Camping in Minnesota

After our horrible camping fail over Memorial Day, we were determined to have a fun camping adventure over Labor Day.  And we did!  

There was a lot of rain that weekend.

Despite the gloomy weather and formidable forecast, we headed north to an island in Minnesota, quickly set up camp and had just enough time to explore the shore of the lake before the sun went down.

The island we stayed on was beautiful!  

There were tons of shells and pretty rocks on the beach that Emma wanted to collect the whole time we were there.  Everyone else split their time between the tent, the fire and the hammock.

Oh the hammock!  The highlight of the trip!  Perfect for napping,

 tree-gazing,

snuggling,  

flapping like a butterfly, 

and whatever this flying cocoon thing is that the kids invented.

Now we all wish we had the perfect spot for a hammock in our yard, but all of our trees are too close together or too far apart, or too small to support any weight.

The braid triplets!  This was our first time camping for more than one night and it was really nice not having to worry about doing our hair.

After we set up camp, ate dinner, and tried to spot some planets through our telescope, everyone was ready to sleep for the night.  The rain started sometime in the middle of the night.  Jason and I lay awake listening to it fall on the trees and try to decide how wet we were really getting.  Against our better judgement, we had left the hammock and the chairs out, as well as most of our shoes.  There were big muddy puddles all around the campsite in the morning, but we did our best to stay dry and Jason put up a tarp canopy over our picnic table so we could have a dry breakfast.

These breakfast pictures were from the second day but it was basically the same look both mornings.  Soggy but happy!

The first morning the three of us girls got up early and went for a walk in the last drizzle of the storm, where we first found The Judging Tree.  I'm not sure how we didn't get a picture of that, since we walked past it three times.  It was a broken down tree that looked just like a disapproving face.  After breakfast we all cleaned up a bit and took a hike as a family.

 So many walking sticks!

The rain cleared up and the paths were just beautiful.  We really hit the jackpot with this camping trip- perfect temperatures, no rain during the day and not hot enough to miss the indoors at all.

We saw lots of animals- bald eagles, golden eagles, fish, white cranes, turtles, a tiny green frog, and this scraggly looking deer-

that we got pretty close to before it darted away.

And there were so many fallen logs to climb!

And then we headed back to our campsite for lunch.  It really was so nice not having to take down our campsite just hours after we had put it up.

After lunch and a bit of quiet time (I think Daddy is the only one who actually slept in the tent, but the rest of us had a great time swinging on the hammock and resting in the camp chairs), we headed back over to the lake for some canoeing and fishing.

The skies were cloudy but not rainy.  It was perfect!

First the girls went out, 

in search of one of the flocks of white cranes that we had spotted all over the lake.

But we didn't get very close to them.  It was still fun seeing them fly around the lake though!

 And then the boys handed us the fishing poles and went out on the canoe while the girls went fishing.

But we didn't catch anything either.

Except for a few perfect pictures.

Once the boys got back Daddy loaded up the three big kids in the canoe.  They paddled around the island one more time, and ended up back on the campsite side of the island.  What a trip!

Noah tried for a few more fish with no luck.

So we settled on tin foil dinners instead.  Everyone ate a ton and claimed that it was the best meal ever.  What is it about campfire food that makes something so plain so very delicious?

And then we sat and shared stories (It was a dark and stormy night!) and stoked the fire, and eventually started to fall asleep.  It had been a busy day!

Look at those squishy baby lips!

These two were the first asleep, and kept right on sleeping when we put them into the tent.  We didn't think they would like to be outside all night.

and all four of the kids stayed asleep all through the night, even though the storm was even worse the second night!  Jason and I spent another night listening to the rain fall, and this time there was thunder and lightning and wind that shook the tent and rattled the zippers so we were both sure someone or something was trying to get into our tent.  It was a storm that we wouldn't have thought twice of at home, but on the floor of the forest it was enough to keep us up for most of the night.  But we were mostly grateful that the kids were fast asleep, and everyone stayed dry.

In the morning we ate another delicious-because-it's-camp-food-breakfast, then broke down our campsite and headed east to some caves!  We planned the trip just right because it did rain on and off all throughout the day, but that didn't matter one bit because we were in a cave!

 

The tour ended at the beautiful Turquoise Lake, which is 10 feet deep in the most colorful spot.

 It was chilly in there, but it was a fun tour!

And after that, we drove the three hours back home, with a stop at our favorite northern BBQ place for dinner along the way.  That was the deal- camping should always end with a big tasty meal- cooked by someone else!

I always smile at the reactions from people when they hear we are a camping family.  Maybe if we had a cabin we wouldn't be campers, but maybe not.  Camping is always it's own kind of adventure.

Things I love about camping-

1. Unplugging from screens, technology, the false busy-ness of the world that distracts us from the things that matter most.

2. The snuggliness of it all- close quarters in the tent, holding hands while we walk down the paths, cuddles in the hammock, even cramming into the car so we can get ourselves and all the gear to the campsite.  We are physically closer when we are camping.

3- Leaving so much behind- the excess stuff that has to be cleaned and tidied and sorted and dealt with.  Camping makes my minimalist heart sing.

4- And leaving behind the responsibilities of daily life.  Work, school, callings are all put on hold when we take the time to get away together.  This is true on any family getaway.

5- Recognizing that we can have fun and meaningful family adventures for very little cost.  Not every vacation has to be a cruise in the Bahamas to be a great one.

6- Appreciating nature- we feel closer to Heavenly Father and all of His creations when we take time to be in nature.  We try so hard to make the most out of living in the Midwestern states of fields and very little national parks.  But we definitely hit the jackpot this time and will continue to search for the things that make the Midwest it's own kind of incredible beauty!

7- Being together!  The conversations and the slower pace and the peaceful family togetherness that is so hard to recreate at home.

And that's why we keep up our camping tradition every year!

(Things I don't love about camping, because let's be honest here- bugs, spiders, poor sleep, inconsiderate campsite neighbors (which we didn't have any of this time around, thankfully), dirt, and the giant mountain of smokey laundry that comes home with us.  But it's all worth it!)