Ward Campout!!

Here's Grant lounging inside our taj mahal style tent. We could have fit three queen air beds in there!!

Pics are a little out of order, so here's Blake later that night after the campfire incident (read below). He's wearing a glow-spot, it's like a glow stick that's sticky on the back, so you can keep track of your kids in the dark. It really cheered him up from his fall.

Blake stands in front of our tent after set-up

A cleaned up Blake and Grant hanging out in the bathroom

Wow, that's a bright light! Grant had just finished his s'mores. He especially loved the chocolate part.

We had our first ward campout at Prince William Forest this year. It's a short 40 min drive from Manassas and the weather was perfect!! We picked up Grant from preschool and had KFC make our dinner for us on the way over.

Once there, we set about putting up our mammoth tent. This thing is awesome!! I picked it up a couple weeks ago on clearance at Target. It's a $180 tent that we got for $45 and it is roomy!! It's tall enough to stand in and is 12 x 12 , so the kiddos had a great time running around inside. They loved playing with the dirt and all the other kids.

After everyone got there (about 100-125 people), there was a talent show at the big campfire. Travis played the guitar for our talent and the kids and I sang "popcorn popping" and "if you're happy and you know it." The boys were so cute doing all the actions and the crowd was really into it. After our performance, the drama began for us. Blake was trying to steal a glow-stick from Grant and took a dive right into the wooden bench at the amphitheater. I took him by a lantern and saw a ton of blood. I didn't know if he had lost a tooth or gotten a gash, so we rushed him up to the bathroom, screaming all the way. Once inside, I took his shirt off and started cleaning his face with it. AS I took his shirt off, his little glow-in-the-dark spot came off his shirt (it's like a glow-stick that's a big sticker, so you don't lose your kid) and he was miraculously healed! Blake just started laughing and sticking that button on his belly as I cleaned him up. I couldn't resist a cute pic! By the time Trav came back with a clean shirt, the boys were both having a great time and we were happy to see it was just a bloody nose that cleared up pretty quick. So we went back to the campfire in time for s'mores.

Then comes the funny part: bedtime. We stuck Grant in the big tent, and put Blake in a little tent we had brought. About 20 min later, Grant's asleep and Blake is wandering the campground! He had snuck out of his tent! This happened one more time before we tied the zippers together and Blake finally fell asleep. Trav slept with Blake and I slept with Grant. The kiddos slept well all night, but my air mattress deflated over night and Trav couldn't get comfy either. We're tired, but glad the boys had a good time. We think we might even try camping again later this fall.