So we tried camping. With 13 other people (15 if you count my sweet little nieces on the way!). We drove to Cooper's Rock, West Virginia to meet up with my Dad, his wife Heather, and my little brothers, Zach, Jeffrey, Randy, and Blake, my brother Jordan, his girlfriend Jana (who we were meeting for the first time), and his sons Boden and Cooper, and my brother Lucas, his lovely, sweet, and pregnant (WITH TWIN GIRLS!) girl Sarah and their son, Landen.
It seemed to be an almost central meeting place for all of us coming from three separate cities (two different states, none of which are WV). It was so amazingly beautiful there. It's a small campground having only 25 sites, but they are large, nice sites with electricity (not a must have, but it was nice). And it's just so beautiful there. In all likelihood, we'll never camp there again, due to its location, but we all just loved it.
We got there around 1:30 on Friday afternoon and set to work on getting our tent up. We were made fun of a little (good-naturedly, of course!) for bringing air mattresses and sheet and blanket sets, but roughing it in a tent is one thing...sleeping on the ground is another and not for me. :) We just barely got all of our stuff set up before Luke showed up and Jordan was shortly thereafter. My "middle" brothers were super nice and helpful and helped all of us get our stuff set up (my dad and his family had arrived at the campsite two days prior). It wasn't long before we were all together and having fun!
We quickly decided to head to Cooper's Rock since the weather for the weekend was uncertain and we didn't want to miss the chance to see the impressive sights in good weather. Oh.my.gosh. Sometimes, we all take for granted the marvelous beauty God has created until we take a second to look at something so amazing and impressive, you know there's only one possible explanation...God's hand at work. :)
We had a great time hiking the trail and then playing on the playground afterwards. It was fun trying to keep up with 10 kids (well, 9...Jax was sleeping in his carrier)...I felt like I was constantly counting them! We headed back to the campsite for dinner. Dad was our chef for the weekend, which was nice. :) Maybe next time, he can make his world famous sloppy joes. He did, however, make the best baked beans I've ever had! :)
Friday night went ok. Jax wasn't thrilled with camping. He wasn't the only one, either. My nephew Cooper wasn't too keen on tent sleeping, or anything camping related at all. :) But they are the youngest kids, just 2 and 1 (and just barely a year apart as their birthdays are just 10 days from each other) so I'm not surprised that they weren't overly thrilled with all things camping. Jax whined, fussed, and cried for awhile until I could get him to sleep. Then he was up throughout the night, but we made it through.
Saturday was overcast and a little sticky out but we were still so happy to just be spending time together. Each of us getting to spend time with our own families and together as a big family. We decided to head to a canoe rental place and head out on the water. All 18 of us AND Heather's dog!! :) 4 single kayaks, 2 double kayaks, and 2 canoes later...we were setting sail! Several of us (uh, no, absolutely not me!) jumped from the rope swings we found and Riley (the dog) decided to give swimming a try! Even Adisson jumped from the rope (which he LOVED and scared me!). Dad jumped from the rope and as he landed in the water, started groaning about his hand. We all made fun of him and brushed it off...until Sunday...more on that in a minute.
Afterwards, we headed back to the tents for Dad to make us some grub. Adam had also wanted to try some camping recipes he had seen so he did that as well. Oh, we also had an auction with some play money the kids had been earning that weekend and it was LOTS of fun! The little kids didn't know exactly what was going on, but we all had fun bidding away! After another evening of sitting around a campfire and enjoying time with brothers, cousins, uncles, and what not, it was time for bed.
And then it stormed. A LOT. And intensely. And long lasting. Dad, Heather, and their kids had to flee their tents (as they camp a lot and the tents were a little less sturdy than us newbies were dealing with...and because they hadn't expected to be camping this summer since Dad shoulda already deployed...). Luke brought a tarp after I mentioned it might rain so he covered their tent for extra protection...which seemed to do the trick. Jordan and his family got a little wet in our old tent, but it wasn't toooo bad. We had some leakage, but nothing much (uh, we bought some seam sealer after we got back...a few days later than we should have!). I was so worried all night that my boys would wake up in terror, but by the grace of God, they slept through the whole thing. :)
Then on Sunday morning, Jordan and Adam were called in for surgery. :) Ok, not really, but they had to cut Dad's wedding ring off because he had injured his fingers the day before on the rope swing and his fingers were VERY swollen. After a few minutes, they managed to get it cut off. It was pretty intense to watch...I felt so bad for Dad! We also had to work on tearing down our campsites...with everything soaking wet.
We drove into Morgantown to have lunch at Cici's with everyone before going our separate ways. Then, drove home, in the pouring down rain and horrible thunderstorms. With our luggage on top of the van in a soft sided cargo carrier. So if it wasn't wet from thunderstorms the night before, it was soaking wet by the time we got home. :)
But it was such a fun weekend. I got to see all of my brothers. I got to play with my adorable sweet nephews. And the five of us had a great time camping. We're ready to go again! :)
