camping!

So, we took the family camping last weekend. Two nights and two days with a smoky camp fire, camp food, dirty feet, and a blessedly close beach. It was awesome!

The kids did great. They tried all manner of shared camp meals (we went camping with a total of four families - four camp sights, 7 parents, 7 kids, the dog, and loads of fun), and slept well. Here is the boy in his first ever night sleeping in nothing but his bag:



(You also see here, one of his current favorite books - My Friends, *and how cool do we find it that he has favorite books?* - a beloved present from Team Neill when the girl was born.)

During the day the kids took trips to the park's playground, and to the park's beach. The playground was a playground, and valuable, but not inherently thrilling. The beach, on Hood Canal, was excellent. The beaches were rocky, but shallow for lots of kid play. And the life was terrific - clams, oysters, barnacles, crabs, shrimp, lichen, random beach succulents, un-recognized but thrilling bird songs, the dog...

I think everyone had a good time, and i'm so grateful and happy that we get to do this sort of thing!