Camping

One weekend in September, we decided to go camping again, but this time with friends - the Lewis family! They suggested a state park at the southern tip of Maryland - Point Lookout, right along the water. (The body of water is where the Potomac River enters the Chesapeake Bay.) Our campsite was not only a quick walk to the water, but RIGHT by a playground too. Score! (The kids played there the majority of the time we were at the campsite, even when it was dark. It was awesome. They even found a really cool tree frog there.)

Our campsite. :)

Nora, Maddie, and cow headed off to play.

Claire on the playground.

Unfortunately, because of Friday night traffic, we got there RIGHT before it got dark. It got dark fast so we ended up setting up our tents in the dark. Chris was awesome though, and he did it! :) (I helped a little.) After a nice camp fire, we all got ready for bed. We decided to not bother with an air mattress this time and we all had new sleeping bags (except Amelia.) Despite the not great sleeping conditions, we got some rest and were ready the next day.

After a yummy breakfast (toads and a hole and bacon - my favorite camping breakfast), we got ready to go crabbing! The Lewis's brought some turkey necks, string, a net, and a cooler for the occasion. We walked out to the pier (after trudging through a flooded path) and got to work. You take a long string and tie one end around a turkey neck. Then you lower the turkey neck down until it is around the floor of the water where the crabs will be. With the string wrapped around your finger, you wait for a tug. Once you feel some tugging, you slowly, and inperceptively pull up the string. Once it is high enough to see the neck and crab, someone else scoops in the water with the net catching the crab. We did this and caught 9 crabs! (Ok, I only caught one small one, and Claire helped her friend Nora pull one up since Nora was reeling lots in!) We ended up only keeping 5 because some were too small to eat. It was a cool experience and lots of fun!

It was nice having older kids and extra adults around to help hold Amelia. :)

Enjoying the perfect temperatures and weather that weekend. 

I love that man of mine. He's such a great daddy, and our girls ADORE him. :)

When we were done, we went back to our campsite to steam the crabs and have them for lunch. Yum! I'm not a huge crab fan, but they were really good, and it was cool to do the whole process. I feel like a true Marylander now. :)

Our crabs weren't happy to be caught. Here, they await their fate.

Nora helping the steamed crab wave to the camera.

Everyone enjoying our crab feast! (Ok, it was really more like a snack.)

I'd like to say Maddie tried it. While it did make it in her mouth, she instantly spit it out. Well, at least she kind of tried.

Chris went back early in hopes to get the girls down for a nap. (Maddie was VERY tired from a late night and early morning.) He had success with Amelia at least! 

Our friends brought a motor boat but there wasn't room for us all to ride at once. Since our girls needed a nap anyway, while they rode the boat, we decided to go for a drive (the only successful way we can get the girls a nap when we're camping.) We saw a lot of scenes like this on our drive (which was prettier in person.)

After the girls had their nap, it was our turn to go on the boat ride. We left Amelia behind and went with Brother Lewis and Nora on the boat. It was so fun! Claire was a little apprehensive at first (as usual), but then both girls LOVED it. They loved bouncing on the water and having the water spray us. The view was gorgeous too.

Ready to go out!

So pretty!

That night we enjoyed another campfire and yummy tin foil dinners. YUM! (Note: We discovered that tin foil dinners are REALLY tasty with old bay spices.)
The next morning, we were really tired of the ridiculous amount of mosquitoes and were ready to head home, unpack, get cleaned up and go to church. We had an awesome time with our friends, and the kids had a great time playing together. We knew it was a good sign that we could spend the whole weekend camping with another family and love all of our time with them. No annoyances, no issues, just plain fun! We will definitely have to go again next year!