4th of July family camp!

We are still covered in mosquito bites, and the laundry is all over the kitchen floor waiting to be run through but I just wanted to post about it while it's all still fresh in my mind. I really like sharing my posts while I'm still feeling some of the fun and excitement from it, and this was definitely a fun camping trip. I kinda want to go back.

We started with the essentials, of course, ice cream and turtle pie are on everyone's camping food list right? Aaahhh, one of the many luxuries of having a trailer with a freezer. I had no problem making sure these were not forgotten, but I can't say that about some of the other more important food items. Alas, I always forget stuff, and this year was no different. We had to go to Fred Meyer 3 times! I hope someday be a better food packer and planner.

 So, before we went camping I asked the kids what they wanted for meals so that I could plan the menu. One of their requested items was pizza. I wanted to make it happen, and I wanted it to be the non-frozen variety (which we have done in the past while camping). I thought it would be fun to make homemade pizza dough while we were camping, and have the kids do their own little mini pizzas. Well, that's dreamy and all, but fast forward to when I'm packing.. I really didn't want to pack flour and yeast, and have to worry about any of it. So, I didn't. We went camping with that item on our menu, but I wasn't really sure what we would do since I didn't pack the stuff. I was hoping for a miracle. Actually, I figured if it came down to it I'd just pick up a few frozen ones at the store because we ALWAYS end up at the store while camping. Anyway, my Mother-in-law came to me while we were camping and said "I brought some dough for the kids to make mini pizzas." Yes! I couldn't believe it. I was thrilled! Miracle? Yes! I hadn't even said a word to her about the kids wanting pizza, and somehow she had this great plan for all of us. I was so thankful. And, you know what her simple solution was for the pizza dough? WinCo. They sell already made pizza dough. I've seen it before. I don't know why I didn't think of it! It all turned out awesome and yummy.

Thanks to Grandma the kids had fun making their pizzas! They had their own little piece of dough to roll out, and lots of toppings to choose from. I think I'd like to make this a new tradition on our 4th of July camping trip.

 April's pizza

Aric's pizza.

And, my pizza. Although you can't see it.

One of the things the kids love to do while camping is go to the Jr. Ranger programs. We usually go to state parks, and almost every one has a program during the summer. 

We made it to 2 ranger programs during this trip, and the first one was called "nature art." The kids had to go around and find different things in nature for their "paint." But, before they did the park rangers gave them some ideas about the different berries, plants and flowers they could use. It was very interesting, and I even learned a thing or two.

First they had to set out to find some "paint" items.

They were each given a bag to fill up.

Alex had some fun trying different things out. He liked using the berries the best.

Aric got pretty creative and tried a few different methods. Neither of my boys really made a "picture" it was mostly just some smearings of lines and shapes. I was surprised to see some pretty creative pictures from some of the other kids. Some had beautiful sunsets with water. Aric did write his name, and Aaron did attempt to draw himself flying a kite.

Speaking of kites...

We had lots of fun on the beach flying kites. I bought some Dollar Tree kites and the boys had a blast with them.
 

Alex just loved flying his kite. He had never done it on his own before. This was the best dollar I spent on the whole trip just to see that face!

It was windy as usual on the Oregon coast. So perfect for kite flying. I didn't even get a picture of Aric and Aaron with theirs. We also had some nicer stunt kites that the Daddy and Uncle got out. Aaron really enjoyed trying out the stunt kite.

More flying things...

Another dollar store purchase was these foam airplanes. We brought along our Kwik Stix paint sticks, and each boy got to decorate their own foam airplane. They had fun throwing these around. The paint sticks worked great on them too!

April made a card tower that survived! She even put our camping gnome on it to prove its strength. Isn't that camping gnome cute? He didn't  make it through this camping trip. He is no longer. So sad! The boys were playing around with him, and he got broken.

Some final fun pictures from the beach...

I am still working on reading this book pictured below. On the bright side I finished reading The Glass Castle from a few reviews ago!

Boogie boarding is a blast, but too cold for me in our Oregon ocean. All these guys have wet suits. Still not sure I'd get in even with a wet suit.

Not to mention the after part where you have to sit wet and cold in the wind. Thankfully it was sunny and warm for the most part during our visit to the beach.

I love sandy feet!

We had way too much sweet stuff including red, white, and blue Skittles.

We went to town to watch the local 4th of July parade. Notice Aric in his swimsuit? Yeah, he ran out of clothes. We had to head to Fred Meyer afterwards. Only one day left, he needed something to get through the last day.

Parades are always so much fun, and of course the clowns always show up when we go to this parade. They are a mixture of fun and odd. They make everyone laugh though, and I guess that's the point, right?

Aaron scored some cool glasses.

And, not only did Fred Meyer win as our favorite store for the camping trip, but they had the best float according to April.

We had a great time camping even with all the forgotten or missed items.
It was definitely a much needed and a nice way to get away.