Friday, July 10, 2015

#BigFamilyCamping ... Our Maiden Voyage #Melvern #Kansas

Back at the end of May 2015, when we knew my husband was going to be traveling for the entire month of June, we decided to do a family camping trip. The weather in Kansas is always such a crapshoot, so we set out and got a wide range of weather situations, from playing-in-the-lake warm-enough to freezing in our rain gear and later traipsing through mud. We headed to Melvern Lake in Lebo, Kansas for what turned out to be the first of many awesome camping trips.

This swing was right on our campsite! Came in handy later for hanging up wet blankets!

Dinner on the first night

Isn't it gorgeous? Yep, we even took the dog with us and he loved it!

The neat suspension bridge by our site heading over to the beach and playground.

The first night was perfect for swimming but a little chilly for me

Eva found a little friend

Callie had to also hold the baby dog

And Joel. We are suckers for little pets.

That night the weather turned freaky and we got a ton of rain.

The next morning I give the thumbs up in my rain gear in the cold.
Instead of sitting in the van while it rained all day and because God can't steer a ship that isn't moving, we opted to out-run the storm and went to the Tallgrass Prairie Nature Preserve in Strong City

We had some lunch

We took a "little" hike with Daddy saying, "it isn't much longer" when we hiked like ... forever in the mud!

But the hike started with this cool old house in the Flint Hills!


Sam's little friend, Driftwood

Daddy made them mermaid and merman
Gorgeous lake view

We broke out the glow kit later ... swords, rings, necklaces, bracelets, glasses!


Smores around the campfire and a not-so-scary story told by Daddy

Callie and Mommy on a windy, chilly morning of leaving

Daddy and Callie

Old-fashioned death trap the kids love

The water was up so high from tons of rain in May