Camping!

We went camping twice.  On August 27th we went to a place not too far away, Alder Lake, it is located on the way to Mt. Rainer.  Jerry and I found the campground when we drove up with Max and Brayden to see the mountain.  It is near a lake and we had a fine site... minus the path to the restroom that went through it.  For our first time it went really well.  We headed up after Jerry got off work, set up our tent, made dinner over an open fire, hot-dogs, chicken dogs and ribs, yummy!, went for a walk, did s'mores and got the kids in bed.  Sage, Saxton and Brayden slept all night long!  Max woke up a few times, I nursed him and he went right back to sleep.  Oh and he peed through his jams, actually those new pull up huggies diapers didn't work so well, and I slept on pee the rest of the night, but it was totally fine... it was filtered pee... baby pee, not regular pee.  In the morning we made a big breakfast, packed up and went to the lake to go swimming.  It was a lot of fun.  The kids were super excited that we finally were able to camp and they were ready to go again!  So we did.

The second time, September 10th, we went with Jerry's brother, sister in law and nephew to Orcas Island in northern Washington.  We had to get up and out of the house by 6:15 am in order to meet up and head north and we just made it in line in time to make the earlier ferry.  The ride to the island was beautiful!  It was an hour of gorgeousness!  After we arrived we drove to Moran State park and checked in to our site.  It was a great site, on a little outlet right on a lake (our other site we had a little walk to the lake.)  We set up our tents and ate lunch.  The weather was just beautiful and I think our only complaint were the bees.  After eating we headed to go explore the island.  First we went up to the top of Mt. Constitution and climbed the tower where you can see forever, even to the Canadian Mountains.  Then we drove to a little beach where you had about a .6 mile hike to the water.  The beach was so clean and crystal clear.  It was very cool and full of cool pebbles and rocks.  One of which met my head.  Jerry and the kids were skipping rocks and I bent down at the perfect time and took a rock just above my temple.  I officially partook in a hard core bell ringing.  Poor Jerry and poor Sage.  He felt super bad and she freaked out when my head started to bleed.  Thankfully Jerry's brother, Dave had a first aid kit and cleaned and bandaged me up.  I had a nice ol' headache and Jerry held my hand the whole hike back up to the car because I was dizzy, but after some Tylenol I was much better. 

The rest of the night we hung out at our site and made dinner while the kids played.  We had chili cheese dogs and chicken wings.  Yummy!  The moon was full and after we put the kids to bed we went to watch it dance across the water.   The weather was just perfect and Jerry, the kids and I all slept well.  Max only woke up briefly a few times and went right back to sleep.  When he woke up for good early in the am, I went for a short walk with him and puppy.  Then I went back to camp and all three of our kids were up so I proposed we walk around the lake and one by one they all agreed.  So we went on a 9-11 memorial walk.  It wasn't easy, 3.9 miles up and down the side of the mountain and hillside.  We took Puppy with us and other than her treeing a squirrel and scaring us to death once, she was great.  The kids were awesome!  They didn't complain once and little Max even took a long nap in the pouch.  We brought some waters, Z bars and I had some gummy lifesavers... little treats to keep us going.  We loved it.  It took awhile, but often times we felt like we were on a movie set or in a fairy land.  There were parts of the forest that were covered in a cool moss carpet, tree groves and a beautiful mirror image of the lake.  We only passed a few people, and sometimes just walked in silence enjoying the morning.  It was a piece of heaven.  It was one of those memories where I felt like a child again.  I was back in second grade exploring the woods behind my house in Indiana.  Only now it was with my own children, exploring a remote island in northern Washington.  Life is amazing and wonderful and always a gift when you have children to share it with.  I hope that some day my children will remember our adventures and choose to share them with their children.

After our walk we headed back to camp and had an amazing breakfast.  Jerry even made coffee.  It is funny how amazing coffee tastes when you are drinking it in a super random place.  We also had yummy breakfast burritos with egg, ham and cheese!  Then it was time to pack up and make a mad dash to wait for the ferry.  We thought for a second we missed the 2ish ferry and would have to wait until five-ish

I loved our camping adventure.  The weather and the company was wonderful.  The location was almost dreamlike and I felt very grateful to have the opportunity to experience something so beautiful right in my own backyard.  However, I always knew there was something missing, my  Savannah and Sam.  Its funny, sometimes when I am out somewhere and wishing they were there and missing them, I talk to them in my mind hoping they can feel me thinking about them across the miles.  That ache that I get when they are gone never goes away, it is always there until they come back...