Story told by: Lainey
We had the annual Robinson family camping trip this weekend in Sun Lakes State Park near Coulee City! (Na Na and Ba Ba weren’t here because they’re in France right now. We missed them!)
When we arrived, Uncle Larry (who came all the way from Oklahoma) helped Daddy set up the tent.
We hadn’t even unpacked the car yet before we declared our undying hunger. Molly and Sadie joined us for some trail mix on a blanket because the plates hadn’t been found yet.
After a quick snack we went on a scavenger hunt. Hannah took the younger kids.
Molly and I were our own scavenger hunt team.
Brody spent the scavenger hunt time hiding in the trees and running down hills. Mommy especially loved seeing him do this after seeing the huge sign warning about rattlesnakes.
Brody and Sadie were quite the two-year-old pair this weekend.
We had our own little camping cul-de-sac. It was perfect!
We had brats for dinner! Yum!
Elaine brought a giant can of chocolate pudding, which was the highlight of the meal!
Henry especially loved it!
Henry and Jackson made sure to lick their bowls clean.
Elaine also brought washable tattoo pens, which kept us occupied for a long time.
I tattooed my stomach and legs.
Henry went for the full sleeve on his arm.
Henry also spent lots of time making sure Olive had just the right tattoo on her arm.
We sure love these two cute guys.
Before bed we really wanted a fire, but it was still way too hot, so Mommy and Daddy let us eat the s’more components without roasting the marshmallow.
Henry was quite disappointed when he put his unroasted s’more together and tried to squash the marshmallow.
It was a little hard to do with a big, unroasted marshmallow, but I was up for the challenge.
After we went to bed Mommy and Daddy tried to go for a stroll, but it ended quickly when they heard me hollering, “Henry is running around the tent.” Oh, boy. Sleeping together in a tent sure has its adventures.
After a rough night of sleep for Brody (and thus Mommy and Daddy), we had breakfast while Mommy and Daddy had some strong coffee.
I did lots of bike riding around the loop while waiting for everyone else to wake up.
Once everyone was ready, we did a rock painting craft.
Everyone got pretty messy, but that’s what camping is for, right?
Henry wanted to paint an outer space rock. He did a pretty good job of it!
Sadie wins the award for the messiest painter!
After craft time, we sang some really fun songs with Dan.
We got a picture of the whole group. We’re missing about 15 people, so we’re hoping they can make it next year!
We next drove up the hill to check out Dry Falls and the visitor center.
All that separated the boys from a giant drop-off was this metal chain. They SO badly wanted to jump off the edge, but mean, mean Mommy wouldn’t let them. They weren’t happy about it.
We watched a really interesting movie in the visitor center about how a flood created Dry Falls. Henry loved it so much that he asked to have the movie for Christmas.
After buckling us into the car (where we couldn’t launch ourselves over the edge), Mommy and Daddy walked out to the overlook for a picture.
After Brody walked around during lunch screaming at us, Mommy and Daddy decided his lack of sleep last night called for an early nap. It got up to 100 degrees that day, so he didn’t sleep for long because of the heat in the tent, but a quick 30-minute nap helped him a lot.
While Brody took a nap (and Uncle Larry hung out with him at the site) we went to cool off in the lake.
Mommy and Daddy enjoyed spending some relaxing time both in and out of the water.
Aunt Cretia took a bunch of us out for a ride in the shallow water.
Henry and Stevie spent hours on guard with the squirt guns shooting dragonflies. Henry took his job very seriously.
Great Grandma Jackie came down to join us, and got Henry good with the water gun!
Daddy went back to get Brody, and he spent the rest of the afternoon with us.
Staying true to form, Brody ran up and down the small hill on the beach.
Steve took Henry and I out in the boat as well.
In order to beat the heat, we stayed in the water until dinner time.
After dinner we attempted a picture with Great Grandma Jackie and her great grandchildren, but after not great sleep and spending all day in the water, we weren’t as cooperative as the adults had hoped.
This picture is of Olive, Brody, Lyle, and Sadie in 2015.
We did manage to recreate that picture with these adorable two-year-olds.
Brody and Olive got in some t-ball with Great Grandma Jackie and Uncle Larry.
Next up was an Oreo eating contest. We had to place the Oreo on our forehead and get it into our mouth without using our hands.
Some of the older kids understood the challenge.
Some of the younger kids did not.
Brody was torn as to what he should do. He would take a bite of the cookie…
…but then would place it back on his face for awhile. After a minute or so, he’d take another bite. This continued for quite awhile until the cookie was gone.
Before bed we made a fire (in spite of the hot weather) just so we could have s’mores!
I have been dreaming all summer of making a banana s’more, so Mommy made sure to bring bananas for this trip. I thought it might be best with a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup.
My first bite! Mommy asked me if it was everything I had been hoping for. I told her, “No, but it was still good.” I guess my expectations might have been a little too high, but it was still a good treat!
**We had quite a crazy night. The wind was unlike anything we’ve ever had while camping. This caused a wildfire to start up near our campground. The park ranger reassured us that the wind was blowing the fire away from us, and that they would give us plenty of notice if we needed to evacuate. This made most of us a little nervous, though, and about half of our party decided to leave (as did about 60% of the campground). There were lots of people leaving at midnight. By the time Mommy decided to stay, the fire had really died down, so she felt better about staying. But the wind made for some restless sleep, especially since it made Brody very nervous and he ended up in bed with Mommy and Daddy. It makes for a good camping story, though!**
Cretia came around with whipped cream to top our cereal this morning. Nothing beats sugar on top of sugar!
We had a secret hideout all weekend, and we decided to show it to Great Grandma Jackie this morning.
While Daddy packed up the tent, we played Memory.
Then Uncle Larry came over to let us draw on his arm, but we decided his neck was much better.
I drew a boat with chocolate waves.
Uncle Larry drew whiskers on my nose.
This is what our car looks like for camping (plus a rooftop carrier filled with our sleeping bags and pillows). Daddy does a great job with getting everything to fit. Brody was asleep before we’d driven ten minutes. Another fun camping weekend!
Kylan and Kristen 