And I Lived To Blog About It...

We went camping this weekend...in a tent...with no flush toilets...and with 6 children, ages 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 & 9...and we made it home...alive...and somewhat sane!

Of course, we were 30 minutes into our trip when I realized I forgot my camera...luckily the mother of the family we went with is a professional photographer...so pictures will follow!

Tonight I just want to bullet a few of the memories so that they can be saved forever...especially for when we decide to attempt this again!  So, here are a few of the best moments!

• Listening to my husband scream about me bringing inappropriate gear for camping...when he discovered my hair straightener in the car...before we even left our street!

• Telling Bruiser we were in New Hampshire and him asking repetitively to see the "hamster"!

• Discovering that our rustic campsite had newish showers with hot water...and electricity for my hair straightener!

• Listening to the rain hit our tent all night long...while laying awake with Sassy who kept saying "I can't sleep!"...and waking up to the rain being over!

• Cheering on our friends as they completed a 5K trail run...BAREFOOT!...and watching Tater help them run the finish line!

• Losing Bruiser for 15 minutes in the crowd of the race goers and having him cling to me forever after a wonderful racer found him and helped him get back to us.

• Using every flush toilet I could find every time we left the campsite!

• Laughing about how we had a cooler full of alcohol...when we never drink all that much...and then buying more at a cute little country store...just because we liked the kinds we found...and then bringing home an almost-full cooler!  Even camping with 6 kids didn't drive us to drink...all that much!

• Painting my toenails by the campfire (which was deemed to be another inappropriate piece of camping gear!)

• Watching 9 people try to keep one one-year-old in a campsite...when all he wanted to do was walk in the woods!

• Watching my six-year-old make "vacation friends"!

• Waking up to Bruiser yelling "cock-a-doodle-doo!" this morning!

• Hiking with Bruiser and having him out-hike me!  He has Boy Scout potential, Papa!

• Watching my children get dirtier by the hour...and not caring a single bit about it!

• Creating a mental "Next Time" journal...and making plans to do this all again this summer...on the beach!