Camping in Seattle.

We just got back from a camping trip with my friend Jannine and her husband and his two kids. It was a really fun trip. On Friday (which was Beth's birthday), we got in the overloaded car and headed out of town. I was the navigator, Beth was the captain and Steve sat in the very small back seat surrounded by wood, coolers, and PLENTY of snacks.

We arrived at the campsite after making one stop for directions and immediately started putting together the tent. Although this was Beth's first campout EVER, she did a great job. Before going, she got her necessary supplies... 1 camping chair, and 1 head lamp and she was already a natural camper. That night, Andy's little kids and I sprayed the camps with "Big Foot Repellent" (aka OFF), we made smores, talked, had birthday cake, and hung out by the fire. We went to bed with three of us in a very small tent. The box for the tent said it could sleep 4 people, but we would like to see the very small people who they used to determine proportions.

The next day, I got up bright and early and headed back down the mountain to teach yoga classes with Jen. We had our regular class to teach as well as our kid's yoga class and I knew she wasn't feeling well. We were not camping too far away from my dad's house, so I figured the drive would not be bad. (Once I got to town, I found out Jen had Strep Throat and I was SO glad that I didn't leave her to teach alone!)

When I got back from yoga, one other friend showed up with his two kids and we all ventured on our way to an amazing hike up the mountain. The hike was really cool. We found leaves bigger than our heads, met a very small dog named Cody, hiked up to snow, saw avalanche damage, and an amazing lake at the top. Two of the four little kids with us made the entire hike (5.4 miles!) I was very impressed, especially considering the ones that made it were only 5 and 5 1/2. On the way back down Steve gave Paige a piggy back ride and was so cute helping her (and me) cross over the slippery snow patches. The whole party had tired feet, muddy clothes, and I believe Steve and I both had back sweat soaking through our shirts. Sick, I know.

After the hike, we headed back down the mountain to eat hot dogs over the fire (mine were veggie) and to play board games by the light of the lanturn. Just after the kids had gone to bed and we were ready to really get into our game of Sequence, the rain started. Yes, we live in Seattle. Yes, we watched the news and saw the "chance of rain." Yes, we brought rain coats. NO our tent was not waterproof after all. We went to Jannine and Andy's camp, and played cards under their canopy, where Steve informed me that we not only needed a canopy, but that we needed a Hawkeye canopy for our next camping trip. Apparently a small Herky on the side of the canopy makes it even more rain resistant.

When it was time for bed, Beth decided to sleep in the car and Steve and I ventured for the wet tent. It held up pretty well until about 7:00 am when drips started landing on our heads. Luckily we had stayed warm (and mostly dry) throughout the night. However, we knew it wouldn't be much longer before things got worse. We quickly packed up the camp and headed home. The wet tent dried nicely in the car port and the sleeping bags dried drapped over the chairs in the kitchen. Everything is now back to normal, as if we never left, but we do have the pictures to prove the trip and all the memories really did happen.