Camping... or not so much!

Over Labor Day weekend we decided to take advantage of a long weekend and finally go camping as a family. I have never been camping and neither have the kids so we were all VERY excited to go! We loaded everything up in the Jeep and drove about 2 hours north to Lincoln National Forest in New Mexico. We arrived pretty early (around 9am) and got the camp set up quickly. The kids and the dog had so much fun just roaming around and enjoying nature. The weather was great, too! Right around 70 degrees (it was still pushing 100 in El Paso!). We went for a hike, collected firewood, and were just enjoying time together as a family.

Then around 2pm it started raining. Oh wait, not raining. POURING. Right after Nathan started the fire. :) We all ran into the tent and decided to wait out the rain. Anya read to Eric and we laughed and played. An hour passed and it sounded like the rain was letting up. We got out of the tent and Nathan was getting to work on starting another fire. Then the thunder and lightning started and the downpour began again.

Eric was just starting to get better (he had a nasty cough for a few days) and I was coming down with what he had. We made the sad decision to pack up camp and head home. The sky was dark in every direction and we knew it was just going to keep raining all night. The kids were bummed but we made it a fun night at home. We rented a movie, bought junk food and popcorn, and cuddled up on the couch. The next day Nathan grilled the hotdogs that we had packed and the kids made s'mores.

The trip definitely didn't turn out the way we had planned but we all had a GREAT time. There is something so nice about just getting away from everything and being together. It was a great trip and I look forward to camping the whole night through next time!