse in a hole and enjoyed watching it nervously eat seeds around it's hole. We watched the leaves fall from the trees as the wind blew. Despite little sleep, it was a wonderful time, looking at the beauty of God's creation both the massive and the small.

I am so thankful.