Northern Ohio Getaway

Right after Trent finished his big exam, he had two weeks off. We spent a week at home (in which he and the kids worked on the new chicken coop) and then took off for a much needed getaway. We headed six hours away to the shores of Lake Erie. Not only is is GORGEOUS, it is also a not-too-far distance away so we didn't spend all our time driving to and from. And best of all, Ben, Christine, and Sammy live right there so we got to spend some great time together. 

We arrived at the Perry Township Park at sundown. We quickly got to work on setting up camp and getting coals hot to cook our tin foil dinners. We had been to the campground once before when my parents stayed there with their RV, but had never tent camped there. We were so pleased to find a beautiful spot, overlooking Lake Erie. 

We all slept as well as can be expected. Matthew slept through the night but was up with the sun (very early!). Trent was able to capture the sunrise over the lake as he and Matthew wandered around trying to stay quiet and not wake our fellow campers. 

We really felt like we were camping along the ocean. That lake is just so massive is feels like you are right on the coast. 

On Friday I celebrated my birthday, camping-style. Thoughtful Nathan remembered to throw in the birthday banner I always hang on birthdays. 

And Trent went the extra mile and brought a few gifts along for me to open while we were there. 

Ben, Christine, and Sammy joined us early afternoon and they set up camp for the night. It was so fun to camp together. 

The kids really loved exploring the shore-line and gathering little rocks and shells.

Matthew was in a constant state of exploration. He loved it. And kept Trent and I on our toes keeping him safe from the fire!

On my birthday evening Trent cooked a delicious dutch oven beef stew with biscuits and an amazing cobbler with homemade ice cream. I felt so spoiled!

Matthew made sure Trent saw the sunrise both mornings we were there. I found them conked out in the lawn chair by the time the rest of us got up. 

Trent got this picture with his phone just as Matthew woke up from this snoozer.

Even the sunsets were picturesque.

These cute cousins are only 10 weeks apart in age. I'm so happy they'll always have each other!

Saturday afternoon we broke camp to spend another two nights at Ben and Christine's. The babies were done and ready for a nap so Christine and I went ahead of the rest of the group and took them to their apartment to get lunch and naps underway. 

Ben, Trent, and the big kids stayed to finish packing up. 

Both Heidi and Nathan were asleep in the car before even pulling out of the campground driveway. You know they were tired because this is one of a handful of times (that we can count on one hand) that Heidi fell asleep in a car in her whole life. Camping tires you out!

We were glad to have another couple days with Ben and Christine. 

Heidi loved testing out their new piano. Pretty neat to play with the headphones on! It sounded exactly like playing without headphones on--so much so that you looked around the room to see if everyone else was bothered by the loud playing in a small apartment. Not so. It's just a really neat piano.

On Sunday, we got to go to the historic Kirtland sites after church and an early dinner. 

We did the tour of the Kirtland Temple. It was really neat to be where such an important part of church history took place.  

After touring the temple we went across the street to our church's visitor's center and did the rest of the tour. 

I really love going in the Whitney store and feeling the strong spirit there. 

The kids found this neat checkers game where the pieces were made out of dried corn cobs cut into slices.

A very momentous moment happened while we were away- Heidi lost her first tooth.

This has been long awaited for her and she was so excited! She was so thrilled that the tooth fairy was able to find her, even in Ohio and sleeping in a sleeping bag! I think she looks so cute with a "window" in her smile. 

Monday morning we packed up and headed south to get back to real life. It was such a fun trip and we were so glad it worked out to make it happen. Thank you, Clayton's, for the wonderful memories and your hospitality to host our crew so comfortably!