First Camping Trip of 2012

A good friend of ours recently thought it would be a great idea to have a few families go camping together. And it was! We ended up with 8 adults and 8 kids (always good not to be outnumbered!). We were excited to go up to Lake Carter (near Loveland, Co) with Linsay (Colton and Lillian), Jim and Sarah, Erika (Luke and Julie) and Lindsay's friends Christy and Jason (Avery and Autumn). Kris decided he was really good at puzzles as he expertly loaded up the truck before meeting the caravan in downtown Denver. We started off the weekend with an amazing enchilada meal, prepared by Jim, before we had to 'rough it' the rest of the weekend.  I use the term loosely as we enjoyed wonderful meals while camping (which included egg salad sandwiches, Ziplock Omlettes (our new fav camping trick) and of course hamburgers and hot dogs).

We were excited to get up there to enjoy some great friends and of course peace and quiet of the great outdoors. Well; Karsten had other ideas. He started to run a fever on Friday through Sat morning. We thought it was just due to teeth, but nope... the fever broke and red bumps showed up Everywhere on his body. It was official, he had Roseola (ug!). The entire weekend, he was incredibly fussy and cried loudly for 80% of the time. This included the nighttime where he woke up every 20 min and cried for about 10 minutes before falling asleep; only to repeat about 20 min later. We really tested our friendships this weekend to put everyone through all of that and are glad to report... we think everyone will go camping again with us later this summer!

The crew, checking out the water on our first night

Kids found games to play immediately

Including... Throwing Rocks in the Water! Fun!

The Girls

Once we got past the fever, he started to turn into a more normal Karsten and we started enjoying ourselves a bit more. We got to hang out on the beach on Saturday, which was a blast. The boys haven't really had 'beach time' as we normally boat with them. We tried beach play in ND last summer, but they weren't thrilled with the waves or the sand in their toes. This time, they Loved it! Was really fun to watch them play by themselves, with our friends and with their kids! We are so lucky to have so many great friends who love our children!

Bathing Beauties

We also got to have two nights of campfires; which Of Course meant "SMORES!" Kasey loved cooking them, but was not a fan of eating them... not sure what is wrong with him (ha). Poor Karsten had to go to bed both nights so he enjoyed part of the fire time, but none of the smores. Maybe next time; when he is feeling better. We even had some visitors who live nearby for one of our fires! Rosemary, Naya and Angie joined us for a beer and some smores on Sat night. Was fun to catch up with them and have them enjoy our experience with us! My favorite shot of the weekend was of the kids all lined up next to the campfire. Karsten would Not let go of Mommy, so she got in the pic too.

Nothing cuter than 8 children ready for a campfire!

Here dad, let me throw in some wood,
but I will do it from back here - it is HOT!

Always love a little cuddle time

Is this how you cook the marshmallow?

Definitely a FULL Camp!

As a fun surprise, Lindsay popped open some champagne to toast Kris' new job with Molson Coors.  I love that she checked at the liquor store to ensure Molson Coors doesn't make a type of champagne before buying an incorrect brand.  For the record - they don't make Champagne.

CHEERS AND CONGRATS!!!

Every camping trip has a lot of fun times, but every now and again... you have a time out and a cranky kid... these two pics were too cute not to leave out of our album.

Timeout is so boring...

What are you looking at?

By the end of the weekend, we were tired and beyond dirty... In fact, I think someone mentioned Kasey looked like a kid from Lord of the Flies or a Pauper. We tried rinsing him off, but 20 minutes later... he again looked filthy. Guess that is the life of a toddler boy! At any rate; we refreshed with a shower at home and after talking about how much fun it was - we determined the weekend went rather well and were ready to book another camping trip with friends immediately after getting home!