On September 17-18th, we were able go camping with our ward. Jeff and I both grew up camping a lot, but sadly we haven't been able to take our kids much over the past few years. So we were excited when we found out our ward would be having a camping trip, even if it was only for the purpose of a service project and only for one night. The boys were so excited to be able to sleep out in a tent and cook marshmallows over a fire.
While we got everything ready and packed up, I also kept a close watch on the weather report. It was a church campsite and although they did have cabins, there were only a couple of them, and they were all full so we knew we'd be sleeping in a tent. By the time we left, it said there was a 40% chance of rain. I figured the odds were still in our favor so we decided to go anyway. It was about a 2 hour drive, and by the time we got there it was pretty much a downpour. Call me wimpy, but the thought of setting up a tent and spending the night on a mountain with four little kids- including a 5 month old baby- in pouring rain didn't sound too appealing; and I was ready to just turn around and head home if there wasn't a good solution. Fortunately, Jeff talked to some of the people in charge and they said we could sleep on the loft bunkbeds in the lodge. That sounded good to me!
That night everyone enjoyed dinner, I pre-made tin foil dinners at home, and although it wasn't quite the same as cooking them over a fire, they were pretty good! We also enjoyed some hot chocolate and granola bars.
One of my favorite parts of the whole trip was after dinner. The bishop stood up and told a really nice spiritual story. After he finished, he was talking about campfire traditions and asked if anyone else had a story to share. After a few minutes of silence, I saw a little hand go up up front and then Caleb went and hopped up on the chair in front of the group of about 60 people. He then proceeded to share a 'scary' story with everyone involving a ghost, a dragon and a pretty imaginative story line. Jeff and I were in the back of the group and were pretty much busting up at this point. Caleb was making up the story on the spot, with plenty of enthusiasm and feeling, and doing a pretty good job- all the kids were laughing. After the story went on for a little while, I had Jeff go up and help him finish the story. :) Everyone had a good laugh over that one.
Even though it was a little rough sleeping that night and kids didn't sleep real soundly, I was just grateful to be under a roof. The next morning we had an early 7am breakfast, loaded up all our things, and then the service projects began. There were wards from all over coming to do various projects at the camp. Our ward's assignment was chopping firewood. Men were cutting down trees, chopping it into logs, hauling it to the camp, and chopping it down to necessary size. It was a lot of work, Jeff helped for 4 hours. I played 'nature' mom and played with kids outside for those four hours since another ward was cleaning the lodge and we couldn't be inside. It was still pretty wet outside, but fortunately not raining anymore. We had fun looking for squirrels, playing games, and throwing rocks into the lake. I will admit though, I was definitely ready to head home after we were done. Playing outside for 4 hours in the mud quickly gets old (for the mom anyway) and it gets a little tricky helping your 2-year old go potty in the port-a-pottys while you're holding a baby who can't be set down. 
Throwing rocks in the muddy lake
The other funny part was when we were leaving, I had to run back inside a couple times for some different things. There was a nice '40-something' guy there who struck up a conversation with me while I washed some dishes. He told me about some projects they had done as part of their adult singles ward. Then he asked me if I was single... :) I laughed and told him no, and that I had four kids. Then he said, "And a husband?....:) I said Yes. He then said, "Well, you don't have a wedding ring on." and I explained it was off because of the camping trip, but I definitely do have a husband and four children. He didn't seem to believe me with the previous answers. Maybe for some, church service projects have more involved than just the service! Nice guy, but I'm happily attached. :) Jeff got a good laugh out of the situation.
It was fun to go and spend time with ward members, and enjoy the scenery, but I'm hoping next time we go, the weather cooperates and we can do some fun things with our daddy as well!
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