Camping

This past weekend we took a road trip to the mountains. We were anxious about passing through Boone and meeting up with some of our best friends, the Kruideniers from SC. As we reminisced our way through our old hometown, we noticed quite a bit has changed. What hadn't changed were those cool mountain breezes and that small town comfort.

We met Daniel, Jennifer, Ellen and Arianna at the Grandfather Mountain campground. Spending an entire weekend with this family was sure to be a treat. We were delighted to find our plots right next to a creek and surrounded by woods and greenery. Up above our plots, there was an open field with mountains all around. It felt like a little piece of heaven.

Our families quickly set up camp in our little haven and began making memories. The smell of a campfire, laughter and wide eyes were all around us. The kids stayed in the creek most of that first day. They found several crawfish. Their sense of wonder was alive in the nature that encompassed us.

Our families are both vegan and we enjoyed bringing food to share and cook on our handy dandy camping stoves. We ate burritos, corn, spaghetti, green beans, oatmeal, hot tea, coffee and lots of other yummy snacks. Daniel brought some veggies from their garden and grilled them on the open fire. That was fun to watch and taste. Little did we know that fire roasted potatoes would be such a hit for the kids. They would put a slice of potato on their roasting sticks and stick it in the fire. Later, they roasted tofu dogs.

Our set up was all six kids in a huge tent that Daniel and Jen borrowed from a friend. Then each couple had a tent. So the guys set up all our tents in a row by the fire pit. We enjoyed being so close to one another. We had access to a bathhouse. We were not exactly roughing it.

We went out to the Hebron Rock Colony on Saturday. We took a death defying hike. (Ha ha ha- Jen and Daniel) The kids were so adventurous, much more than myself. I did alright though. I hiked with the best of them, Scott said. Such a sweet hubby. The weather was gorgeous. Jen took a lot of photos there. I will share those later.

All in all, our camping trip could not have gone better. I was so pleased with the kids' ability to sleep in a tent all together with Ellen and Arianna. Sure, they got up with the sun, but they are suppose to on a camping trip, right? That was an after thought though. Getting up just after 6am is not my idea of vacation.:) They were very well behaved and were content with being together and exploring in the woods. For me, the time outdoors was refreshing and revitalizing. Taking our family camping was a lot of work, but well worth it. Here are several pictures from our first Kruidenier and Morrison camping trip.

Just arriving in Boone.

A van full of happy campers anxiously awaiting a weekend away.

This was taken right when we arrived. This is just by our campsite.

Here's the gang just after meeting up. The guys didn't waste any time and began putting up the tents.

From left to right- Kalen, Arianna, Ellen, Brayden, Julian and Madelyn

Roasting potatoes.

Kalen holding a crawfish.

Roasting tofu dogs.

One of my favorite moments, a big game of UNO.

The kids playing duck duck goose.

Kalen, Arianna and Julian

We took a hayride around the grounds.

Yes, we saw that Maddie. The kids passed around the orange juice.

Madelyn was in heaven this weekend with Arianna and Ellen.