Summer is Waning

Summer is flying by faster than a melting ice cream cone. We've all been itching to go camping since the end of Spring, but finding a free moment has been hard. We looked at the calendar and realized with kindergarten starting at the end of August and guests for the rest of our weekends until school starts, it was now or never. We did one night of yard camping, as we had to delay our trip a night because of a dentist appointment, and the kids were just too excited. It's surprising to find out just how wild your own yard can be! We have some beautiful rustic camp sites (a.k.a. no toilets or running water but quiet and pristine) fifteen or so minutes from our house located in the national forest, so we headed that way as soon as we had the chance. It was a whirlwind trip, but was the perfect amount of peaceful nature energy to refuel us all. We looked for mushrooms, swam in the icey brook, spotted some early Fall leaves, ate all manor of delicious picnic foods and s'mores, found elf gardens, danced with sparklers and enjoyed the stars and a goodnight bonfire. I'm hoping we can sneak in an early Fall camp trip too. We did wake up to some unexpected rain, but that's all part of the excitement of camping, and it gave us an excuse to go home and make hot chocolate. What's on your "now or never" list for this last full month of summer? I'm also hoping to sneak in a day trip to the ocean, but that might be a pie in the sky dream.