A camping we will go...

What a great weekend we had.The forecast called for beautiful weather, and since Brent had to work a little Saturday, Mom and I planned on taking the kiddos to the lake. The water, of course, was too chilly to swim in, but they kept busy playing in the sand, catching minnows, burying each other neck deep, and just running free!

This sweet baby wasn't a fan of the sand for some reason, but he was perfectly content perched in this chair or playing in the grass behind the beach. He will get used to it, I am sure!

Mom is always our grill master, and we enjoyed yummy grilled hotdogs for lunch!

Yum!

We took a drive through the campground just for fun, and got the itch to set up our tent and spend the night. Mom and I are always up for an impromptu adventure, and of course the kids were on board! We drove home (perfect timing for kids to nap while we drove), packed up our tent and a few other quick supplies, left Levi with Brent for the night (I was afraid it would be too cool for him during the night), and headed back to the lake!

We quickly got our tent set up, got a fire blazing, and enjoyed the rest of our evening roasting wieners and sitting around the campfire telling stories and laughing.

I have SO many wonderful memories of camping at Lake Claiborne with my family. Sometimes we would stay in tents, and sometimes we would stay in my grandparents motor home. And the whole family was always there - cousins, aunts, uncles, friends - and we would ride bicycles, stay up late laughing and playing games, and spend our days playing in the sand and floating around in the water. I can close my eyes and imagine it just like it was yesterday.

And now I am taking my kids there. I love seeing them run up and down the same hills I rode my bike on, and it's so fun to see them playing in the same campsites where we always camped.

The kids loved sleeping in the tent, and surprisingly, I think everyone slept pretty good. It's so refreshing to wake up in the woods with nothing but the sound of birds chirping and fellow campers beginning to stir.

And I got some fabulous one on one time with my big boys. They are growing so big so fast, and something about camping seems to make time slow down for just a bit.

Brooke, Brody, and I took a little walk in the woods behind our tent on Sunday morning. It was so peaceful, with just the trees as my canopy and the fallen leaves as my floor. It was out there where I realized that I needed this little getaway more than I knew. I have been so consumed with Lennox's adoption lately, checking my email and the forums constantly, desperate for a little piece of good news assuring me that things are moving over there. There has not been one family travel this year to get their baby, and we are nearing mid-April. I have been feeling peace lately that good news is coming, but I'm just on edge waiting for it happen. Watching my baby boy grow older month after month, and feeling like we are no closer to getting him than we were the day we first saw his face, can be emotionally exhausting.

But being out there, with nothing but nature - no cell service, no internet - was so refreshing. So very much needed.

We were home by early Sunday afternoon, with sun-kissed faces, sandy toes, and hearts full of joy and fun memories.

This was our home away from home for the night, and you would have thought it was a castle as much fun as those boys had inside. Love being a mom to boys!