Camping for Mother's Day!

Still suffering from major "lack of daddy" we went camping for some family bonding. I don't remember what the place was called. Somewhere near Santa Fe. It was chilly, but tolerable. There were lots of trees surrounding the whole area, making us hope that it will still be very pleasant come the heat of the summer.

A funny story to start it off. I packed and then forgot to grab our toiletries bag. So on our way through Santa Fe we stopped at a drug store and I ran in to grab the necessities. I ran through the store grabbing what I thought we might need for our two-night stay, rested my basket on the counter, and pulled out my wallet and grabbed a couple of bills. I expected the total to be $15. My jaw dropped when the cashier said I owed him $54.00! Gordon laughed at me, saying I could nickel and dime us to the tune of ten dollars of minute.

Here's what I grabbed:

2 adult toothbrushes
4 child toothbrushes (in a four pack)
travel toothbrush holders
1 trial size adult toothpaste
1 tube children's toothpaste
flossers
trial size mouthwash
trial size mens deodorant
trial size womens deoderant
hair brush
comb
spray bottle
small elastics for hair
large elastics for hair
2-pack of bibs
small bottle of hand sanitizer
bag of gummy sour watermelons

I knew it was alot, once I looked at it, but I somehow didn't think it was as I was grabbing it.

Onto the camping. We were in a campsite that had just been remodeled with newly built latrines, picnic tables and fire rings. It was nice to be there before there was any graffiti on anything. We were right by a little stream and all the kids loved exploring up and down that area, crossing to the islands and making sure to get their feet wet.

It did get pretty cold in the evening and we were grateful for our fire. There are other areas in the state that fire is prohibited because of forest fires. I tell you, it just doesn't feel like camping until you smell like smoke. The next morning our co-campers went home and we went for the hike that was in our little canyon. The girls loved looking for walking sticks and trying to convince Daddy his walking stick needed to be bigger (pointing out fallen trees for him to carry.) It was the running joke the whole hike.




Holding pretty feathers they found


I was there, I promise! But I guess I was holding the camera the whole time.

Another funny story. We were really careful about storing our food at night. Putting it all back into the car and out of reach of animals. But we forgot to be so careful while we went on our hike. When we came back our campsite was littered with chips, wrappers and crumbs. The animal(s) had opened every package and taste-tested our instant oatmeal, hot chocolate, chips, and cookies. They seemed to like the cookies the best because they were completely gone, whereas everything else was just opened, but not so thoroughly enjoyed. Lily seemed to think the animal invasion was the best part of the whole adventure. We want to go back here too.