{THE START OF SUMMER}

Jon got his last vacation the last two weeks in June. We decided we needed to go camping in Upstate- NY. We were so excited about it. The trip couldn't have been better. Mason was awesome. The kids were awesome. The vacation was AWESOME. We love and hope to be able to make it back once a year!!!

So where did we go you ask?

The Finger Lakes

Watkins Glen &

ithica, NY

This trip will take a few posts. it was awesome, gorgeous, a break from our daily routines, adventurous and relaxing. it was perfect!

The first day we arrived at our campsite.  The plan was we would camp two days, but once we got there i told the park ranger i needed to stay an extra day. We were supper excited. Wal-Mart was maybe five minutes from camp. Watkins Glen is a small town and they are so lucky to have such a beautiful scenery and MY FAVORITE WATERFALLS THERE!{you will see more pics on the falls later}

But here is our campsite as we set up camp.  {FYI this is the first time our family went camping} We laughed, but  i have to say i remembered so much of my camping skills from YW's camp. Wahoo! JOn and i would see who could get a fire started faster. {i think i won--do you hear the completive side of me coming out?} LOL

Since we never been camping before we obviously needed to buy a tent & tarp to go underneath {since rain was in the forecast & it totally did it's job} Our Tent we are happy to report did it's job and NO LEAKS YAHOO! I had my shade tent from doing all my craft fairs.  i laughed cause i never used it for anything else.
We enjoyed a yummy foil dinners thanks to my sister Tanya on telling us how to make them. They were delicious.

1/3- 1/2 can of cream of mushroom/ or chicken

beef chunks

potatoes & carrots

onions

Jon did a great job cooking them too. The kids really ate them up.

other yummy food we ate at over the campfire were

hot dogs /baked beans

s'mores

peach cobbler

{if i am reporting our food you can tell we are new to this camping bit}

Mason might be mad at me when he's older for putting him in this Purple Bumbo, but i found it at a Garage Sale for seriously $1.00. So Mason no complaining.  

 i kept Mason all covered up and near the bug candle. i also sprayed his clothes for insect repellant. And i  was happy mom he never got a bite!!! As for the rest of us. We were eaten alive. i came home with 20 bites on my legs. Seriously  i counted when i got home. i couldn't believe it.

The girls loved gathering the wood for the fires {they were so funny to watch look at these piles they created}

Here's Addison gathering wood, Where's Emberlynn???

 Here she is . . .

 i'm seriously have been contemplating about this. if you can't notice i found her in the car with my iphone playing games on it? What i am going to do with this one?LOL {it's funny now, but it better not happen when she's older. The last day we were there we watched a family of 4 unload there car. The parents did the whole thing while the 2 teenagers sat on the picnic benches playing on your itouches.}

From our tent if you walk down this path . . .

You come to this . . . playground, washrooms, with electricity & showers. Nice!!!!!

Also at our campgrounds was a large fun swimming pool. After setting up camp the kids so badly wanted to swim here. it was the only time we swam here but it was nice to have this an option while we were there camping.

Can't wait to tell you more about our trip! 

Coming Soon the AMAZINGLY BEAUTIFUL WATERFALLS.

That's the reason why i wanted to come up here. the Crazy thing is we didn't even see them all. There are so many!

Besides the Waterfalls being so wonderful. i think this trip went so well cause camping was so new to us. The kids loved all the site seeing but were excited to get back to our campsite. in fact Alix kept calling it our home and would say, "Let's go home" and Addison would start to cry saying . "i don't want to go home yet!" This happened more then 5 times. We laughed every time.