This was one of those trips that was just so good that none of us wanted it to end. Even after we extended it by a day we were all sad to be heading home. Usually we are happy to be back at home, eating regular food and sleeping in our own beds. Not this time. It was that good and I’m so glad that this is where Clara Beth requested that her birthday camping trip take place. She says it’s tradition that we camp at Lakewood for her birthday. I think we’ve only actually been there on her birthday once, but it’s true that the trips there are always near her birthday. She loves tradition so in keeping with that, in her mind this trip had to be at Lakewood. It also happened to be Memorial Day weekend so crowd level was a pretty big concern for us. Surprisingly our camper was the only one in a seven site stretch and we had a perfectly shaded {very important when you’re camping in a tin can} spot by the water.
S’mores by the campfire on our first night of the trip, last night with an eight year old in our family.
BIRTHDAY morning!! She’s NINE!
Daddy’s girl. Always, always, always.
She’s all about learning to sew/needlework right now, so that’s what her gifts centered around. This is a super easy beginner set that she’s been eyeing at Target for months now. She was so happy to unwrap it!
This is the only thing that she actually asked for for her birthday this year. Volume 4 of the Mandie series. GREAT series if you have a girl!
Photos to scrapbook…
This is her new smile face. Help.
This was Awesome. I picked up these glow in the dark balloons to throw in one of her presents, and as she was reading the fine print she noticed that it was not for kids 8 and under. She screamed “I can play with these because I’m NINE!!!” Cutie pie. =)
Rollers. Favorite camping game.
Oh My Goodness, we are thankful for this baby!
Water Park!!!
It was freezing cold but they loved it. Also, this was the only day that it wasn’t crowded. They pretty much had the park to themselves on Friday.
Lemon birthday cake from Sweetleigh’s! YUM. LOVE the addition of the lemon oreos on top, Mark Palmer!
The breeze blew her candles out before she could.
Time for those balloons I mentioned earlier. He’s hilarious. By far the funniest in our family. I love this boy like crazy, even if he won’t let me take his picture much anymore. 😉
Our view. So much love for this view.
And here are a few camper updates we’ve made recently. Our fridge stopped working so Collin installed this new retro looking one. It’s bigger and has a freezer and it’s CUTE. We removed the microwave because cooking in the camper is forbidden {I can’t handle the smells}. I love this new little spot!
And Collin built benches! These are great for reading, and when it’s raining we can put the table up to play games or eat. At night it turns into mine and Collin’s bed. And I cover them with quilts from Collin’s mom because Emme’s paws and dirty kid camping feet make the cushions filthy. And because I love quilts. So So much.
His hobby is photo bombing. Really. He won’t smile for the camera for anything, but try to take a picture of someone else and he will hop in the way every single time.
She got him back by photobombing him with her hand.
Beach time! It was super crowded here.
They were so excited that I wanted a photo of the two of them together. This is the result. Stunning, right? I think it will go huge above my fireplace.
Ice cream time!
My parents came down for the day to help CB celebrate.
Here’s a view of what the camper looks like when the bed is set up. Best napping spot on the planet!
Mak spends most of his time on every trip riding his bike. He finds the best spots and then comes back to get us to take us to them. This time he found a little island filled with goats. Pretty weird. Also, no photos from that.
Werk it.
She wanted her picture with the Ninth St. sign. Because she’s nine.
But then she started with the duck lips and her Daddy decided that it was time to move on. No duck lips allowed on his baby girl.
My heart. LOVE LOVE LOVE these two.
Even when I want to wring this one’s neck.
Beach Party time! Lakewood does this family beach party on Sunday nights where they have hula hoop contests, tug of war, and limbo. Mak and CB look forward to it every visit.
This kid cracked me up. Head to toe Captain America. He’s awesome. I miss those days.
Both kids made it to the final three in their category! They even got Collin and me out there with the adults. I made it close to the end but that’s only because I noticed that my hula hoop was wonky and I made Collin switch with me. He did and as a result he got out pretty quick.
Duck terrorizer. To be fair, these ducks were pretty rude. And Clara Beth’s biggest fear is birds {for real} so he was actually protecting his sister.
SUPER fun Memorial Day/Clara Beth Birthday weekend! Looking forward to lots of camping this summer!
