Fall camping in NY

Only God can create something so beautiful! I said that I would write about their camping trip so here is the scoop. They could not of asked for better weather! It was in the 60's during the day and not too cold at night (well too cold for me to go!) The timing was perfect to catch the leaves changing color. This camping trip is done every year. Bill arranges to go with his brother - in - law and a group of his friends. They are all die hard campers - some only take a sleeping bag and a tarp to sleep under (at least that's the legend!) Bill will usually take as many kids that want to go with him. Curt and Anna love it so they always go and it appears that Olivia is now a lil' camper too. Alex does not like it anymore (after the near death boat ride back to their car one year) so she opts to stay home. This year I was making plans to do some shopping and visiting some parks with Maria and Alex, so it totally surprised me when a few days before departure Maria announces she wants to go. She wavered quite a bit, thinking that Alex and I were going to make cookies and not leave her any, but we assured her we would. So Bill sets off with 4 out of the 5 kids. The kids are great for the 5 - 6 hour car trip. They pack a few play things and they always listen to audio books. This trip they listen to Ramona and Her Father, The Egypt Game and Rabbit Hill. You get so involved in the stories that time flies!

Every year Bill comes back from camping with some big story to tell. Like the boat ride I mentioned above (sometimes they canoe to their sites and on the way back a storm picked up quickly and about tipped them over) or some encounter with an animal (raccoons getting in the tent or a bear rolling the camping kitchen box down a hill). One year the story was about it snowing on them (that was the year Bill sucked it up and slept in his brother's camper!). This is the first time they came back with out any big story. The kids still talked my ear off about every little detail and I LOVED IT! I love hearing them get so excited over the rocks they found or about the talk around the camp fire. Everyone that goes just loves the kids being their. They always tell Bill what good kids we have, in fact Bill said someone from another camp site down the road stopped and told him what good kids they were. I think Curt and Anna collected some fire wood for them or something like that. They are all right... I do have fantastic kids!

The kids love going to the Bear Caves while they are there. I do not know if they are called that because bears occupy them at some time (I do not want to know), but they are huge rocks that the kids can climb on. Of course Curt and Anna spent hours exploring the forest by the camp site and finding all sorts of things. They took hikes by the creek as well. It is nice to hear that they spent 4 days in nature and not hooked to some game system. Although I did notice one picture with Anna sitting around the campfire playing DS. I was told that was banned from there on out! I think in this world our technology has taken over kid's lives and they forget how to just go outside and create their own adventures.

So I am thankful for my dear husband for taking them on these wonderful camping trips and letting them just be kids!