Fall Camping '13

I'm so thankful that we were able to camp again this fall.

We headed back to Victoria Bryant, 

our absolute favorite campground.

It's just so hard to beat ... only an hour from home,

covered platforms for the tent, great campsites, good facilities,

great trails to walk ... perfection!

We also went with a group of friends, which is always super fun as well.

We enjoyed time with the Hendersons, Rowdens, & Coopers.

My man knows how to maximize packing!!!

A fun little portable table tennis set ... had to hurry to get this in because ....

... this is what the radar looked like.

See why I love the covered platforms so much?!

When life gives you lemons, in this case rain, you just gotta make lemonade!

The kiddos stayed in the Rowden's camper for part of the storm,

but then just came out and ran around in it until it stopped!

Chad built a mean fire ...

 Kallie and Emma ... the only 2 girls in the group of boys!

They hung just fine ...

Colin, Jacob and one of the cute Rowden twins ...

I believe this was before the rain hit ... just a bit of fishing ...

How cute is this pic??!

Go Jacob!

And this would be the adults hang out spot during the rain ...

just pushed back the Henderson's tent, pulled the picnic table underneath and voila ...

perfect spot to hang and solve all the world's problems!

Of course the bikes were a hit ...

We did take Bolt ... this was the only way to get him to take a nap ...

he did NOT love it!

Just a bit wet ...

Not sure what Bo was talking about here, but I'm sure it was good!

For my non-outdoorsy kid, Jacob has really enjoyed our camping adventures.

Until next fall ... 

Survivor: Elkmont

Ain't to proud to beg.

Seriously.

Especially when a group of families that we love are involved.

When I caught wind that there were some of friends going camping,

all it took was my sweet friend Mandy saying, 'Call the Joneses and see if yall can go too!'

I did and we were in.

Another cool aspect of the trip:  seeing the synchronous fireflies.

Synchronous fireflies??  Check them out here.

Pretty doggone cool.

(Unfortunately, we didn't see them though.

Seems the cooler spring had them coming out a bit later.

No biggie - we'll catch 'em next year!)

There were 11 families.

That means 22ish adults.

That also means 27ish children.

Which all equals a CREW.

We had a blast.

There were so many kiddos that all had playmates.

They rode their bikes,

played card games,

played in the river.

The adults visited and then visited some more.

We laughed and photo'd the kiddos in the river.

We ate yummy campfire food.

We sang songs.

And my favorite part?

We were totally off the grid.

As in no cell service, no internet access, no TV.

Which also meant no electricity, no running water (at our site), no showers.

It really was quite fabulous.

And very Survivor-ish!!

(we did have sinks and toilets, however!)

Our sweet little campsite ...

The river that really made this campground a winner ...

The kiddos had a blast tubing down a section of it ...

and thanks to all the rainy weather, it was running pretty swiftly!

Just pure fun ... this shot makes me so happy!

Jarrett has such a sweet spirit with the younger kiddos -

and they love him for it!

Mike Dickinson did a daily devotional with all the kiddos every morning.

Love that!

War was the card game of choice!

Seriously??  Heaven ...

All the ladies, just chatting it up.

Solving all the problems of the world, of course.

This kid has never ridden his bike so much -

loved watching him enjoy!

Jacob and Alton Strange.

I go waaaa-aaaaa-ay back with the Strange family,

so this is a super sweet relationship!

Pretty young ladies!

After tubing a long section of the river ...

they were so proud and felt so adventurous!

This was the Camo Team for the olympic games.

Doing their chant ...

This was serious business!

Having a totally miserable time, can't you tell?!!!!!

Mr. Ben, the organizer of the games, took on all the kiddos in tug-o-war.

Guess who won?!

Tribal Council ... announcing the winner of the games.

Yeppers - Camo Team won.

Please ignore the tall guy on the right ...

he's the official Photo Bomber.

(you know, instead of Uni-Bomber.)

Our car, as well as the Henderson's and Hartsock's.

We were packed to the hilt. 

Next year we will be pulling a trailer.

It's worth it.

Looking forward to it already!!

And for history's sake, the families that went were:

Stan & Shannon Jones

Mike & Carrie Dickinson

Cary & Heather Strange

Cory & Angie Robinson

Chris & Rebekah Cooper

Chris & Michelle Harmon

Hoovey & Stacia McGuirt

Barry & Christa Mock

Ben & Amy Hartsock

Chad Henderson (Mandy blew her knee out & had to stay home ... boo!)

Team Jenkins :)

Camping at Tugaloo

At first I had requested that Bowdie and I get away for my birthday.

Because of allstars, we weren't able to do any type of anniversary trip.

But then, we camped at Victoria Bryant.

I enjoyed the family being together so much

that I asked him if I could change my mind.

I wanted to camp again for the weekend.

And since the kids were out of school on Monday,

we would be able to camp longer.

Unfortunately, or so we thought, all the campgrounds

in the mountains of north Georgia were full.

Peak leaf season.

But we found Tugaloo State Park,

on Lake Hartwell,

and thought it was a perfect fit!

It turned out to be another GREAT family weekend.

We learned that a tent CAN be put up in pitch black dark,

our tent IS waterproof,

and cable TV hookup is an AWESOME thing during college football season.

And, I had a wonderful birthday to boot!

Win-win-win!!

I love our little sign.

Made it 2 years ago on our first ever family campout.

I forgot it on our first trip this year.

I was on my A game this time!

Our view from the campsite.

We had to pick it in the dark.

I was very pleased with what it looked like in the morning sun!

Pancake Daddy ...

wherever and whenever!

This was another breakfast.

I know they looked burned,

but I promise they were delish!

This was my first time to bring the pizza stone -

it worked perfect on the grate!

 Cooking up some eggs ...

J-man stayed in his little tent ...

Bolt was getting a little snuggle time!

Good time to learn some sawing skills ...

Bolt loved it!

Hiking ...

Ended up at the tennis courts ...

of course, the boys had a ball on hand to play a little game ...

 Bolt scoped out some shade!

 This picture is why I wanted to camp this weekend.

Pure joy!

Tugaloo was a great park -

they even had a putt-putt course.

Nothing fancy at all, 

but a fun time nonetheless!

Hole in one!

Double hole in ones!

Yep - he got one too!

Even this putting-challenged mama got one!

Time out for Tebowing ... :)

And what did Bolt do while we putt-putted??

What babies do best - slept.

So ... Bo realized our campsite had cable TV hookup.

Lots of RVs had TVs, so it made sense.

We ran to Wal-Mart to grab a few things I forgot

and look what we came out with???!

I mean, Florida was playing and we did get to see UGA get killed by USC!

(and we were planning to get one for our basement anyway -)

Pretty sure we've crossed the line from camping to glamping here ...

Here's what it looked like at night.

Considering we don't have cable at our house,

the boys were in heaven!

We were able to run up to Helen one afternoon.

The boys were drooling over the candy shop.

MMmmmmm ... fudge!

Bo and I enjoyed some hot coffee.

It was quite a bit chillier than I had thought -

thus the fleece with shorts!

Love this view when walking into Helen ...

if you've ever been there, then you know exactly where this is!

Love my team so much!

Looking forward to more camping adventures!!