Gone camping

Charles loves all of the new things he is able to do with the boys as they get older.  One thing he has been itching to do all summer is take Chase camping.  A few weeks ago Charles & Chase had the opportunity to go with his brother, Brian, and his little girl Emma (who is 6 months younger than Chase).  What fun they had!!  They left around 3:00 (after Chase was able to get an afternoon nap) and made it to their campsite around 6.  Getting to the campsite involved driving, parking the trucks, setting up the kayaks, and kayaking a little ways before finding a good spot to set up the tents.  Thankfully, Charles' brother had configured his kayak with a motor (don't ask me how but Brian is so handy and can do pretty much anything and everything you could possibly think of) and was able to pull Charles & Chase in their kayak.  That eliminated the work of having to balance the kayak, keep a 3 year old from falling out, and paddling.  I wish I had a picture of that because I'm sure it was a sight to see! :)  Anyways, they had a blast, it was as successful as it could be, but it completely wiped Chase out.  It took him a good 2 days to get back on track but he hasn't stopped talking about it since.  I was able to talk Charles into taking our small camera so here are a few pictures of their adventures:

Getting ready to leave and holding a camping staple: hot dogs :)

In the truck on their way ... he was so excited!

The back of Brian's truck... this picture kind of shows the kayak with the motor

Sitting and waiting patiently until the kayaks were loaded and ready

Chase pretending to sleep :)

Cousins fishing together the next morning

Back at the trucks, getting things unloaded from the kayaks

And this is what Jacob & Sam thought about being left behind.... not too thrilled :)

I guess since the Lord has decided to bless me with 3 boys I need to get used to the idea of camping... for now I'll let Charles go on short adventures and I'll be up to it when someone decides to invest in a camper! ;)  Just kidding... sort of.  I look forward to our camping trips once the boys get to a certain age!