So You Think You Can Camp...

All I heard about getting ready for our spur-of-the-moment camping trip Friday was something about "get the kids' clothes and the bedding, pack stuff for s'mores and cheap breakfast tomorrow." So I did all that on Thursday night and Friday morning--packed some snacks, lots of water, the 7-Up and Root Beer left over form July 4th, pink marshmallows and fudge stripe cookies, two kinds of cereal, a half-gallon of milk, bananas, apples, baby food, and formula.

Rich thought I'd taken care of Saturday's lunch, too, and we would stop for dinner on the way into Yellowstone. But I didn't take care of Saturday's lunch, so we had to split our budget up for two meals, which meant some interesting choices from the grocery store near the North entrance to the park, and then McDonald's in Columbus on the way home. But it was sooo much fun! We left later than we thought we would (Rich had to work until 5 instead of 3 or 4), and we were all hungrier than we thought we would be, and we didn't get camp set up until after 9pm so we didn't build a fire. Shucks! But the snuggly night's sleep in the tent as a family and the STUNNING scenery we would experience the next day made up for everything! If you can swing it, you simply MUST drive the Beartooth Highway in early summer! It was beautiful.

Our three sillies in the tent

Heidi the Cookie Monster

James discovered cookies on this trip...

...oooo, those are YUMMY!

Here we are helping Addie write in her Hello Kitty journal, having cookies and milk before bed.

Heidi's Big Grin
Addie trying to "haunt" us with her flashlight and scary eyes
At about 7am I went to the 'throom, and this is what I found when I came back:

Sleeping Beauties!

And my two boyz hanging' out in the tent.
We got up and got dressed and Heidi tried to tell us which way to go using this map. (There is a video of this I will post later).
Kids and the tent

Our pretty spot in the woods at the Crazy Creek campground in Wyoming (which we shared with 7.9 million mosquitos--thank heaven for Deep Woods OFF!). It was very near the western end of the Beartooth Highway
Toward the top of the highway we saw pretty little lakes like these--the Chain Lakes
Looking out from the Top of the World--it's like a lush Grand Canyon!


Rich & James (Addie on the left) taking a walk at the look-out ledge
We Were There.
Me and the kids looking out over the last quarter of the highway before we got to Red Lodge, MT (doncha love our camping hair?!?).

Heidi and Addie watching chipmunks and saying "It's a long way down!"
Entertaining little chipmunks at the look-out.
Miles and miles of this breath-taking scenery...

We enjoyed the drive, and ended up in Red Lodge at about 11am. We took the kids to Magpie Toys--a neat little place on Main Street, where they bought toys with their own money. We got drinks and headed a few miles north to visit with my former Mia Maid teacher, Teresa Oliphant and her husband Brent. Sadly I didn't have the presence of mind to take a photo , but hopefully we will see them again soon! We drove to Columbus at about 1pm and got Happy Meals for the girls and got home in time to take a nap before I had to work at 6pm. It was delightful and I thank my husband for taking us on an adventure!

More Photos coming soon...Happy Monday!