Camping!

Last weekend we headed out to a nearby lake for a weekend of camping with friends. As much as I love being outside and smelling like campfire smoke, it sure is a lot of work! If you remember my previous camping posts, you'll remeber we have "Genius Camper" awards. I'd like to share a couple from this particular camping trip...

Camp shoes. Uh-huh. Those are cardboard and duct tape. Excellent. These are perfect when your "real" shoes get all wet and sandy because you were wading in the lake trying to catch a minnow with your hands as if you are a stand in for SurvivorMan or even Man vs. Wild (even though your mom told you specifically not to get in the water with your shoes...)

Just take the cardboard box that once held some of our food supplies and cut two flaps off. Strap the cardboard to your feet with a couple of feet of duct tape and you're back in the camp football game going on up on the road. I expect these to catch on like Crocks. You hide and watch. I'm telling you, they're hot. (unless your feet are hairy and then, well, removal can be somewhat painful) Photo credit: Moi. Model: Kid Two

Hole-y Shovel. This really isn't unique to this particular campout but I do love this shovel. It has holes in it. Why? Glad you asked. I have a dutch oven to cook things like biscuits, cobbler, soup and whatever else I can figure out.

In order to cook things as if in an oven (um, thus the name, "dutch oven" - thank me later for that explanation) you place your cast iron D.O. on some hot coals and then cover the top with more hot coals. This way the heat surrounds the pot and things cook evenly. (This is a picture with only a few already-cooled coals so you get the idea.)

A shovel with holes in it allows you to scoop up the hot coals from the fire and "shake out" the ash so you don't dump a bunch of ashes on your dutch oven. That's no bueno because when you open the lid, you don't want ash falling into your precious dinner! With this shovel, you only get the red hot coals! My MIL had this made for me for my birthday one year.

And this is not a camp invention but it is a sweet picture. It's my FIL standing on the edge of the lake near sunset with Kid Three strapped in his wagon. It was just a warm, feel-good picture of those two.

And of course, my other camping favorite, the foxy Mr. I think they are giving the #1 sign right before the OU vs. Texas game. My how quickly things changed that day...

There were 6 other kids at the camp that weekend but they were too cool to be photographed by the resident photographer. Apparently flag football and playing along the shore line was much more fun. Whatever.

Such good times for our crew. Bugs and all.

Any campers out there? I know the Meadows family was off to camp this weekend! Check them out this week to see how it went. I'm sure someone over there will blog about it!