Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Cool School Campout



I really wish I had more time to dedicate to blogging about the great campout that Josie's school put together this year at Hueston Woods, because it really was fantastic.  Lou and I used to do a fair amount of camping before the two of us became four, and it's always something we talked about doing with the girls as they grew up.

We love Josie's school SO much and THE BEST part of her school is the amazing community of families surrounding it.  There were some really great moments during the camping weekend where we just kind of stopped and looked around and realized that we have been successful in our efforts to surround our children with positive influences and diverse families that value the same things we value, parent in similar ways and feel like an extension of our own dreams for our own children.

Here are some highlights from the first of many school campouts!

We make the campsite our weekend home:


We play games:


We build world's longest glow-necklace:




We eat S'Mores:



And we sing songs by the fire:


We make crafts:

 We dance:


We get quiet, then we go to bed: (Note that I said "go to bed" and not "go to sleep" because let's be honest people, not much sleeping ever happens when you camp. It just is what it is. And it's worth it.)

We rise and we shine:

We borrow Uncle Robert's camper (which we love and are super grateful to have in the family):

And then we all go to The Lake:


And we take over the entire beach with our sand castles and splashing and having fun:

And Bea sleeps for two solid hours under the shade of a tree in the camper:

And we play, play, play in the sun and the sand:


And we feel brave with our best friends by our side:






And we decide to have an impromptu picnic that is the perfect end to a perfect trip:

 And we talk about how great the campout was for weeks and weeks to come.