Amy and the Boys: Camping Trip to Shades

Fall is my favorite time of year to go camping and this fall we decided to introduce the boys to it, too. We headed to Shades State Park with our good friends the Keagy family for some outdoor fun. Mother nature didn't really agree with our camping plans but we showed her. (Actually, I'm still getting the mud out of everything!)

Here are the boys in the car. Mostly, though, notice the BACK of the car, which is loaded up with so much stuff that even Clark Griswold would say, "Wow, that's a lot." And it was only for one overnight. Exceptional.

Here are the kiddos all ready for our hiking adventure. As soon as we arrived at the trailhead, it started POURING rain. And then started hailing. Seriously. We were all sitting in our cars wondering why it hasn't rained a drop all summer but the second we decide to get back to nature the sky opens up?!

At The Devil's Punchbowl. (Nice name.)

The Touch-Me-Nots were a big hit! Here is Alex making one explode...

Our whole crew (minus the Photographer--me) If we look cold and wet, that's because we were.

As it turns out, wodden stairs are extraordinarily slippery when wet. Add some wet leaves and it is downright precarious! Here's the crew making their way down the trail to the waterfall. I can report that no families were injured in the making of this picture.

Alex by the convex waterfall...

Nick back at the campsite trying to get dry and warm...

The boys trying out their accomodations for the night. Around 4:30 in the morning, it started thunderstorming and rained for a couple of hours. There is no tent fabric that can withstand that sort of torrent and it got a tiny bit leaky in there! Overall, though, we actually stayed nice and dry. By the way, do you know how LOUD a thunderstorm is when you're outside in it? Very.