We took our camper to Mammoth Caves National Park for three days. We met our good friends and camping buddies: The Pleasant family! It was fantastic. If you have not been to this National Park: What are you waiting for? It is conveniently located to so much of the USA. GO SEE IT!!!!
Getting pictures inside the cave was not an easy task, but JB attempted it:
That's me trying to duck.
And here's a few fun pictures outside of the park:
We have bought this handy-dandy camper, and we intend to use the thing as often as we can! We absolutely LOVE traveling via our camper. It fits our family sooooo perfectly. It has everything we want: removal of technology (for the most part), time together as a family, eating simple foods, and enjoying nature.
This past week, we got to do that campin' thang with some amazingly awesome friends.
My friend Michelle and I have been friends since we were five-years-old. She is married to the awesome Hershal and they have three great kids who match ages with my kiddos nearly perfectly. They are also a homeschool family which means we can take off in the middle of the week.
They tent camp and do it OFTEN. Michelle works many weekends, and Hershal will go camping with the kids and himself at least once a month! That is some serious desire to bond with nature.
A few months ago, JB and I were looking through a list of National Parks, and we realized that there was a National Park in South Carolina: Congaree. We also noticed that it was about as far away from us as it was from Hershal and Michelle. So we asked them to join us on a camping trip.
Oh did we have a blast! It was so much fun to do this with friends. (Even better was that Hershal handled the dinners -- what a blessing that is.) We ended up staying at a park nearby Congaree: Poinsett State Parkbeings Congaree doesn't allow RV camping in their park.
I also had an opportunity on the drive there to quickly stop by and see my sister-in-law and her daughter. They have recently moved to South Carolina -- just FOUR HOURS FROM US! I am ecstatic about that.
Anyways, here are some pictures from our fun time camping:
A family that is permanently etched in my heart. Edward (left) is the perfect companion for my boys, Anabelle is a sweet and gentle spirit just like Abigail and even though they are two years apart, they match well. And Benjamin is their little "Hannah"!
Two of the greatest people I know.
The boys. These three are inseparable. I love that Edward is such great friends with both of the boys and that he can handle their fighting with each other so well!
These hammocks were incredibly popular! (Yes John is reading Fancy Nancy loud and proud!)
These two: enough said.
Congaree had a 2.5 mile board walk. We did the whole thing!!
The seven musketeers. I see a lot more camping adventures in our future together as families!
My brood.
On the boardwalk.
The thing I love the most about camping: my kids can just be kids. The thing I like least: how dirty they get being kids. Hannah is, of course, without shoes. (I have decided that I am not going to fight the shoe war with here anymore because it was making me a grumpy Mama.) The kids needed showers each night and had to be majorly scrubbed down!
Enjoyin' nature!
We did homeschooling every day we were there. This was a fun game that Michelle brought to see who could build the most successful marshmallow tower. The girls (and the dad) won.
The boys were NOT happy about their loss. But I love this picture. This so shows the personality of these three guys. I could not ask for a sweeter boy to be friends with my sons. We also did a junior ranger program at the campground. I hope to have pics and blog more about that soon.
I can't imagine my life without this lady in it. I love you Michelle. You truly are my sister.
I have a few more parts of our trip I hope to share in an upcoming blog post. But for now, I hope you enjoyed a reflection of our trip. Sorry to be a bit MIA for a few days, but I really try to "disengage" while on vacation with my kids. I put my phone down and try to release all responsibility.
And, like all good parents, now I am home and trying to spend many days unpacking from my packing!
I'm breaking up our first camping trip into a series of posts. You can go back and read Part I hereor readPart II here. And here is a link to Part III. Sunday & Monday After the picnic on Sunday, we headed back to Aunt Connie's house. She lives in a beautiful city in Indiana a bit out in the country. Oh what a sweet spot of green Earth she has. Connie lived with us for nine months when we were in the Azores. It was a very dark period in my life as I was pregnant with Hannah during this time and in the throngs of terrible sickness and depression. I have had a lot of guilt about that -- guilt that Connie really only got to see me and be with me at my worst. She, of course, understood, but still ... it sucked. And it sucked that I couldn't have been more fun while she was there. Okay, that is all water under the bridge now. What I really wanted was to get to see Connie now ... for my kiddos who loved her then to see her again. And that is what we did. My parents stayed in the house, and we stayed in our camper, and we just had a wonderful 36-hours or so just being together again. It was truly a magical time for me and my family, and I hope Connie felt the same way. Just a chance to realize that we truly are connected for life!
Abigail didn't talk much when she knew Connie, but she has since told us that she always thought her name was Aunt "Coffee". Appropriate since Connie LOVES her coffee.
Abigail snugged up by Connie!
It was important for Connie to meet Hannah -- this baby in the womb that gave me such fits -- and I think she really got to see the wonderfulness of who Hannah is. Here's Hannah with Connie's dog Jersey. (A sweet lab/dane mix).
Abigail helping Connie set the table in her farm house.
