Camping

This weekend we had BEAUTIFUL weather! So on a whim Ryan and I decided to head off camping. This was good because I love being spontaneous... but bad because we left late, forgot numerous things (including our air mattresss...yeesh!) and were all a little hungry and cranky by the time dinner was ready (at 9:30pm... a tad bit late).

Regardless, it was still fun. I love camping, and we plan on doing a lot of it this summer. 

I had seen a friend post recently about Moraine State Park, which was only 45 minutes north of us. It looked like lots of fun because there was hiking and a lake you could swim in. Sarah is quite the little water baby, so I knew she would love this! We drove around forever trying to find a campsite and finally found one with openings. It was http://bearruncampground.com/. I am kind of bummed that I didn't get more pictures of the campground because it was huge and had everything, including a heated pool, playgrounds and billiards/arcade. I guess I was planning on taking more pictures when we went swimming... but I'll talk about that later. 

So we got in, set up the tent (check out Ryan all tuckered out on in the tent) and dinner on the grill (we had the most amazing shish kabobs, yum!) . The site didn't look all that impressive in the dark. 

But in the morning...

after we woke up a little...

It was beautiful!!!

We slept under this HUGE canopy of trees.

Absolutely beautiful.

 

Everyone was a lot happier in the morning. 

And check out what Abby learned. 

So cute!

Like I mentioned earlier we forgot lots of things in our rush to get out the door, including Sarah's swimsuit. We knew she would be heartbroken if we didn't go swimming, so early that morning, after some charcoal flavored sausages, we drove home and back just to get Sarah's swimsuit (and a few other things like baby wipes and my shoes). Good thing we weren't too far from home. 

When we got back we went straight into Moraine Park and planned to go hiking, but instead we decided to rent some bikes and go for a ride. It was so much fun. Honestly I was a little nervous because I haven't been on a bike since...oh gosh, I don't know, maybe the eighth grade? Anyway, I was afraid a little, but did just fine. Still not good at the gear shifting thing, I only had to put my chain back on twice...

Sarah and Abby were thrilled to be in the bike trailer. 

Well Abby was once we took off her helmet (I know we're bad parents...)

Sarah on the other hand LOVED wearing her blue helmet. She felt so big. She looks so proud of herself here. 

The bike trail was perfect. We were in the shade most of the time (which was good because it was hot and humid) and there weren't any major hills. It felt like it was mostly downhill, even when we came back. We only rented the bikes for an hour, so we just rode 3.5 miles in on the trail and then turned around and came back. It was a good little workout! I think my seat was a bit too low, but whatever. 

We are definitely going to have to do this again. Ryan and I are really starting to think about investing in bikes... I just don't know how often we would use them around our neighborhood with all of the HILLS!

So after this we headed back to camp to eat some lunch, pack up our stuff and then head to the pool to swim before we headed home. Well right as we were rolling up our tent it began to pour! Of course, a rain storm is not complete in PA with out thunder and lightening too... so the pool closed. Sarah was so heartbroken! I felt really bad, she was so excited to go swimming. I felt like a terrible parent for promising that we'd go swimming and then not being able to follow through. I was half tempted to just take her to the lake and let her splash around in the rain, but the lightening stopped me. 

I was also bummed because I really didn't have the chance to take that many pictures. There was an awesome swamp full of dead trees that begged for a picture and I wanted to show off more of the campground, but can't really take good pictures in the rain (at least I can't). So we drove home with a whining fussy girl (at least until she crashed) and could only promise that we'd go again soon. Which we most definitely will!