Our First Campout and Pumpkinville

This weekend we took the kids on our first family campout! It was pretty last minute and with the leaves being at peak in the mountains this weekend, there were no available campsites in Shenendoah where we would've liked to go. We decided to go to a campground much closer to us, and to civilization, at Burke Lake Park. I was pretty gung-ho about going, I grew up on campouts as did Jeremy, but it seems they did not have the same positive impact on his childhood and he came with a "grin and bear it" attitude. We purchased a new, big tent, along with more camping gear and bags full of hot dogs, smores supplies, and hot chocolate. A couple of hours before we left, we found out that there was a fire ban for all of Virginia due to the drought we have been having. We did not let it bring us down, we just brought extra snacks that did not require heating. When we arrived, we picked out the best campsite and Jeremy and I began putting up our tent. It was a good thing that we brought the DVD player for the car, because it kept the kids entertained while we figured out the tangled mess that was our tent. We all breathed a sigh of relief when it was finally up and Jeremy and I hadn't even fought over the assembly! Needless to say, thte kids were beyond excitement and we had a fun evening (even if we did drive to the nearest Taco Bell for dinner). That night it was COLD, and despite our best efforts at dressing them warm, the kids woke up a few times and Gavin ended up in my sleeping bag by morning. My dad joined us for breakfast, well, actually brought breakfast since our bananas and pop tarts were not good enough for him, and also brought some much needed hot chocolate. He was a welcome sight! After packing up, we took a short walk/hike around the beautiful lake and enjoyed the colors of the changing leaves. All in all, it was a valiant first effort at family camping and the kids and I (maybe not Jeremy) look forward to our next outing.

Today Cameron's preschool had a field trip to a local pumkin patch- Pumpkinville at Leesburg Animal Park. The kids got to feed and pet all kinds of animals, go on a spooky hayride, and play on all kinds of slides and bouncy things. Gavin was still petrified of and animal that got too close and we had a little goat that kept following us around trying to eat my camera bag. Cameron was not scared at all and even fed the big, slobery camel. It was the perfect day and the kids had a blast, and we even got to come home with two little pumpkins for Halloween.