camping in the shenandoah's!

last weekend, we headed up to the shenandoah national forest for a bit of old-school, family camping.

i grew up camping.

and i do mean real camping.

tents, cooking over campfires, pee-in-the-woods.

mike didn't, but loves to camp out like this.

it's been awhile since we've been camping but we decided to take advantage of the gorgeous national park that is so close and before i get too pregnant, to go camping.

this was the first time we've taken the boys.

wow.

an experience.

a good one.

but an experience.

started with a huge rainstorm the night before and all most of the roads being flooded or washed out on the way out there.

so, what should have taken a little over 2 hours, took 4.

the boys were amazing, as usual, taking naps and looking out of the windows.

for the first 3 hours, 50 minutes.

then, mv started complaining that his back hurt.

a lot.

we were literally 4 miles from the campsite we had picked out so we kept putting his whining off.

until.

the puking started.

he puked his whole packed car lunch of peanut butter sandwich, red grapes, and carrot sticks all over himself, my jacket, his carseat, and his beloved puppy and blanket.

so, we pulled over into the first non-cliff, grassy area, changed him, wiped him, wiped the car, wiped everything else possible, rallied, and loaded back up.

lesson learned.

if your normally decently content child starts really complaining for no reason, even if it's the wrong area, you need to heed him.

the other major travesty was jack jack pushing through not one, but two, brand new teeth during our major hike.

and letting the peaceful forest and animals around him know about it.

he sobbed for about 45 minutes, strapped in his hiking backpack to mike and then promptly passed out for the remainder of the hike.

*sigh*

not exactly the quiet, family camp out we had envisioned, but as everything else went very smoothly - no bugs, no bears, no injuries, perfect weather, perfect food, perfect company - we call it a success and can't wait to go again!

so excited to go camping!

setting up the tent with daddy

cooking dinner.

and peach cobbler is a must.

the boys found a deer while dinner was cooking

peach cobbler on!

morning snuggling with my baby.

sleepyhead slept till 9am!

daddy and mv snuggled too :)

and we discovered yet another reason why boys rock. 

peeing out the tent flap so mommy doesn't have to walk you outside at 7am.

cold peach cobbler for breakfast!

and eggs cooked in bacon fat ;)

on our first hike!

mv was a rockstar.

3 miles, zero complaining.

...on the other hand...

28 weeks!

lunch break!

our 3 1/2 year old stud made it all but the last 100 yards.

;)

chicken and dumplings for dinner!

pancakes for our last day

a stop off for pictures with the gorgeous scenery!

they were in good spirits ;)

appalachian trail hike for our last day!

very sad to go.

can't wait to go back the next time and enjoy these beautiful sunsets again!