gone camping

We went camping at Pymatuning State Park over Memorial Day weekend. We had just planned it less than a month in advance, and we got a great campsite. Someone must have just cancelled their reservation before we booked ours. We were right on the lake! The weather was perfect--low 70's and sunny. The kids were able to fish right off the rocks at our site. We arrived Friday evening around dinner time, and I cooked up the steaks while Joe and the kids set up camp.

We enjoyed a beautiful evening.

Saturday, we started out with a hike on a nature trail in the park. Joe had the kids' rapt attention as he read them the info from the pamphlet relating to the marker we were at.

Then we went to the fish hatchery, and fed bread to the fish. I have never seen anything like it. In this one area, the fish are so thick that the ducks can stand on them. When you throw a piece of bread in, the fish come up out of the water to swarm all over it.

We had a great picnic in the shade near the hatchery.

I love this picture that Katie snapped of Emma. She never walks if she can help it. She runs.

I had bought this t-shirt for Katie at the thrift shop for a quarter. It makes us laugh.

Sunday afternoon, we went and checked out the dam and the Pennsylvania side of the lake.

Then I took a nap while Joe took the kids swimming. We followed that with a game of "Ticket to Ride." Joe spent alot of his time working on fishing poles. Emma pulled a worm out of the bait cup and named her Sally. She played with Sally for a good while, and then buried her in the dirt. We think Sally lived.

We never did catch any fish. It might have something to do with the fact that we don't really know much about how to do it. Emma had fun with the fish net anyway.

The idiots in the campsite next to ours started feeding bread to the Canadian geese for a photo op. The problem was that the geese came ashore and wouldn't leave. They're no dummies. So these people go back into their camper for a while. Eventually, the old man started shooing the geese towards us. Ummmm, it wasn't our idea, and we don't want them. Eventually the geese figured out no more bread was forthcoming, and they left.

Monday morning, we packed up camp and headed home. We enjoyed a picnic our branch from church, and then embarked on the task of unpacking from camping. I accidentally uploaded this picture twice, and the computer won't let me delete it. So, enjoy it for a second time.