The Dennison Family: 4th Annual Camping Trip

This was our 4th year to go camping over Memorial Day weekend up at my parent's house in Oklahoma. This year was extra fun because my sister and her family were able to make it. Our first year to go up there was the year they moved to London, so they've never been in town for the trip. This trip is one of my kids' favorite weekends of the year. They get to run loose in the country for 4 solid days, eat a bunch of junk, play with friends, go to Kiddie Park (although, my 2 older boys are getting too tall for a few of the rides!), get super dirty, eat at Dinks, sleep outside in a tent, ride the horse, eat S'mores and go for rides in the Cruiser. It's fun for the adults too. We get to play with the kids and relax and chat with the other adults. It is SO nice to get out in the country and enjoy a much slower pace, letting the kids use their imaginations with NO TOYS-- just dirt, mud, sticks, grass, and bugs. Ok, and a couple of water balloon fights! (I apologize in advance for the mass quantity of pictures. I have been reprimanded that when I make collages, which I do to save space, makes it hard to see the pics. SO, I'm including the full size, for my picture loving readers)

Crew had fun on my brother's old rocking horse (and Keira is feeing the horse a carrot):

heading down to set up the tents:

the campsite:

Friday night we went to Kiddie Park. Crew got to ride his first rides. He enjoyed the turtles, and my knees did not:

Crew was NOT wild about the roller coaster. Maybe next year...

Keira, William, and Emily (aka. the 3 Amigos) insisted that they could still fit all 3 of them in 1 car on the roller coaster. They were right, but I'll be they won't next year!

I just love how relaxed everyone is!

Renee made these really cool sand/plaster molds with dinosaurs hidden inside. So she gave each kid a "block" with sticks and toothbrushes to go on a dinosaur dig. They kids LOVED it. Such a great idea!

With 14 kids and 14 adults, mealtimes were a bit of a zoo. We took all the supplies outside, which worked out perfectly.

When this kid is outside, he is one HAPPY camper!

Most of the kids spent about 90% of their time here, building a bug city. They used mud, bricks, dirt, grass, and whatever else they could find to build this city. It was AWESOME.