Gone Campin'

This past weekend we went to a truly beautiful campsite. It was over 2 hours away from our house so it was our first "official" camping trip. I don't even know how to express how amazing the weekend was. The weather was perfect, the company was perfect. There was a playground for the kids to spend some time swinging and making new friends. We hiked, we laughed, we loved. It.was.perfect.

Our bed. A Queen air mattress. Judge if you must.

Our brood's set up.

The set up. Did I mention we had the best campsite?

Tariku helped whip up some mac and cheese for one of our lunches.

Z helped dish it out.

There was some light reading by the fire.

Saturday Zach and the kiddos decided they wanted to do some major fishing. So first, he had to give some casting lessons.

The fishermen/woman.

I dislike fishing (bor-ing) so I thought I should probably bring my chair and books. I read a little, dozed a little. mmmm. Bliss.

Not sure I could love this picture more. Tariku was further to the left, he didn't fit in the frame.

The catch of the day. No joke.

Doozie was over it after a handful of minutes. She became my little buddy who would wake me up if someone got a nibble on their line.

Oh, and she sucked on a blue sucker. That matched her eyes.

This guy was the next to quit fishing. Dang he's cute.

After getting back to the site and a snack we decided it was time for a hike.

We found some cool looking berries and other plants.

We I took a lot of pictures of the kids.

Trysten turned the camera on us (side note: how camper-ish do I look right now? Yup, all about the socks and shoes.)

Whenever we go on walks Tomas is constantly evaluating sticks. He takes forever to pick out the perfect stick. I asked him about it this weekend. Apparently he would do that in Ethiopia. He'd pick the perfect stick to put on his back to help him carry 2 jugs of water. At 4 years old.

On our way back we found this perfect log.

We tried to get them to jump off at the same time with no luck. So I had to show them how to do it.

Their attempt.

Zach's turn.

The twins.

Binyam loves him some pop. Loves it.

Saturday night was one of the best nights of my life. I can't even explain why. We spoiled the kids with as many chips, s'mores and pop they could handle. Oh my. So. Fun. Zach was, in a word, manly. So hot.

I developed a love of knives. Zach realized he kind of liked my newfound love of knives. He also liked my new tattoo.

They were loving it.

His favorite way to prepare beans.

My dinner. Veggie burgers, fresh tomatoes, onions. mmmmm.

S'mores. I was in so much bliss I didn't even notice...

What can I say? Like mother, like son.

If you don't already, you need to do this with your family. We put away the cell phones, all of the other distractions. We just spent time with each other. The kids literally cried when I told them it was time to go. Can't wait to do it again.