Our 1st REAL Camping trip

Smith Family Campout

Aug. 29-Sept.1, 2008

Grandpa Dave and Grandma Pam left Friday to Belfair to set up camp. For them perhaps the most peaceful day of the weekend. All morning Cooper was so excited to go camping. In the car he was saying " I want to go camping!" at least a dozen or so times. As we were getting close to the campground I told him to look for Grandma and Grandpa, immediately he put his hands up to his eyes like binoculars and started looking and calling out for them. By Saturday afternoon, everyone had arrived, pitched tents and got to playing and having fun. We roasted Hot Dogs over the fire and had a yummy lunch.After cleanup we headed over to the park to play with the rest of the family. Here's Logan riding his big wheel for the first time on concrete. He was a little speeder, and he loved it. He even got a bump on his head the first 5 minutes we were at the campground.
Tia, Cooper and Grama playing baseball.
The guys playing washers.
Playing Football. Logan even played! He caught and threw the ball.
Playing with the other kids Legos and Thomas trains.
We took time to explore the creek while the tide was out. Cooper had already walked right in the water and got soaked. Not even camping for 2 hours and he's on his 2nd set of clothes. The kids really enjoyed throwing rocks in the water. Even my Nephew Bruiser liked to go in for a splash or quick drink. The older kids walked across the logs and down the stream and found a rope swing. While, Mackenzie was telling everyone stories, Logan was trying out the scooter.The kids were riding bikes everywhere! It was difficult to get pictures of all them together.

Stopping to strike a pose and a cute smile or two.
Logan got a thrill ride from James. He loves being thrown up in the air. James threw Mac up once and she decided it wasn't all that fun.
We came back to camp and Grandpa Dave cooked steaks over the fire, while Grandma made yummy salads and potatoes.

Would you believe that MacKenzie is a ham? I really liked this picture of Brenna & Bruiser.

Isn't he so cute?It started to rain so after cleanup all the kids invaded the trailer, and had a popcicle or rice crispy treat. It was at this time I had my "what was I thinking" moment. All the kids were really tired and crabby so it was time to head to the tents and go to sleep.

Or in my case try to sleep...I had forgotton how difficult it is to sleep while camping. All the boys slept really good, I made sure they kept warm. After all what else is there to do when you can't sleep?
Around 3 am I managed to dose off, only to be awakened at 6 am by Logan. I'm sure waking up in unfamiliar surroundings wasn't too much fun for him. Cooper on the other hand didn't want to get out of his Cars sleeping bag that he got for his birthday.

Grandpa Dave heard all of us wake up and came out of his trailer....I offered immediately to help start a fire to get warm. After breakfast we took a family walk to the beach. On the way, we stopped by the stream for a family picture.
Only to realize afterwards that MacKenzie had stayed at the campsite with her little friend.

The boys were distracted by Bruiser. Oh well.

Once we got to the beach Cooper said " Eew, stinky!" and plugged his nose. I don't think he liked the salty air. It was nice to be able to let the boys run crazy without the fear of them getting ran over.

Even Bruiser was able to be "off the leash" and have some fun.

We saw a bunch of little crabs running all over the rocks. (The crustacean type as well.) Okay the kids weren't crabby, they were actually having a really good time, collecting shells and watching hermit crabs.
I think they like the mud more than the rocks.

Grandpa Dave found some oyster shells and tried prying them open with a stick. James miraculously pulled out his hunting knife so it was easier to get the booger-like substances out of their shells. They looked worse than they smelled.
We collected our harvest of Oysters, sea shells and mud and headed back to camp.

Once we got back to camp, we stoked the fire and sat down for some lunch. Dad grilled up his oysters and passed them around for everyone to try. I was brave and tried one. I don't think I'll eat them again, but at least I tried it once. Cooper was having so much fun with Grandma Pam. He was her little shadow the whole time we were together.
Logan and Grandpa took a timeout to warm their hands.
We helped Grandma and Grandpa take down the tent and just as we were leaving it began to rain again. We only stayed one night, but it was fun and we made alot of memories. Thank you Grandpa & Grandma for everything. Now you can have another peaceful night before you come home.

Family Fun Day..

Aunty Freda invited us to another Forrester's group activity. This time we went to Bullwinkles Family Fun Center in Tukwila. The rides didn't open until 11 a.m., so we had about an hour to play video games, skee ball, and all the other ticket giving games. Forrester's provided 10 tokens to each of us, obviously not Logan, to do whatever we pleased. James scored and got some extra tokens for free. Cooper and Logan were running around jumping on all the drivable games. James took this oppertunity to take Logan for a ride on a Harley. It's scary the concentration on both of their faces.

Logan took a whirl on the "snowmobiles" While James and Cooper took a Jungle Safari, blowing up giant spiders and mosquitos.
As part of the Forrester's package we had the oppertunity to have unlimited access to the bumper boats, Go Karts and mini golf. Cooper liked squirting people and pushing the go button. Later, I took Logan out and he figured out the squirt button and loved it! Cooper really liked the Go Karts. So did James.
You can barely see it but Cooper is all smiles.
They wouldn't allow Logan to go on the Karts, so James and I took turns with Cooper. This time I had found a Go Kart with a steering wheel for Cooper. (no he didn't actually drive.) The whole time he was 'driving', he was saying " I'm racing!!!"
After a free all you can eat pizza lunch, we went back inside for more fun. James took the boys hunting. I think Cooper got bored with it as he kept running off.
We went to put Cooper on the Frog Hopper ride and the attendant said it was okay for Logan to go. The ride goes up maybe 15ft. then "hops" back down. The first couple hops the boys loved it.
After that their smiles were gone and they wanted off! We took them into Kidopolis. Pretty much a giagantic version of McDonalds toys.
It had a couple of rides inside.
Of course the climbling part was the most fun. Even Logan went way up high. Cooper's in the top of the picture, Logan is in the bottom left corner.
Thankfully as far as they would go is to the slide. Logan wasn't so sure about the slide. Before James climbed up to rescue him, Cooper tried to help him go down. Picture for a moment, Logan on his stomach holding Cooper's hands for dear life. Cooper realized brother wasn't going to go down, so he let go. Logan was holding onto the top of the slide, not wanting to go down. Thankfully Daddy was quick and came to the rescue.
We had so much fun!! We were worn out from the whole day. Thank you Aunty Freda.