I grew up camping.  I had no idea that it wasn’t something everyone did.  I grew up in Ohio, far, far away from the beach or the mountains, so they were not options for our vacations.  But we loved being outside and near a fire so camping it was! It was the best and I’m so grateful that camping was our version of vacation.

As the years have passed, I’ve backpacked camped, camped as a cheap way to travel, had big family camping trips, and girls-only hiking/camping weekends.  Jeremy and I took the kids camping a few times when they were small and before we got divorced.  Post-divorce, I haven’t had the chance (or guts) to take the kids camping by myself.  I am a good camper.  I can make a fire, cook, set up a tent all by myself and I enjoy every bit of it, but I just wasn’t sure if I could manage the bathrooms and all of the work that camping involves,while splitting my attention between three kids.  AND that doesn’t even take into account the ever-changing weather in this lovely state.

Logan’s oldest son, Micah, shares a birthday with me and we both really enjoy camping, so we decided to pick a weekend near our birthday and make a family camping trip happen. It takes a lot of stuff and food and effort to go camping with 11 kids and 8 adults!  We had a really, really good time!  The weather wasn’t terribly hot and it was so fun to see how grown up and helpful my crew was 🙂

Here’s a series we took to see if any of the kids had the same color eyes.  Turns out some do and some don’t, but they sure do have gorgeous faces (and eyes).

Feeding 11 kids is a feat all it’s own and takes most of us adults, but it sure was fun to squish them around the table and watch them eat.

I let Henry (and maybe Lucy, I can’t remember) walk around and take photos with my camera and I’m so impressed with what they captured! 

Lake play! And a few portraits of the kids that thought it was fun 🙂