I say great because we've been married for 16 years now and this is the first camping trip we've ever taken! Let me tell you how it took place. Originally, Russell and I were going to leave the boys by themselves overnight. They would have been alive upon our return but some of them may have done serious bodily harm to each other. I wasn't too excited about that prospect so we stealthily gathered clothes for the boys a few days beforehand. We gathered all the stuff we needed to go camping at Cook Creek. The boys - even until it was time to go had no idea they were coming along.
Russell and I got up really early Monday morning and loaded the car. THEN we woke up the boys and told them we wanted them up and dressed and have eaten breakfast before "we" left. They were okay with that. Some of them even got in and did their household chores! While the boys were eating breakfast I took their pillows and wool blankets to the car. Michael and Nephi noticed their pillows were missing so I told them dad and I might need them if we needed extra pillows. They believed us. (We really did need extra pillows....for the boys!) The boys really did get upset and kind of mad when Russell told them they needed to make sure to have socks and shoes on before "we" left. The boys couldn't understand why they would need to do this since they weren't the ones leaving. Michael was planning on using the computer so he felt put-out. Finally we told them to go hop in the car as they were coming with us. A couple of the boys were really mad and not happy with the fact that we were camping. This is our story. And we're sticking to it.
Warning: There are lots of pictures. If you don't want to see them....you best not continue! :)
Our car is packed. There is no more room for anything else.
Our tent. It was just enough room for Russ and me.
The boys' tent. It is nice and big and is divided into 4 equal sections. Each boy had his own space.
Our toilet. We went to a really primitive area. No toilet facilities, no showers, hot water or electric hook ups. Each person was responsible for cleaning out the bucket after each use. Guess who got to clean it the most? Me! Ever see a girl try to pee on a tree? Me neither and I wasn't about to learn.
Russell getting our fire started. The people before us left a huge garbage pile in the fire pit.
Our kitchen area. We brought just the right amount of food. At night we made sure to put the cooler, blue food box and 2 black crates in the car so we wouldn't have any "visitors."
This is Cook Creek. Just down the path from our campsite. It was a beautiful area and I am so glad we went there as a family. It was calm, quiet, peaceful and all around a beautiful place to be.
The guys eating lunch. We had ham and cheese sandwiches, chips, grapes and kool-aid.
Michael is on his way down to the creek.
Russell relaxing. He is on vacation after all!
The boys down at the creek. They had so much fun! The water was kind of cold though so they would get out and wrap up in their towels. Once dry - they headed right back to the creek.
Michael
Donovan and Nephi
Donovan and Nephi
Donovan, Michael and Nephi
Christopher
Russell going.
Nephi, Michael and Donovan
Russell coming.
Russell and Donovan.
Nephi, Christopher and Michael
Christopher checking out the bottom of the creek. There were several little tiny fish. They were so cute!
Me
The boys
We had an awesome dinner. Russell cooked steaks on his little BBQ and I made these potatoes over the fire pit.
We had these yummy marinated shrimp grilled on Russell's BBQ as well.
Getting a game of Phase 10 in before it gets too late.
What do you suppose could be in here?
The boys are eating chips for an after dinner snack. Waiting for the yummyness in the dutch oven can make one hungry I guess!
Our camping spot
Our camp. What you see is what you get! We have the boys so far away for a reason. Late at night when we want to sleep they can stay up and visit without getting in trouble for being too loud. It worked out perfectly!
The guys are eating. But what are they eating? They are eating.....
Homemade dutch oven baked cinnamon rolls! These turned out so awesome! No burning on the bottom and cooked all the way through! These were ooey gooey warm and yummy! I should have brought some milk!
The boys getting a late night game of war in before bedtime.
Russell relaxing
I am pretty sure I was up around 6. My bladder is my alarm clock. I got the fire started and began cooking breakfast. I really super duper love my cast iron camping equipment! I just can't say it enough!
I did the bacon first so I could use the bacon fat to grease the griddle for my pancakes! I had the perfect temperature going and my pancakes were doing awesome until Russell decided the fire wasn't hot enough. So....he added more wood and charcoal and my perfectly perfect pancakes went from this to.....
this. These are more done than I would like mine to be. I ate them anyway because I was hungry.
Everyone getting in one more Phase 10 game in before it was time to pack up and head home.
Once we got home I did a million loads of laundry which spanned 2 days. I am so glad we went though. It was nice to get away and enjoy time together as a family. Next year I want to go camping for my birthday. I want to go to Ft. Stevens. I think I would like the fact that there would be more people around - I might sleep a little bit better.
Notice who has the hose now? It's Nephi. This got him into some trouble. At this point I left to walk down to the mailbox. When I came back Russell was doing this.....
hosing down Nephi because he had hosed down all 4 of the guys washing the cars! lol Hello my little wet rat.
Ron and Carrie's family on the left. Ours on the right. Their family is missing a couple kids. They went to friends' houses.
On the way home Nephi totally crashed. Chris is totally faking it.
Moving on to this. On the 31st of July - hasn't happened yet....I have to make dutch oven cinnamon rolls for the Primary Activity Day. Some charcoal was brought so I could experiment. These were some very bland rolls as I didn't want to waste perfectly good ingredients if I ruined the batch of rolls. These are looking pretty darn good!
They rose very nicely.
Except the bottoms burned. I was so happy that was all that burned. I think what happened was I did the charcoal in the sand so when I put the dutch oven over them it sank - therefore putting the coals a lot closer than they should have been. 
Ron and Carrie's family on the left. Ours on the right. Their family is missing a couple kids. They went to friends' houses.
On the way home Nephi totally crashed. Chris is totally faking it.
Moving on to this. On the 31st of July - hasn't happened yet....I have to make dutch oven cinnamon rolls for the Primary Activity Day. Some charcoal was brought so I could experiment. These were some very bland rolls as I didn't want to waste perfectly good ingredients if I ruined the batch of rolls. These are looking pretty darn good!
They rose very nicely.
Except the bottoms burned. I was so happy that was all that burned. I think what happened was I did the charcoal in the sand so when I put the dutch oven over them it sank - therefore putting the coals a lot closer than they should have been.
