Having spent the greater part of the afternoon at a totally cool camping store, my thoughts are—not surprisingly—on tents.
And trips.
And traveling.
I realized, coming home this afternoon, that I have been terribly remiss in not sharing with you some of my favorite photos from our recent vacation—you know, to the great state of North Dakota and then, back home to the even greater state of Minnesota for a weekend’s worth of tenting.
Here they are, then. (Humor me.) If this blog were a scrapbook, (which, in a way, it is…only without the little pieces of cardstock to clean up afterwards), this post would be the page titled: Summer Fun ’07.
Or some such thing.
Here is the home that I grew up in. They say that you can never really go home again, but I do all the time! And when I do, I’m driving a 15-passenger van full of kids. I always get a kick out of this.
Is there anything cuter than lots of cute little girls in an outdoor pool? I didn’t think so. Three of these little ladies are mine, of course; the other two are their second cousins. Here’s one for the record books: my children are growing up with my sisters’ grandchildren. My sisters started early and I started late and there you have it. Don’t tell my sisters I told you.
Have you heard of the Red River Valley? Of course you have. There are a ton of fields and a whole lot of green, growing, edible plants where I grew up. Really, you’d think I’d have turned out taller, the soil’s so rich.
I am very fond of fields of sunflowers. They remind me of happy campers, all lined up for one last group shot.
Some of the fields are quite dry this year. A prayer or two on your part would not be wasted.
And finally, two last shots from the campground. First, my son the goofball:
And second, my other son the dirtball:
This photo’s for Suzanne, who mentioned not wanting to camp becauseshe “focused excessively on the dirtiness of it.”
I’m not doing much to convince her, am I.
We’re hoping to fit in one last camping trip before summer’s end—perhaps to the headquarters of the Mississippi or, conversely, to a site overlooking this lighthouse. I love love love to go camping.
And then, when all is said & done and we all are good & dirty, I love coming home again.
We went camping twice last summer, for the first time ever. The first time was wonderful and really fed into our “Little House on the Prairie” compexes. The second time was TOO DARNED HOT and all we did was lay about trying to stay/get cool. Haven’t made it back since, between the Army’s beefed up training schedule and the aquisition of new family members. But it is so much fun!
We love camping, and we frequent the same store! Let me tell ya, the corn and the sunflowers look a whole lot better in NoDak than they do in my little town! Don’t you think Split Rock Lighthouse looks like a Rook?
Oh, Margaret… here is one place where our paths diverge. DH and I have *gulp* never taken the peanuts camping. We wouldn’t even know where to start.
But, our children are insistent.
And DH is willing.
I say roughin’ it in a log cabin is a good place to start…..
🙂
Love the pics! (esp the sunflowers… I’m partial to sunflowers)
I love the “homestead,” and the little girls in the pool are too cute for words (as are your little men). The sunflower pic needs a very large frame. It’s too beautiful for words. Good job “scrapping!”
I love camping too, M, and my kids definitely love dirt. So, I say, why not find a pretty state park halfway between your home and mine and make us all happy?
I’ve missed you.
Can you take my kids camping so I don’t have to?
No…I would hate to miss all the fun. Next time we go, I’m going to follow the observed behavior of other campers and have my kids wear their swim suits from morning until night. I can hose them off a few times a day with little trouble.
Wouldn’t your sister’s grandchildren be your children’s first cousins once removed? My mom is one of the older ones and her youngest brother married a “younger” woman (she’s only about 5 years older than I am). I love the fact that our kids are the same age – my first cousins are playing with my children. The joys of big families.
Those are some beautiful photos Margaret … definitely memorable.
Summer is the best!
Beautiful sunflower photo!
Yes, isn’t Summer great? Great pictures! I love camping, but my dh does NOT and is not willing to start it up….he is a cabin/resort type of guy.
Love the sunflower picture!
We love camping, too. The family pop-up camper got passed down to us, which makes it a little easier with 3 little dirt-balls and a baby! I’m hoping for one more trip this year when it cools down a little…
I loved camping! Yeah, past tense as I haven’t in 5 years. Too scared of the gators here in FL to sleep on the ground where they just might wander by. Gators are too prehistoric and cold-blooded for me!
Grand photos, I’m glad you shared!
I love, love, love to go camping as well!! We are heading out for our only (sniff) trip this summer in several weeks. Probably mid- september. It is just too hot to tent camp in August or early september here!! So we wait until things cool off a little.
We typically like to go early spring and mid-fall because at those times here the temps are perfectly mild!
Well, I love your pics! And I am glad you had a great time!
We drove through North Dakota on our way home from Canada and I thought it was beautiful!
Lovely pics chronicling lovely times!
It has been extremely hot here in the midwest, so our camping trips have been close to water to cool off.
coleman tents
It does look like a lot of fun, and your pictures are striking. I wish I liked camping, but I’ll do it for my girls!
Give me a tent and a mountain and I would never come home. I used to camp for months on end for my job (with my husband before he was even my boyfriend), and my children all love it too. We must get out for some camping soon! By the way, some of my best sleep on my due date and beyond has been on the floor of a tent. Next time you can’t sleep for the discomfort of late pregnancy- go camping!
Wonderful pictures! I love them, especially because I live in the RR Valley!