Hills Creek Family Camping Trip 2014

I texted this pic to Michele on Thursday morning saying, "Didn't I just do this?"  It's good the second time around as you kind of have a template that works (hint:  the Dollar Tree XL zip-locked storage bags make for great organizers, space savers, and handy bags to just lug to the outhouse to change into).  

The bonus for this trip was that John had all of Thursday off and there was no rush to get on the road as more than likely we'd be the first to arrive whenever we left.  So, we took our time and didn't stress.  That makes for SUCH a better mood for departure.  =) 

This trip also got to include Sydney.  She was so happy.  (And very, very nervous as we were packing...in fact, she refused to go out the back door to go potty before leaving - there was no way she'd be tricked in to that....MUST KEEP SIGHT OF MY HUMANS AT ALL TIMES SO I DON'T GET LEFT!)

As soon as we walked down to the water, she dove in - and rolled in dirt as soon as she emerged.  She stayed filthy all trip long - and this wasn't even the extent of it.

Because, by Saturday, she looked like this:

Out typical camp set-up.  We've got it about as stream-lined as we can make it these days....it's good to have a routine.

The view from the trail right behind our tent.

This trip to Hills Creek was by far the warmest we'd ever faced.  It was muggy with threatening thunderstorms the first two days (though we never got rained on).  It's the first time we've ever kept our "windows" open all night long and were still too warm.... In fact, we only got one night of doing s'mores - a final effort made Saturday night:

John had certainly earned this nap after setting up.  Putting in 4am departures for work to accommodate the two days off were hard on his body.  

Eventually, we got out to the dock and John was able to launch the boat (with the kids and I on it), anchor it near the dock (that didn't really exist because the water level was so low), and pull the trailer up and repair the boarding that the boat sits on.  It literally floated off the trailer when the boat was pulled off - and without that repair, we never would have been able to reload it.  The low water level, however, made getting the boat moved off very messy - in fact, I plummeted it off and edge where the bank when straight down trying to help.  Okay, I guess I'm swimming now!  Good times....

By around 6pm, Mom and Dad arrived and then, by 7:30, the Schillings pulled up to make our family complete.  Off to a good start to a much-anticipated-weekend.