Friday, October 4th - Fall Camping Trip, Day 1 of 3

Our Fall Camping Trip had finally arrived!!  I cannot stress how incredibly excited the kids had been for WEEKS and WEEKS leading up to this day :-)  Jim drove up earlier in the day to set up the campsite, while the kids and I followed a couple of hours later with food and clothes.  This has been our camping protocol for a while now and it really works well for us.  When the kids are a little older, we will include them more on the set up side of things, but for now they really enjoy the planning/packing end.  The weather was incredibly beautiful - a perfect mid-70's in the mountains!  It was a terrific start to our camping weekend.

October in the north Georgia mountains is *prime* camping time, and the campground was booked solid.  Fortunately, Jim and Jason (Phillips) had been able to arrive and secure sites as close to one another as possible for the group.  When the kids and I arrived, the tents were already up!  The kids were so excited to see their own "private" tent all ready for them :-)

Camp stove, cooler and Kelty kitchen pantry (it's a Kelty kitchen bag that sits atop a light weight, collapsible campsite baker's rack).

Picnic table and drinks cooler bag - Scarlett suggested we bring our little pop-up food tents and it was a great thought!

Camping chairs (including Waverly's special contraption) set up around the fire pit.

After running around the campsite a bit, the kids were eager to ride their bikes along the "loop"!

Waverly was an instant fan of camping :-)

Although Jason and Jim had been there for a couple of hours, the kids and I were the first full family to arrive, so when the Phillips crew showed up there was great celebration.  Lincoln and Judd quickly ran off to conspire and/or plot.

Yay for camping with friends!

The Mauldins soon arrived as well, and Lincoln was eager to take Sophie on a walk-a-bout.

With several snacking/drink options laid out, we soon had a nice little crowd at our site ;-)

So much excitement!  So many kids!  All the fresh air and sunshine!  Waverly was tuckered out and ready for her standard afternoon nap within just a couple hours of arriving. I think there's probably no better napping (baby or adult) than a nice warm breeze and the sounds of nature in the background while you doze.

When she woke up, it was time to change into evening attire, lol.  I had to have Amanda P. hold Waverly so I could grab a picture of her in this outfit, a cute hand-me-down from our thoughtful friends and neighbors.  Also because it's a 9-month size and it was all I could do to fasten the snaps!  I have a feeling she will be in 12-month sized clothes come Christmas time :-p

We continued our tradition of trading off dinner responsibilities with the Phillips.  On our two-night camping excursions, they cook one dinner for the two families, and we cook one dinner.  It's nice to only have to game plan one meal!  Amanda made some delicious chili that all my kids raved about and devoured.  Yum~

The other families were going to be joining us at our site for s'mores as a group, however the official meet-up time was 8:30 and come 8:00 I couldn't hold off any longer.  The kids overpowered me with their collective pleading and we went ahead and started.  Around the fire: Lincoln, Olivia, Judd, Julia, Victoria, and Scarlett.

First s'mores of fall! Delicious :-)

Seriously focused on consuming his s'more~

After more s'mores and marshmallows were consumed by the children then I would care to have documented here, they ran around in the dark with their flashlights before crashing hard and falling into a deep sleep.  Jim and I sat around chatting with a few friends and relishing the quiet while we watched the camp fire :-)