Camping Fun!

We FINALLY got brave and went camping! I don't think I say this enough, I LOVE camping with my family! I love getting away from the hustle and bustle and stepping into the "backwoods" ;) I love not feeling like I have to match my clothes or even change my clothes for that matter. I love not caring if my daughters hair is combed or not (so what if she sported marshmallow in her hair for 3 days!).  I love being able to roast hot dogs ALL the time and I just LOVE the quietness, the simplicity and simply enjoying my family all to myself :)

 We went to Bennet Springs State Park in Missouri. It was a short 4 hour car trip that the kids did well on. Brody was beside himself with excitement to be able to help daddy set up camp :)

 Had to have S'Mores every night! :) My clean boy hated how sticky his fingers got, my messy girl was a disaster after every bite ;)

 This park was a trout hatchery. These pools of water contained thousands of little tiny trout growing to be released. It was apart of our morning routine to come down here, walk the lines and throw fish food in. The kids couldn't get enough of these fish!

 Parks Man is such a trooper! He did great and I think we can officially say that he likes camping!

Thankfully he hadn't started crawling yet, but he still figured out how to roll off his blanket to get leaves in his mouth ;)

 I've learned to simplify life when we camp. So, we get cereal for breakfast! Mike did the grocery shopping (!!!!) and let B pick out the cereal. We NEVER have sugary cereal in our home, but for this occasion they got generic Lucky Charms :)

 We also spent time just sitting and watching the fly fisherman. The kids were glued!

 Afternoons consisted of a short hike and ice cream BEFORE dinner! Yep, we are the cool parents for sure! The lodge had soft serve ice cream we couldn't pass up ;)

 Mr. Independent insisted on doing ALL of his own cooking!

 Such a happy camper!

Brody and Aubrie shared a bed. They had SO much fun doing it! It was fun to get up in the night to see their position. This was a 4am picture that was taken!

Auntie Meghan even joined us half way through! It was kinda really nice to have some extra hands! 

We had a blast! So glad we get to do this as a family!