Isaac and Grama Di playing some Candy Crush on her phone! (Isaac loves to do this with his Grama Di!)
My Dad and Sidge playing Hotels.
John and Connie got along so well in the Azores -- they especially bonded over food. Connie LOVED John's cooking (who doesn't)! They spent an evening cooking together again in the kitchen. SO FUN!
With the girls.
We did a lot of coloring together.
It was so wonderful to get to spend this week with my parents. We had such a great time. I love them so much! They truly are great, great parents. I couldn't ask for any better.
Connie and the four munchkins
Tuesday
Tuesday morning, we packed up our camper and headed out for a six hour drive to a horse park campground in Lexington, Kentucky. Oh man, now THIS was the weather we had been hoping for. Seventy degrees and sunny -- it was simply magnificent! We simply love this camping way of traveling and definitely feel like it fits our family.
Playing the game of LIFE outside. Isaac got this from us for his birthday.
There was a huge patch of green grass and the kids asked if they could just take off their shoes and play in it. I think they are playing zoo here.
Again they kids loved having their bikes, and they loved the playgrounds in the camping area. We got a good night's sleep and then, on Wednesday morning, we made the four hour trip back to our farm in Tennessee. While we were sad to see the trip come to an end, we were happy to return home to our farm, our animals, and especially our grandparents and doggies!
A huge thank you to my in-laws who held down the fort while we were gone along with our intern: Jacob and our WWOOFer: Leon. Without having these people back at the farm, leaving would be much harder!
I'm breaking up our first camping trip into a series of posts. You can go back and read Part I hereor readPart II here. Friday Friday night, right before the memorial service on Saturday, Hannah tripped on an unlit fire pit. She fell and her nose hit the metal side of the pit. Not only did she scrape up her nose, but her eyes were a bit swollen too. Poor little kid. This had to have hurt SO badly.
Saturday Saturday was the memorial service for my grandfather. It was held about 45 minutes from our campground back in the area I know much better -- South Holland, Illinois. It was a wonderful service. I spoke, along with a few other people, and presented my Grandmother with a picture that my friend Megan made for her. It is so wonderful how it turned out:
It is hard to fathom being married to someone for 62 years and then not having them anymore. My father closed the service by praying for my grandmother. She isn't done yet! She still has life to live! I pray she can enjoy her remaining years without my grandfather there with her.
I got to see many cousins and old friends of the family that I hadn't seen in years. And, my grandmother got to see all four of my children. (She had never met my girls.) I WISH I would have gotten a picture of that, but there were other, more important things going on.
The kiddos did, successfully, sit through the entire memorial service, which was pretty impressive. Poor JB did most of the dirty work, and he was exhausted by days' end.
And Isaac was thrilled after the service to slip back into the sanctuary to play the baby grand piano they had.
Back at the campground, we made our favorite: pizza calzones with my parents. The kiddos continued to play a ton of the game HOTELS.
Sunday
On Sunday, we got up, packed up our camper, and took it to my Aunt Connie's house. We got it all set up there, and then headed out, with my parents, to a Huisman family picnic. This was my Dad's whole side of the family.
My dad with all of his siblings. From left: Scott, Linda, John, George (my dad), Bob, and Jeff. Now let me tell you that my father is 6'8". We are a VERY tall family! Four of the siblings live in the Illinois and Indiana area. My Dad lives in Florida. And my Uncle Scott recently moved to Texas. When he heard that five of the siblings were going to be meeting up at a park, he got on a flight the next day to join them. How fun is THAT?!
Here is a picture of the siblings with their spouses. That's my mom in the center front.
My cousin Justin (left) and my cousin Matt (right). That is Matt's oldest son in the middle. Matt is the oldest grandchild and his son the oldest grandchild. I believe that 11 of the 17 cousins were at the picnic.
It was really chilly for a May day -- I look like an old woman in this picture. But I was warm!
A picture of all of us hanging out together.
My wonderful Aunt Sue talking to my cousin Justin.
My Dad may have been born and raised in the midwest, but he is a south Floridian to the bone. He borrowed this hat and jacket from his 6'10" brother. The fact that he managed to sit through the entire picnic is really saying something!
My Dad (right) with Uncle Scott!
My dad's only sister with one of only 3 girls cousins including me: Madeline. These ladies look so gorgeous! They are just the sweetest spirits, and I am blessed they are in my family. I was actually a junior bridesmaid in my Aunt Linda's wedding when I was around 9!
There were a TON of great grand-children there. As a child and as an adult, I always spent the most time with my Uncle Bob's three boys. The little girl on the far left is Lacey (Jason's daughter), then there is Hannah, and then Summer (Justin's daughter), and then my Abigail. I can really see the resemblance between Lacey and Abigail. Justin and I stood by each other during some dark times in both of our lives. I love that we have daughters nearly the same age after all that!
After the picnic, we headed back to Aunt Connie's house to begin our two days there. I will do that in my last and closing post. So stay tuned. How WONDERFUL it was to spend time with her. Much more to come.
