We have been planning this camp out for months. Well, at least we set the date and said we were going to do it. The final details and guess list were not firmed up until a couple of days before hand. 

The People: Karl, me and Mirah. Betsy, Nick and the boys. Rachel and Jon.
The Place: Jordanelle State Park.

We all arrived around 6 on Friday night.
We set up our tents and gear right away and as soon as Nitsy arrived with the wood we got going on the fire. Which meant dinner! Tin Foil Dinners.

TOP TIP: Pre Cook your dinners, Potatoes and Ground beef are notorious for cooking unevenly in these tinfoil pouches. Also, when cooking outdoors for impatient toddlers it really cuts down on cooking time. ALSO, when you have a limited amount of time and firewood it is also really great.

This is the fire pit at our site. One of the many great things about camping at Jordanelle. 

We gathered around and got smoky!

Mirah thinking she sees a dog. 

Asher. Pool little guy not feeling too great. Looking a little pale, but still SUPER cute.

Judah discovering the site…

Table full of food!

The gang!!

Karl was our pit master.

Doing a great job. Mirah really wanted to get into the fire. So being held by her dad was the next best thing, and the best way to be near the fire.

Eventually dinner was served and the kids, yes, Karl is one of them, were very happy!

Our dinner.

Ground beef, with onions, red peppers and mushrooms.

Potatoes from our garden.

Yummy fresh green beans and green onion.

After dinner we had S’mores!

Mirah was having problems with…not eating cookies.

Mirah was falling asleep around 9, so we just got her into her PJ’s and put her into her tent, in the pack and play and just fell asleep.

Karl, me, Jon and Rachel stayed up and played games. It was really great. Betsy and Nick weren’t able to get the little boys to sleep, Asher was feeling awful, and it took him a while to get to sleep. 

When we got into the tent it was FREEZING.

I grabed Mirah into bed with us to try and keep her little body warm enough. 

The trouble started around 3:45 AM 

Mirah woke up wide eyed and ready to go. 

We tried everything. The thing that helped her fall asleep was Karl’s brilliant idea. The thing that always distracts her. Dogs. Karl started to say, “Mama dog,” then I said, “woof woof woof.” Then I said, “dad dog.” And Karl said, “woof woof woof.” The karl said baby dog, and with some encouragement Mirah would say, “woof woof woof.” After doing this for a little while, she was able to sleep.

The light came and we slept in, all of us being totally exhausted.

Then a little sctrach at our tent woke us all up. 

It was Judah and Nick asking for medicine for Asher. 

We took Judah for a little while.

It wasn’t until after 9 that she finally got up.

We were all up by that point. Karl got up and tried to start a fire.

The rest of the gang was up too.

We all devoured the danishes as soon as they came out. 

Sleepy Mirah.

Breakfast was bags of boiled omelets. We had cheese and avocado and mushrooms and green onions and red peppers. Salsa to put on top. It was great. 

After breakfast was served, the kids wanted to run around and play.

So Karl took them over to the park.

Once breakfast was cleaned up, I went to the park. Mirah saw a dog and Karl was trying to keep her under control.

Another great thing about Jordanelle, a great park right next to our site.

One bad thing. This horrifying spider in the park. 

Mirah loved the dogs of some of the other patrons. 

Mirah found a new slide. Have I said that Mirah LOVES slides. One of the other moms asked how old she was. She commented that she was “quiet capable” for her age.

All I know, is that she was having a ball!

We got packed up and headed over to the lake.

It was quite windy.

John got into the lake.

The rest of us just hung out on shore.

After all of that, we went to lunch in Park City then home again.
One night was more than enough for us. Although it might have felt like we got more for our time if we had stayed another night. Camping is such an involved process. Between the lack of sleep, all the food and gear you have to bring and the freezing cold night air, it was rough.

Still, we will go again next year. Once a year is about all I can do.