Camping!

We went out camping for the first time this year at the end of April. Our goal is to try out some new camp sites so we went up to Ceaser's Creek. For a place with over 200 campsites I was rather dissapointed with the facilities. There were 3 big loops and supposedly 3 play grounds. Of course the play grounds were the exact same and less than stellar. They each had a swing set, teeter totter, and a little semi circle thing to climb on. And of course they each had sand. The girls rather liked the play equipment but I wasn't impressed.

We went out on a friday afternoon and came back Sunday. Friday involved mostly setting up the camper, making dinner, and going to the play ground. Getting to sleep was a little tough for the girls. Emily gave up around 10pm, but poor Sarah was up til after 11pm and I ended up having to sing to her to get her to sleep. Saturday we spent some time at the play area. Next we went to the Beach, but it was way too cold to do much there. In the afternoon I filled a little inflatable pool for them, but again, the water never warmed up too much. We did take a nice walk in the woods and found a neat view of the water.

The following discoveries were made by me on this camping trip:

1. Camping is always more fun the more people you have.

2. Bathrooms in Ohio State Parks are rather scary - it is sad when the best shower stall has water bugs crawling around it and there is a giant spider staring at you every time you try to wash your hands

3. Pregnant Trisha does not enjoy camping, especially when it is hot and sunny

4. Shade is your friend - too bad there were no leafs on the trees.

5. Always pick a camp site close to the bathrooms and near the play equipment when you bring a 2 and 3 year old camping.

So our next camping trip will be the first week in June. I really don't know how much I am looking forward to it. The girls and I are going out Tues - Thurs, while Dan will be out there all week. We are going back to Brookville in Indiana. Our friends are suppossed to be coming, but I have my doubts. I know Sarah and Emily are excited about going. I am starting to realize though, that camping is really just a lot of packing, cleaning, and repacking, etc. in order to spend the day outside. I much prefer the comforts of my own home. However, Dan loves the idea of reliving his childhood, so instead of luxury vacations, camping it will be. That's okay, maybe in 4 years or so I will take my kids with me on a "girls cruise" and send Dan off camping for the week. Who knows. Until next time...

Happy Easter!! (A little late)

So Easter turned out to be a lot of fun for the girls this year. Unfortunately I had to work the actual day, but we did all kinds of fun things leading up to that day and even afterwards. The girls practiced for weeks doing mini easter egg hunts. I think to them finding Easter eggs was more exciting than opening Christmas presents.

We actually attended two Easter egg hunts this past year. One was the annual Beach Waterpark Egg Hunt. This was the week before Easter. Each year more and more people attend. There were hundreds of kids there and it ended up being quite a let down. They had a section of eggs for kids 4 and under - you can only imagine how many kids were 4 and under. I brought two eggs from home and it is a good thing I did because in total Sarah and Emily found 3 eggs (including the 2 from home). It was so sad, Sarah kept saying, "Mommy, I didn't do very good."

The girls did like the animals there though, and also the inflatable jumping thing. The second egg hunt was at STM Church. Completely different story from the Beach. There were 300 eggs for the kids ages 3 and under. In total, there were maybe 15 kids in that age group. Sarah and Emily filled their baskets 3 times each and actually asked to stop before all the eggs were collected. Dan is still working on their candy.

They even won some prizes - one of which happens to be a large pink bunny rabbit bigger then either girl! Too fun. I think they will enjoy the holiday for many years to come.