Camping day 1

We slightly underestimated how long it would take us to get to Ely. As a result, instead of arriving at 7:30 like we originally anticipated... we got there by midnight. We had to make several potty and nursing stops so that contributed to our late arrival, but additionally it was just a far distance. We finished setting up by 1 am. The girls were in their own little tent and then Brian and I and Kolton were in another.

Plus we put Kolton inside his own tent inside the tent... we treated it like his bassinet. He LOVED camping. He slept so well even sleeping clear through the night the second night we were there. I think he liked the heavy blankets on him which we can't do at home because it's summer!
Brian took him for a little morning walk the first morning. He walked him down to the bathrooms where he heard stories about some camping robbers. He was concerned because apparently there was a robber in the campsite that was taking great liberties with other peoples' things. Brian came back to the tent and then headed in to town for a few things. When he returned low and behold the robber had struck....
And confiscated his sleeping bag!!!
What an adorable little thief!!!
The kids awoke and had some breakfast and immediately put their swim suits on. They anxiously awaited going to the lake but we told them that grandma and grandpa were almost there... about 30 more minutes.
So they waited...
and waited...
and waited... The kids had nothing better to do than cover themselves in dirt :)
And waited some more. Mark and Tosh gave us this fabulous pack n play sport. It has a cover to keep out the bugs and shade the baby. Kolton was wildly impressed by it and just kicked away in there cooing and cawing.
There is even a tunnel right on the side for the little ones to climb in when they want. Ella was old hat at it as she had climbed in that tunnel when Rowan was a baby.
His blue eyes matched the inside lining making for some awesome pictures.

Finally, the kids (and parents) could wait no more so Brian drove Tosh and I and all the kids down to the lake (this was 3 1/2 hours later). And just as we left, who should arrive? You guessed it. Still, we got to go for a swim and it was marvelous. I love nothing more than swimming to the middle of the lake and feeling utterly refreshed and weightless as I admire the beautiful surroundings. It was pretty tricky to have a newborn and all the kids at the same time. I had to keep him in the shade while being close enough to the kids to pull them out if needs be. It's tricky.
Plus I can't say that nursing on the sand is the most comfortable thing I've ever done but... we make do. It was worth it for the 10 minutes of swim time I got. Ekco fell off her raft and panicked but fortunately I was there to pull her back on and calm her down. The kids mostly played where they could touch and dig in the muck.
Back at camp Brian and I made dinner (actually Brian ended up cooking almost every meal) and the kids enjoyed cousin time.
After dinner the whole group went down to the lake for some craw fishing. They caught a lot!!
Back at camp they cooked them up and ate them, but Brian and I were tired and worried about Kolton and how he would sleep (what a waste of concern) so we went to bed. Xiana was really tired so she hit the sack early too.
For me the highlight of the day was swimming, but for the kids I would guess that fishing was the highlight. I know it was Ekco's favorite part.
These two were good buddies the whole trip.
and as usual, so were they!