We took Friday off so Thursday after work Heath made some dinner and I packed up the truck and trailer. I didn’t take any pictures but they both had a nice load in them. Around 6 or so we headed out toward Lawrence. Our friends Brian and Courtney…
…reserved a giant group campsite in the Bloomington area of Clinton lake and invited us and a bunch other people along to have fun. The weather was great and we had some daylight when we arrived so we let the kids start playing and we unpacked out gear and set up our tents.
Setup did not take long and we got busy eating, drinking and visiting.
Brian got a fire going but it was late and the kids went to bed shortly after.
In the morning we got right to work.
With the bacon we had pancakes and Heath pulled out her old Chris Cakes skills.
The rest of us ate.
Really the whole weekend was focused around eating and we did plenty of it. After breakfast Bean and I went on a little adventure hiking down a little path to the lake with Jon and Olive. Once there we discovered the ticks were really thick on the trail. Both the normal ones and the tiny seed ticks were covering us. The girls threw some rocks in and looked for treasures and then we quickly cruised past the ticks and back to the site.
We didn’t get into them too bad on the way back but still decided to avoid the trail. So instead we changed and drove over to the beach.
The kids played in the sand and shallows and we all cooled off.
A bit later we went back and started lunch.
We had fresh fried frys, hot dogs and brauts.
The kids had been playing pretty hard and were ready for naps after that.
It was hot but the guys and I got a game of Izzyball going.
The games went well and we were really hot and sweaty by the end. Heath took Peanut to head to his dad’s house and the Sanders came so Pumpkin had a friend.
For dinner something unusual went on the grill. It was not meat.
But a bunch of chicken was added and we had great fajitas and quesadillas.
After playing a bit we lit a fire and put the little ones in bed. Then cooked some smores.
They turned out great.
In the morning we fired up the flatgrill and fryer again. I made tater tots and donuts.
and we melted chocolate to put on the donuts. Of course the grill was loaded with bacon.
The donuts and chocolate were a success,
and a crowd favorite.
We also had sausage and biscuits and gravy.
I loved the mornings each day we were there. I would be busy frying tots and donuts and melting chocolate and alternating between coffee and beer. It was cool out and the kids were in good moods and camping was great.
This morning we also got dinner slowly smoking.
Three 6 lbs pork buts went into the smoker.
They stayed all day and smoked and smelled good. Once breakfast was gone Heath and I took the girls for a ride.
We rode the bikes around the other campsites and took a break at the park.
We hit some pretty good hills and worked up a good appetite. There was more bacon and this time we turned it into BLT sandwiches. These were really good and I had 2 big sandwiches. Right after lunch we went back to the beach for more swiming but no pictures. We played a bunch and all got worn out from the sun, water and bacon based diet. Once back at camp Heath and I laid down with the girls for family nap. After nap the pork cooked and ready for shredding.
Other friends had made mac and cheese and some other sides and I assembled 2 beautiful plates back to back.
The kids got on pajamas and watched Frozen together and I got to get in a quick game of Izzyball just before dark. Then we played with the fire and glow sticks and beers and whatnot late into the night.
The morning we were going on very little sleep and had a lot to do but it was just as much fun.
We cooked up the last bunch of donuts and tots in the fryer as an appatizer.
and an amazing spread on the flat grill then rolled it all up in tortillas for some great burritos.
A giant breakfast is the perfect way to close out the campout. Once we were too full to move we started taking down tents and packing trailers and everything. It’s a little painful but eventually we got it all packed up and drove it home. We only had 1 thing fly off the trailer and only had to backtrack for 15 minutes before we got home.
Once home we did fairly boring stuff, unpacking, mowing, laundry, etc. We had a very healthy vegetable centric dinner and got to bed early.