Camping at Lake Badin

So this was our last week of our fall break. We made the most of it by taking the kids camping in the Uhwarrie Forest, and it was seriously beautiful. Wow! We didn't know we lived only an hour away from such a gorgeous place. Our campsite was right on the water so the kids fished for two days and loved it. I can't say I'm a fan of fish/worm hands, but they were all thoroughly scrubbed before bed. There is something about camping with your family that is hard to replace through any other activity. Instead of worrying about the economy or the upcoming election, we had FHE around the campfire, eating smores and singing songs. It was just so fun to watch how excited the kids are about everything from getting in their sleeping bags to carrying around their own flashlight.

All you parents out there know that going camping with children is a MAJOR production. You have to pack the kitchen sink! So Shan always complains that I take too much stuff. Hello, he is Mr. ARMY survival guy who thinks you can just go into the wilderness with a pocket knife and kill or find your food. Um, fruit snacks and granola bars don't cut it for three days when the kids need wholesome nutritious food and their is no fridge. So this time, I had the bright idea of asking him to be in charge of the planning and preparing the food and it was awesome. He realized how hard it is and told me I do a really good job! He was pretty surprised at how much effort and planning it takes and how much you have to pack (condiments, cooking utensils etc). I don't think I'll have any complaining from here on out. And I have to give him kudos for his fantastic Dutch Oven breakfast hash. I definitely can't rival it, so I think he's in charge from now on.This caterpillar was HUGE. I've never seen a bigger one.

Happy Emma after she caught a catfish that we grilled up and ate for lunch.

The lake was full of fish so each of the kids caught a bunch of fish. Most of them were small, but it's still so fun for them to reel it in.
Lake swimming. We saw little fish swimming around our feet, but I'm a tough mama and kept my cool. Madeline couldn't get enough of the water and we had to beg her to come out. She loved playing with her daddy.
So there are probably less than 10 pictures of me on this blog because for the past 15 months, I had no one else to take pictures! Yes, kids, I really am a part of the family and now I have a picture to prove it.

We thought this sign was classic. We pulled off the side of the road to buy some firewood and this was the "self pay" system. Just put your cash in the slot. Yeah..... um, only in back country North Carolina.