Memorial Day Weekend

Checkout all that smoked pulled pork!

I took the day off Friday. We were super busy around the house Thursday and Friday morning but most of that work ended up right here.

It’s a lot smaller then last years load but it also didn’t cause us to blow out a tire on the highway like last year.

After lunch all of us piled into the truck and headed to Clinton Lake. We got to the site about 5 minutes before Brian and Courtney got the key for the gate and let us in. They got busy putting together their giant camper and the campsite and we got busy tossing up our tent and putting things up. Including a nice little stack of firewood.

Once most of camp was set up we started having some drinks and playing some baseball.

The little ones got into the toys.

There was a lot of little ones running around throughout the weekend.

Brian brought a big flat grill and did nearly all his cooking on it. We had burgers and dogs for dinner.

Once our bellies were stuffed we headed out for a hike w/ the girls in backpacks. Peanut stayed to play with a friend.

We walked a long way just following the shore of the lake. Berry explored with us and it was a lot of fun. We got back to camp about 90 minutes later and got the girls ready for bed. The kids went to sleep really well and after the keg was tapped and I had a few drinks and some time sitting around the campfire I was beat and went to bed. In the morning I got up with the girls and Heath slept in late.

At 6am the 2 pork butts went into the smoker.

Brian and Courtney fried up a ton of sausage and gravy and baked the biscuits in foil on the flat-grill. It worked really well.

I got out the frypot and made fresh hot donuts.

They disappeared nearly as fast as I could make them.

After breakfast Peanut and I got on the bikes and went for a ride along the shore (in the opposite direction from our hike)

It was a really nice ride and we covered a lot of ground fast. We even came upon a bald eagle.  When we got back the little ones were looking for adventure.

So we hauled them down to the water and got out the kites

 

We had a lot of fun flying barbie and darth vader

 

Pumpkin and I were beat after all morning in the sun so we hopped in the kids tent and laid down. I fell asleep right away but woke up a few times when I heard the zipper on escape attempts. Eventually I got some real sleeping in and woke up to this.

She got in a couple hours and then we had lunch and another game of baseball.

We had bacon mostly for lunch.

Some of us put it on bread with lettuce and tomato.

After lunch we headed over to the beach. It was hot and sunny at the campsite with no wind. However a few miles down the road it was cloudy, windy and cold.The kids did not care at first.

  

Heath got wet then got out to warm up and once Bean started shivering she took a break too.

I helped the kids build pool jail.

Bean had a lot of fun playing.

We got back to camp just in time for a fantastic dinner.

Besides the sandwiches We had slaw, taters, and beans and smoked packs of sausage and a bunch of other stuff.  A lot more friends came out for Saturday and hung out including Rachel.

We were nearly too stuffed to move but had to get digestion going so went for a walk to the park.

It was a lot longer walk then I thought but we made it and all the kids did remarkably well. They had a lot of fun playing.

We walked back and the fire was lit and ready for smores.

Pumpkin cooked us up some then she and Bean went to bed.

We relaxed by the fire for a bit then with some urging from Peanut got out giant Jenga.

We played a few games with him and then he went to bed and we had some drinks and talked to friends.

In the morning Peanut helped me fry up another batch of donuts and start packing up our stuff.

  

Brian got busy making more bacon. He could cook 38 slices at a time.

Once Peanut and I cooked all the donuts we moved on to tater tots. Brian did bacon then sausage and then eggs. We ended up with a beautiful grill.

The thiefs moved in right away.

We loaded tortillas with the prizes from the grill plus cheeses and sauces and it was so good. There was a lot to take down and put away and we got right back to work packing up. Eventually everything was back on the truck and trailer and we were able to head home.

Once home there was a lot of bathing and showering a putting things away. I decided to wait on the shower and mowed the back yard and cut up some fallen dead trees and some other yard work. I was beat when I finally came in for a shower and new clothes.

We decided to get Chelly’s for dinner and not spend any energy cooking. Then we all went to bed early and slept in late.

Sunday we ate giant cinnamon rolls for dinner and cleaned house all morning. Then we got some McDonalds and played at the playplace.

We got all the kids burgers and made them eat them.

Then we hit up a really fun park by crown center.

After the park we went to the Curious George exhibit at Crown Center. It was free and a lot of fun for all 3 kids.

Then we headed home and started making stuff for dinner. We made a bunch of stuff and grilled and ate on the deck with some friends.

After dinner we got the girls ready for bed. Peanut read to Pumpkin and Heath went to meet a friend for drinks. Then Peanut and I started watching Firefly.

We watched until his bedtime. Then turned off the TV and he went to bed and I read until Heath got home.