Camping As A "Family"

It is times like this weekend that I realize how extraordinary our family is. We confuse people with the number of Mom's we have and there has yet to be a standard form with enough spaces for us all. However, I can't explain what it's like when we come together and do things together with our kids. We each have strengths and weakness that overlap and form this completely awesome family. We managed to change our plans for the 4th of July weekend at the last minute and through some totally amazing teamwork by Judy and Jen we were able to pull off a camping trip. They did a great job getting us packed and finding us a spot in the Mt. Hood forest outside Estacada. Courtney, Ephraim, Ruby, and I followed as soon as we were done with work and swimming. We had a great spot right along the river between Harriet and Timothy lakes. The kids ran around like crazy and had so much fun. On Friday we hung around the camp and played. Ephraim lost his first tooth in the morning when we tried to tie a dental floss lasso around it like Dr. Roxas had suggested. He was so excited. He's been patiently waiting for the tooth fairy to come. Later in the day after naps and chilling out we had some dinner and got ready to go into Estacada for fireworks. We arrived just as the fireworks started and managed to score a front row seat by double parking in the high school parking lot. It was great. We pulled in and got out and stood next to the car. Watched the fireworks and then hopped in and drove away. We purchased a few fireworks to set off with the kids and then had a nice drive home. Today we took the packing slow after taking a morning trip to lake Harriet and letting Baxter go for a morning swim. We had planned to take the kids to "Bagbean" but when we got there the parking lot was full. Judy and I looked at the map and scouted out a small lake that looked like we could have fun with as an alternate. It was a great adventure but there was definitely NO SWIMMING! We are happy to be home. Everyone is so tired. I look forward to our next adventure.