Somehow the month of July has totally escaped me. Although, by the looks of the calendar, and the fact that there are NO blank spaces on it, I guess there is good reason for my lack of blog posts lately. We are continuing our trend this summer of not letting much grass grow under our feet. So I guess I will need to report on July's activities in reverse order. That ought to give me some good material for the next few days, right?
This past weekend, we were so excited to head west with our camper! We have been planning our "glamping" trip with the Sherrell family for the past few months and have all been really excited about it. Ever since we decided to buy our camper, Jason and Marc have been talking back and forth, since the Sherrells have been seasoned campers for quite some time. The guys decided to try out the campground at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort in Farmington, PA about an hour southeast of Pittsburgh.
We headed out last Thursday afternoon after an early lunch. The trip there took us about 4 hours, but the kids did great. We were travelling in Jason's truck since we've learned that it is MUCH better to pull our big heavy camper with. So, despite the fact that the kids were squished in the backseat very close together, they all managed the car ride just fine. I had to laugh when Joshua declared, upon pulling into the campground, that he was so glad that there were no trees down along the way. (You'll have to wait for my post on our Poe Valley trip to fully grasp that one!)
We got set up in our sites, all hooked up to the water, electric, sewer and cable, and were all set for a great weekend of camping. These sites were gorgeous- paved concrete pads, full hookups, firewood provided, and a shuttle to come and get us to take us wherever we needed to go. We have stayed at the resort before and absolutely love all of the things there are to do there, so we were really excited about all of the fun we could have together. The kids got right into playing and had an absolute blast together. Sabastian and Josh were as thick as thieves, and literally spent the entire 4 days that we were together playing everything you could imagine. The girls were also always together, even ending in a sleepover in our camper the last night we were there. Needless to say, the two families got along perfectly, and we were all pleased at how compatible we were as camping families.
Kara and I worked on meals together, and the guys did a lot of the heavy lifting with the cooking. We had sausage sandwiches one night with peppers and onions, burgers cooked over the fire the second night, and steaks the third night. Kara and I took care of all of the side dishes and desserts. We even made breakfast burritos one morning and ended up inviting our neighbors from another campsite to enjoy them with us.
Friday morning, Marc and Jason headed off to play golf, while Kara and I took the kids to the pool for the day. A friend of hers from college met them for the day with her family, and we had a lot of fun together. We had lunch at the pool on Friday and the kids had an absolute blast. There is a great waterslide there, and they all had a great time going up and down a million times. For the first part of the day, I was having to also go up and down with Mara because she was scared to go down by herself, but before we were ready to leave, she had gotten brave enough to ride down the slide on her own as long as I was at the bottom to catch her.
Saturday was the toughest day for us, because it rained horribly from late Friday night until about supper time on Saturday. It wasn't a drizzle, but an all out rain, making any of the outdoor activities at the resort an impossibility. Kara and I didn't mind too much since we had booked spa appointments for the morning. My massage was my birthday present, and I can honestly tell you I have never had a massage that I enjoyed more than that one. It was heavenly. While we were at the spa, the guys took the kids to jump at the Hardy Girls Gym- which is basically a gymnastics center with trampolines and a big foam pit to jump into. They had a blast, and I'm pleased to report that there were no injuries. That's a win.
Saturday afternoon, we were thrilled to receive a visit from Pat and Bob, who came in from Pittsburgh. Certainly we had been hoping for a nicer day to be able to enjoy the pool, but that wasn't in the cards. Instead of swimming, we let the kids get into their bathing suits and jump in the puddles at the campground. They had a blast! Then we took them to bowl at the resort bowling alley. So all in all, I guess we made the best of it. Thankfully, the rain cleared in enough time for us to eat our supper outside and then enjoy a terrific campfire in the evening. The kids crashed hard, as they had each night, but this night was even earlier than normal giving the adults a chance to enjoy each other's company without the kids around.
On Sunday morning, we all started packing things up, all of us dreading the long ride home. The kids were all still playing and finishing up their chocolate chip pancakes that we made. We decided to take them up to see the zoo animals that are on the property and had a nice walk doing that. They all loved seeing the white lion and white tiger that are there.
We finally returned home around 5:30 Sunday evening and began to unpack and unload the camper. The only bad part about camping, in my opinion, is the cleanup at the end of the trip. But we managed to get everything back into working order before the end of the evening. As soon as I finish all of the laundry, I'll feel much better about that, but I'm getting there. All in all, we had a fabulous weekend, and all of us are looking forward to the next Sherrell/Dugan family camping adventure. It's amazing how God brought us into each other's lives, and how many things we have in common. Regardless of how it all happened, we're grateful for their friendship and for the memories we made during this weekend trip.
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