Camping with Friends

This year we went group camping with neighbors and friends not in our neighborhood at Copper Falls State Park in Wisconsin.  I hadn’t been to this state park since we lived in Wisconsin and I was very, very pregnant with Mr. SP.  I really enjoyed it then, and I was excited to go back.  I greatly enjoyed it the second time too!

We arrived at Copper Falls State Park on the hottest day of the year.  Seroiusly.  It was well over 90 degrees, and the humidity was horrible.  It was exactly how I remember summer while we  livied in central Wisconsin.  Of course, my memory might be shaded by the fact that I spent 2/3 of my time living there pregnant.  Regardless, it was hotness and humidity unlike that I have experienced in quite some time.  If you were sitting, you were sweating.  If you were moving, you were really sweating.

Mr. SP had not taken a shower in this photograph.  He was just sweating.   

The Banana came camping with a very loose tooth, and within hours of arriving, she had lost it, the tooth next to her large front top tooth.  It’s kind of hard to see on this image, but she was very excited about loosing it. 

Some of us brought cookies.  We took a cookie break while setting up all the tents.  

The mosquitos were plentiful and viscous. Bug spray was helpful.

Luckily there were plenty of opportunities for the kids to wash off their sweat while swimming on the swimming beach at a small lake in the park.  They went multiple times.  It was great because they could bike from the group campsite to the swimming beach, but of course a couple of adults had to go along as well. 

Soccer was a big deal on this camping trip.  Our neighbors brought soccer balls, and the campsite had a perfect flat, open area.  A soccer game was in play constantly, whenever we were at the campsite. The kids practiced and practiced their tactics and challenged the grown ups to a kids vs. adults game.  (Luckily I got to opt out as photographer).  They plotted and planned their attacks and strategies, but in the end, even though the adults were definitely not the better soccer players, their size gave them an advantage and the final score was in the favor of the parents.  Dr. Peds was sore for days from playing soccer in sandals.  It didn’t help that at one point he slipped and did a spontaneous back flip.  

There was a mandatory hike to see all the wonderful waterfalls in the park.  The scenery at Copper Falls is amazing.  I didn’t photograph the actual falls very much because the light was not advantageous and because the people I was hiking with were so very interesting.

Our friends came with a hiking backpack filled with wonderful, kid friendly hiking supplies, like laminated pamphlets to identify bugs, butterflies, trees, flower and plants, along with magnifying glasses, binoculars, and bug boxes.  I was inspired to be a better hiking mama.  My kids were all about the extra supplies.  

To photograph everyone in our group at once, we tricked and trapped all the kids on an overlook and then kept them their until we had photographed them.  

I loved this heart log.

We passed a snake, and sure enough if one of the kids didn’t pick up the snake and put it in the bug box.  Ack!  I don’t handle snakes, even in boxes.  At one point the box was being carried toward me to photograph, and I went screeching up a set of stone steps to escape.  I had some serious heart palpitations.  Look how happy the snake handler with the box is, though.  

She said to Mr. TOF, “Let’s stop and admire these tree roots.”  So they did.  They examined everything closely with the magnifying glass.  

After the waterfall loop, half of the group played on the playground, and a large bunch of girls and moms made a second hike up to an observation tower.  A lot of steps were involved, and although it wasn’t as warm as the first day of camping, it was still plenty warm and sweaty.  The view was totally worth it, though.  Plus, there was a breeze above the trees.  

My kidlets were super duper excited about taco night.  Unfortunately taco gas filled my tent that night.

Smores!  Who doesn’t love them?  Each kid got to make two to celebrate our neighbor’s youngest daughter learning to ride her bicycle without training wheels in the group campsite parking lot.  There was a lot of bike riding happening on this camping trip as well.