Hunting Camp Vacation

Last week we went on a mini-vacation down to the hunting camp with Doug's family.

Can I just say that I LOVE my in-laws? And I am NOT just saying that because they all read this blog. :) I truly am blessed beyond anything I can even describe to have the incredible mother-, father-, and sister -in-law that I have. They treat me like I was born into this family instead of married into it, and they never cease to make me laugh and smile the entire time I am with them. It was awesome to be together as a family...I love spending time with all of them. Dana & Susan (Doug's parents), Kristen & Dave (Doug's sister and her husband), Julie, Alayna & Joel (Kristen's kids, ages 5, almost 2, and 9 weeks) were all there and Doug, Danika and myself all joined them on Wednesday. We stayed until Saturday night and we laughed a lot.

The trip was entertaining. :) Just to give you a mental image...we were at the hunting camp. Just for the record, I don't hunt. I don't fish. I don't really like trees...well let's be honest, I don't really like the outdoors all that much. Oh....and I do like civilization...of which it seems like there is none for miles and miles. :) We were in a 3 bedroom hunting camp wwaaaayyy back in the trees with 4 children, 1 cat, no sunshine, and rain for 4 days. :) It was an adventure. Did I mention we had 4 kids, a small space, no real "yard" to play in and bad weather????....it made for a challenge finding things to do and keep the kids busy. :) I stopped crying on Friday and I had to start wearing Susan's wig because I pulled all my hair out....but really it was great fun! :)

All joking aside, we really did have lots of fun eating, telling stories, and hanging out. Wednesday night we went to the Warren County Fair. I grew up in rural Ohio...I actually LOVE fairs, so I thought it was a blast. We ate dinner there and took the kids through the animal barns. Danika was hilarious...she LOVED it! She pointed at all the animals and made "moo" and "oink" and "nay" sounds...it was so stinking cute. Julie got to go on a "ride" & eat ice-cream, so she had fun, too. :) And all the kids got to sit on various farm equipment and see some horse riding...it was quite the entertaining trip. And of course...Dana knew almost everyone he saw. :)

Thursday the boys went fishing and the girls kind of just hung out at the cabin. Some friends of the family came over for dinner Thursday night and the kids all played together. Friday was "girls" day. Susan, Kristen and I all went into "town" and had lunch and visited with people in Tidioute while the boys kept the kids. It was a big day in the "big city". :) Saturday, the boys went fishing in the morning and Doug caught this big fish. It was still alive when they brought it home and Danika got to pet it...she was scared at first but then got all excited and thought it was pretty cool.

So that was our week....and other than Danika taking a nose-dive into a pile of firewood and scraping her head all up, nobody really came home any worse for wear. Good times had by all! :)