Creek-Stomping & Camping

One morning the kids and I went to our local nature center for a special activity on camouflage, geared towards preschoolers.  After doing some activities indoors, we were able to go out in the woods to test our knowledge and play a couple games (sorry, no pictures of this day).  After the "scheduled" things were finished, everyone was welcomed to continue hiking through the nature trails.  We took part in this, and hiked for a long time!  Although we'd been to the nature center many times before, we had never hiked the trails before that day.  I couldn't believe what we had been missing out on!  Just 8 minutes from our house was a great creek to play in, porch swings to glide on, and lots of beautiful nature to enjoy.

The following Saturday we went back there as a whole family.  Clara was pretty sick and having a rough time, so we didn't stay too long, but it was fun to explore and spend time outside.

Eli yanked off his shoes and headed straight into the creek!  David was nice enough to go in the cold water with him.  :)

The week after that, it was time for the annual Father/Son Campout that our church has.  David and Eli have never gone camping together before, but Eli talks about going camping so often, so Dave decided to take him.  (What a good dad! :)

We don't own any camping gear, so David's parents graciously loaned the tent and David's sleeping bag.  (They gifted Eli a fireman sleeping bag a while back).  Right before the trip David ordered a mat to sleep on to make it more comfortable, but it was sadly left in the wrong car.  He also wished he had brought ear plugs, since they were camping near the noisy interstate.

Playing in the water spigot

Playing with a boy who brought a hammock.  Eli said that the boy wouldn't let others in his hammock, but Eli got a turn.  :)

The campfire.  Dave brought hot dogs to roast, but Eli would only eat his cold.  And after all the hyped-up talk about roasting marshmallows,  Eli preferred to only eat his un-roasted.  Silly kid!

Eli got to stay up late and play games in the dark with the other boys, which he thought was "SO cool!" (He crashed at 5:30 p.m. the following day, but thankfully stayed asleep until 7:00 the next morning!

I am so glad Eli finally had a wish come true!  When he walked in the door his eyes were all aglow as he excitedly told me "It was so much fun!" and went into detail about how he found green glass treasure, climbed high rocks with his claws, and basically had the time of his life.   It didn't take long for him to ask, "Can we go camping again?"  :)