Camping at Pinecrest Lake has become a new tradition in our life! This was the 2nd year that we have gone! We go with 2 of our good family friends, the Toutai's and the Drinkwater's! We decided that we would go every year over fathers day weekend.
This year I was 37 weeks pregnant, but that didn't stop us from going! We had such an amazing time. The kids all play so AMAZINGLY together. They are all very close in age so they play well together and us adults get to relax and chat.
We drove up Thursday night and got somewhat unpacked! Friday and Saturday we spent a chunk of the day at the lake soaking up some sun rays and playing in the water. The kids loved the easy access that they had to getting into the ice chests and getting drinks out.
The weather was perfect the whole time we were there! The water wasn't terribly cold, but a little chilly. The kids played in the sand and loved every minute of it!
(Mo playing with the sand toys)
Playing in the water and enjoying all the family time that we each had.
(Melanie out in the water with Scarlett, Mo walking back to the shore, Mapuana on the shore with Lo and Viliami)
We each have our own little boat raft that we blew up and the kids would go out in the lake on. Ryan is a good rower. Lo took some kids and tried a little fishing, but didn't have the most success.
(Lo sitting between the boats, Viliami & Mo in the blue boat, Payton, Scarlett, and Ryan in the yellow boat)
Ryan heading out on their adventure on the lake in the boat with Payton and Scarlett!
Lo trying to get Viliami to like the water! Lo out in the boat with Mapuana and Mo!
These little boats are a huge hit with the kids! The adults even enjoyed them for a while! Friday even the men went out shooting for a few hours, so us ladies decided Saturday that we would each get in our own boat and go float out on the lake for an hour or so. We tied our 3 boats together and went out to the buoys, tied our boats to it and floated for a few quite a while! We loved the peace and quite!
Josh getting used to the water!
Scarlett crashed in the camping chair after swimming. Its hard while camping to get good naps in. The kids are always going and never sit to relax!
The boys each had their own toy bow and arrows. Justin so kindly bought them at the gift shop for the boys! They each loved them of course. They played and played at the campsite with them. They road their bikes on the road and people definitely noticed us!
Krista forming a train with the kids to have them go wash their hands before eating!
Viliami thinking he is such big stuff!
Friday night we had planned to have kids movie night and Saturday night was going to be adult movie night. Melanie and Lo brought their projector and Justin had brought his generator. Unfortunately we couldn't get the generator to work so the kids had to watch the movie on a laptop.
Austin, Mo, Ryan, Payton, Mapuana, and Scarlett were all set up and ready to watch the movie!
Trying to get the kids to pose for a picture!
Scarlett and Austin! For the longest time Austin wanted nothing to do with Scarlett. She hit him a few times and he remembers that! Its just recently that the two of them have been getting along better. It's cute to watch them. They kind of flirt with each other.
This has to be one of my favorite pictures from the trip. The Drinkwater's and the Toutai's each brought their dog camping. They both have Labs. The Toutai's have a chocolate female Lab, and the Drinkwater's have a yellow male Lab. Anyways... Ryan wanted me to take a picture of him and Trigger together. This is a picture that should be framed and put up in Ryan's room to show how much he loves his dog Trigger.
Mr. Viliami wasn't quite walking yet while we were camping so he was constantly dirty! He now walks officially which is super exciting! I just think V is adorable! They shaved his head for his 1st birthday (a Tongan tradition) and my kids are OBSEST with petting his head constantly!
We loved our camping trip!!! Each father had their own issue on Sunday (Fathers day) that they had to deal with that put a little damper on their day.
Josh's: I started feeling very weak and lightheaded that morning so while I sat in a chair he had to pack up everything by himself.
Justin's: Their camping trailer got stuck into the ground and got bent on one of its legs, so the 3 man had to figure out how to get the leg up.
Lo's: He got pulled over because the trailer that he was pulling didn't have the lights working on it. He ended up getting a fix it ticket.
I am sure these 3 fathers would tell you fathers day was ok, but I am positive they wished a few things had been different!
They are wonderful fathers and great husbands to each of their wives. We all get along really well together and accept that we each have flaws. Our personalities are not all the same, but they each work well together. I do have to say I love this tradition that we started last year. I look forward to the many years to come. I cherish my friends a lot. They would do anything for me and my family as I would for them and their families.
Overall... Pinecrest camping Father's Day weekend 2012 was a huge success!!!
