COLD CAMPING

We didn't get to do much camping this summer, only Luddington. It was difficult with a new baby and then I started working weekends again. Kellen really wanted to go camping one last time before it got too cold. He and his friend Kelly Dalton had been wanting to go camping together for quite some time and finally decided to do it this month. We decided to wait until Shade's TBall season was over, and the Dalton's soccer games were over, which was October 12th. Unfortunately, the weather started cooling off the weekend we chose to go (October 18th), with highs in the 50's (which meant lows even lower). But we decided to go anyway, just bring some extra layers. Plus, there was supposed to be only a 20% chance of rain...

The afternoon we got there, the weather was actually really nice. We went to Waterloo. They still had some modern campgrounds open. We all stopped by their Discovery Center first to learn a little bit about animals and minerals. We then drove to the campground, found a great spot, and set up camp. Everything was going great. We had an awesome dinner, played a lot, even made popcorn and smores. It got cold, but we had come prepared for that. We all snuggled up in our tents with extra layers.

Then I got up to use the bathroom around 2am. It was a clear night with a full moon, completely gorgeous with the silhouettes of the trees. But then I noticed a small ring around the moon...

I once worked with a man who was very into Native American culture. We worked as counselors for troubled youth in a wilderness program - where we would take the kids out into the "wilderness" and stay out there, backpacking and camping while the kids had to learn and pass off certain skills. This guy would always tell us that if you see a ring around the moon, it would rain. The closer the ring to the moon, the sooner it would rain. Before we went to bed, there was an occasional ring around the moon when a cloud passed by - about 2.5 inches away (from my perspective of course). As I was walking back to the tent at 2am, I noticed the ring was now only an inch away. But I never put much stock into that idea.

But then I woke up about an hour later to the sound of raindrops hitting the top of the tent. Poopy. Being such a light sleeper, I didn't get much sleep after that. It was now cold and wet. Kelly put up some tarps over the eating area. It rained off and on the rest of the day. So much for the highs in the 50s. The kids did get a chance to ride bikes to the lake with Michelle to play, but other than that, we spent most of the day trying to keep warm and mostly dry. But at least we still managed to have fun!

Shade being goofy (1,2), Mushroom tree stump, Daddy's Girl, All layered up, Snuggles w/Mommy, Camp pictures (7,8)



Making breakfast, Riding bikes, Playing at the lake (3,4)