Catholic Family Camp!

 We went to a Catholic Family Camp a couple weeks ago and had a blast!

The weekend started on Thursday night, loading up the van from home,

this little Sweetie Pie was trying to help and fell out of the van, 

head first and banged up  her head and cheek, and lost 2 bottom teeth!!

Nothing a Mr. Freezee couldn't cure!

(we had our doctor neighbor come check her out before we left)

She won't be eating apples for a few years....at least not whole ones.

She's 3 1/2, so she'll be toothless for about 3 years!

 Country roads, take me home.....Oh, how I love the country...

but you already know that.

This camp is in the middle of nowhere somewhere in Minnesota!

Camp Lebanon Christian camp

  rents out their facilities certain weekends 

for certain groups of people

Ours was a Catholic Family weekend.

The evenings brought many storms

and kids in the bed with mama.

(yes, I fit there on the edge)

 The storm's strong winds took several trees around I think all of Minnesota

 Glad we were not staying in these cabins...the trees actually did not even break through!

 Look at the roots on that thing!  

 There was always something to do

 and someone to chase after

 trails to hike, places to sit

 Here's "Rosie" on the water trampoline/catapult!

 going up the high water slide

 View from the beach 

There was this Saturn thingy that the big kids kept trying to get on,

once on, they all try to knock each other off...

Fun times!

 Beach time!

I didn't get pictures of Little Red while on the beach with him

any beach pictures are taken while he's sleeping with daddy!

 Jedi with my good friend T!

(she's married to Christine's cousin! Small world, huh?)

(I knew T before Christine!)

 Lots of friends were made!

Look at these sweeties!

Esther is telling Sweetie Pie something...

 She's like "What did she say?"

 "Oh, OK, let's go to the dock!"

I could take pictures of the littles playing in the sand and water all day!

 Had to add this picture just because of the boingy curls!

(it was humid)

 She did this for hours!

 Click on the picture, doesn't that wet sand make you want to play?

 Esther is photobombing our picture!  

(Oh, they are sooooo cuuuuuute)

 Swimming, canoeing, paddle boating...well, we tried to paddle boat,

after the lifeguard emptied the boat of water, fixed the seats for littles to fit,

we got out about 10 feet and the littles cried and were scared to death.

 One of the best things was NO COOKING!!!!

The food was great, lots of fruit and veggies and OATMEAL for breakfast!

(my favorite)

Tom was holding Little Red when  a little boy came up to him 

and said, "What's your name?" Tom said, "His name is Simeon."

The little boy excitedly said, "Simeon?!! We pray for you every night!"

Awwwwwwww......

(You'll meet his mama at the bottom)

 Crafts on Saturday morning

 More friends to be made....Awwwwwwwww!!!!

Gosh these kiddos are so cute!

 Zip lining!!  She's ready to go!

Jedi is thinking about maybe doing it next year!  

(He's the more cautious oldest child)

 All ready to go, walking the walk to her death, the walk to the other side

 Here she comes!  Get out of the way you man!! I'm trying to get a picture of my daughter!

 Yay!!!

(I actually got a video of her, she went twice!)

There was also paintball...

 Outside floor  hockey and basketball!

 3 goalies!

Tom's back was killing him the whole time, poor guy.

He couldn't do much of anything...

 The kids played this game they called "Ga Ga Ga", I guess because this is an 

octagon shape, some little kid called it the "Ga Ga Ga"

It's kind of a mini dodge ball game

They also had lots of games inside, like carpetball, Foosball, and pool

I didn't get pictures of the playground, volleyball court or the campfire!

There also were swings by the lake--I loved sitting there with Tom or the kiddos!

This is what our room looked like, we stayed in this building that housed 

6 families in the upper level (not sure if there were rooms on the main level or  not)

The basement was where everyone ate

There were 10 beds (5 bunks)

Tom is so tall we needed this place,

 because one of the beds has a full size on the bottom,

so he could sleep diagonally

 Our rooms were air conditioned and we had a little sink in it.

There were shared showers and bathrooms down the hall

 (I must be talking here, or just  holding my mouth weird)

(Hey, I'm wearing that same outfit today)

Anyway, here's me, Heather--Happymomonline

and a mutual friend, Lisa! 

(she's the mother of 9 beautiful kiddos)

Heather and I met online and now in real life!!

She's a sweetheart and the mother of sweet Esther 

and 6 other great kiddos!

(including that little boy I talked about above)

There was a family rosary every night and usually Mass 

(but this weekend, there was no priest available on the weekend)

We had a priest there for our rosary Friday night though

I loved that the big kids could go off and be with their friends and do so many things

and they were safe!!  

I loved that there was so much to do constantly!

I loved that I did not have to cook at all!

I loved being around other families that had the same

love of God, faith and family!

We can't wait to go again next year!