camping overnight - and not in the backyard this time

since i had to work two days this week, the officer decided to take the kids camping. of course, they had done the backyard camping thing a couple of months ago. it went pretty good, so the officer decided to try a campground this time.

the officer decided to go to a koa campsite he knew was clean and had a playground & swimming pool. monday we did all the essential food shopping (hotdogs, smores, bacon & pancake mix) and packed all the gear.


they headed out there tuesday around lunchtime. it was kind of hot. they got to do a lot of hiking and walking around on nature trails. they started their campfire for dinner but it was kind of too hot for a campfire. plus, the firewood must have been a little wet because the officer said it smoked quite a bit.

there was a stray cat that made it's way around to the campsite. my daughter named it "campy" because they found it when they were camping. they fed campy their hot wings (apparently left over from lunch) and she ate it bones & all. campy stayed around the whole time they were there - probably because they kept feeding it. my son found a little black lizard he named "mr. lizard" (original huh?). he tried to catch him, but mr. lizard was too fast. that's okay because i didn't really want a pet lizard.


the kids had fun "trying" to chop some tree limbs for fire - and if i was telling you this in person i would use air-quotes. they had fun. however, even though the limb was not more than 1 inch in diameter the limb was never completely chopped off.

the officer put the kids to bed around 8:30 p.m. they went right to sleep. however, the officer did not sleep as well. they were close to the highway and the sound of the cars all night long kept the officer awake. in addition, the officer's air mattress had a slow leak. when the officer woke up at 4:30 a.m. it wasn't long before he decided to pack it up. they were home before 6 a.m.