Roughin' it?

I am not a sleep-in-a-tent kind of girl. I am almost embarassed to say this now because I grew up loving roughin' it. I loved hikes and swimming in lakes, even when the seaweed could touched me. I loved; not bathing everyday, finding worms in the dirt to go fishing, campfires and of course Smores. OK..I still like two out of four of those things. Today, I won't go anywhere where I don't have access to a private shower, especially if I am going to stay there for days. My family mocks me because one of the reasons I never wanted to stay at the cottage for more than a day or two is because the old shower really scared me...like seriously, the one time I tried it the knobs fell off and I had to call my Mom in to save me!

My sister in law Lisa, her husband Skip, and my nephew Jason go every year to "camp" at a park in NY. I have not really thought much about camping since my parents sold their motor home 15 years ago, but the way Lisa talked about this place, I was intriqued. She showed me the website, and Jason told me all about the fun he's had there, so I thought maybe next year we would take the boys camping. A week before her annual trip Lisa called to get a dressing name, and she invited us up for a visit while she was there. I was pretty excited about the invite, so I convinced Wayne to take the day off (he really only took a 1/2 day)and find some time to drive up for the day. I am so glad that we did, because it was wonderful seeing all of the boys enjoying themselves.

When we arrived, Zach was super excited to get the chance to hang out with his big cousin Jason. Jason was in his element there, running and playing and showing Zach all the best things about the camp. They were so busy together, the best I could do was get this shot of them chatting by the swings:

The boys really enjoyed the hayride together, where the kids belted out a ton of camp songs:

Back at the wonderfully comfortable and not at all roughin-it-in-the-woods- cabin, Jason and a bunch of his friends welcomed the boys into their boys club. Seriously they were happy as clams up in that loft space:

When the kids got a little settled in, it was off to the fabulous waterpark, where both the big boys(Wayne and Skip) had just as much fun as the little ones:

Jason was an old pro at the waterpark, but Zach and Matt were a little (water)gun shy so they headed down to the beach. Here they were like little fish, swimming everywhere, and building something(I can't even call it a castle) in the sand:

And while Aunt Lisa and Jason were away getting Jason a really sweet temporary tatoo, the boys enjoyed"Frogging" in the marshes by the cabin with Dad:

While the boys had no success catching a tadpole. we did meet a little girl who was kind enough to show us the frog she had caught. (Don't worry she released it soon after):

Zach truly enjoyed when Uncle Skip gave him a fishing lesson(I enjoyed the fact that he used a lure, so no digging in the dirt for worms was necessary):
Being there reminded me of all of the wonderful camping trips I took as a kid, and since you don't really need to rough it there, it was right up my alley. It truly was a wonderful trip, and we all enjoyed it so much that we will be going back next year to spend more time learning songs from Jason, fishing and swimming with Uncle Skip, and being loved on by Aunt Lisa. Thank you for such a memorable day!