camping....

well, i was wrong. camping was at blue rock, not tar hollow.

okay, so i've been through zanesville at least 100 times on trips back and forth from canton, but had never heard of blue rock state park. let me tell ya......it is out in the sticks!!! only 12 miles or so from I-70, through duncan falls, but definitely in the middle of nowhere. you know when you are on a winding road and you suddenly come upon 'Cow Crossing' signs that you're in for a real adventure. to the surprise of most my family, ashlyn adapted quite well and had a ball. ash and brandon chased each other around playing imaginary games at the campsite and put some outdoor yard toys to good use. a few episodes of drama with sharing the toys, but that is to be expected at their age. emma was a bit fussy from an allergic reaction and definitely doesn't like confined in the pack-n-play. who can blame her! ashlyn definitely got a kick out of roasting marshmallows. fun memories.

so our camping wasn't totally roughing it. i mean we were out in the middle of nowhere, with no electric, and no sewer---yep, pit latrines, but my uncle was there with his bombdiggity camper. totally stacked. literally a house on wheels complete with dvd player, air conditioning and satelitte system. kinda weird when almost everyone else on the campground was in an old-fashioned pitched tent. times have changed *wink* really though, we were only in the camper to take ashlyn potty (yep, yep.....she went the whole time in panties with no accidents!!!!) and to sleep.

for dinner we had primerib over the campfire with baked potatos and homegrown green beans.....yumummmmy! smores and burnt on the outside, gooey on the inside marshmallows--the only way to eat them.

sleeping at the campground....interesting. emma was up several times through the night--a total rarity. before going down for the night she was spitting up from something she ate. possibly jarred baby food.....she doesn't get jarred food often since i make her food. anywho....so she was up at 4am playing in her pack-n-play then taking a bottle at 5am. i finally got a few hours of shuteye and was woken up at 8am by grandma talking loudly in her sleep "get over on your own side and leave me alone" it woke nannette up too. so for the next hour we were busting a gut trying not to laugh too loud everytime she said something. good times.

doug joined us late sunday morning and spent time at the beach wading in the water with the kids, and helping pack to head over to the shelter house for the family reunion. this was the 85th pearce-mcdonald reunion. typical reunion. all the families congregate, but stay pretty much to themselves. very weird in my opinion. anywho....the kids had fun with my big kid playing with an enormous blow up soccer ball and goalie net.

i can't wait to get pictures developed. took 2 rolls of film of my immediate family with the beautiful scenic covered bridge as the background. finally got an updated shot of my dad & connie and got a 4 generation picture with me, the girls, my dad and grandma. a priceless treasure! i'll be sure to post when they are developed.

summing up the adventure with the words of ashlyn
"This is the best everest camping ever papa!" "i LOVE campin' with papa, mommy."