Kids, Camp-Fire Cooking and Scary Spiders

I don’t know if I could survive more than 1 day in the woods with 9 kids between the ages of 7 & 12. They keep you BuSy! But it’s sort of like having a baby. You forget all the bad parts of labor and are willing to do it again just because those little precious babies are worth every bit of it. And that’s how I feel about these junior campers. I’m kept hopping pretty much from the time I get there till it’s time to go back home but I love seeing them getting out and experiencing nature and building friendships with each other.

Here’s the group this year minus me and Wesley.

Everybody always loves the jeep ride. Bouncy, wind blowing fun.

Oh, and dusty, too.

The first order of business for the kids when we arrive at our camp site in the woods is to get a fire going… and they go to it with gusto.

While they are building the fire, I work on getting my outdoor kitchen set up because I know before long these boys and girls are going to be wondering where the food is. This is a lesson I have learned over the past few years. You’ve got to keep them fed at all times.

When we arrived I put out carrot sticks for them to munch on while I prepared Walking Tacos.

Walking Tacos is simply a taco salad all contained within a Frito bag.

Your ingredients are: Fritos, Ranch style beans (mixed with hamburger, if desired), shredded cheese, lettuce, sour cream and salsa.

This was my first time to try Walking Tacos and 2 things I learned was:

1. open the bag lengthwise and not at the top like you would normally open (don’t worry you can still hold the chip bag easily in the palm of your hand)

2. you will need a napkin to set your bag on because it does get hot from the beans

(In the picture the Frito bags are all opened in the way I said NOT to do it, I didn’t learn a better way till I was almost done. lol)

I was a really bad example that night.

I had finally got the girls settled down (the boys were sleeping elsewhere) and we were singing a few songs together when I felt something like a hair on my arm. But the hair moved… and I knew, horror of horrors, that it probably was a daddy long legs.

I shrieked screamed quite loudly and shook my arm which caused it to go on to Serenity who was lying next to me. This caused her to start screaming and then the whole tent erupted with yelling girls which made the boys come investigate and when I finally got the zipper of the tent opened here is what I found.

My 3 knights.

We were rescued from the daddy long legs but then we had to get all situated and settled once more but we were comforted in the fact that there were no daddy long legs on the loose.

Cock-a-doodle-doo! At the crack of dawn they were all up except for a few unlucky ones. See the video to know what I mean.

A Quiet Morning in the Woods #1

A Quiet Morning in the Woods #2

After a morning mountain man story and devotional…

Russell took the kids hiking up to a stream where they built dams while I relaxed (i.e. took a nap and read my books). Ahhh.

When they got back I had a hot lunch awaiting them. Before I left home I had made Foil Packets with Penne Pasta and Red Sauce. I placed parchment paper on each piece of foil to minimize contact with the aluminum. Once at camp I just reheated them on a grate above the coals.

Our menu this year was:

carrot sticks – for snacking when we arrived

Walking Tacos – supper

Scrambled eggs, orange rolls, fruit – breakfast

Trail Mix & Fritos – snack

Penne Pasta packets – lunch

A few food pictures

Heading Home – exhausted and dirty but ready for another bumpy, wind-blowing ride. 🙂

A special thanks to my daughter, Serenity for all her help. She’s the one who combs these girls’ hair in the morning and helps me prepare the food for their hungry tummies. The kids just love her.

I do, too, as a matter-of-fact.