2008 Bouwhuis Family campout

Every year my family, (which consists of my parents, their 11 children, and nearly 50 grand kids) plan a family camp out. As many of us that can, go camping together for a few days.

This year our camp out was at the Cherry campground, from June 26-28. Cherry campground was a perfect spot because we had a volley ball area and horse shoe pits right in the campsite. and within a short walk the river was slow enough for the kids to play in. There was plenty of shade so we didn't get too hot and plenty of space for all of our tents and gear.

Within a few short minutes of arriving Harrisen looked like this:

And many of the cousins looked like this:

Thank goodness there was water close by for them to play in could you imagine what their bedding would look like if they climbed in looking like that?

The kids couldn't get enough of the water.
Harrisen spent most of his time looking for bugs! Especially caterpillars and Roley poly's.

He could almost always be found with one in his hands.
We should have planned better and brought something to put them in, we would have had a good start on Kirsti's bug collection for science this year.
The little kids played clubhouse in the little tent my nephew brought. Too bad it was too small to sleep in.
At first glance I thought my little niece was testing the dog food to make sure it tasted okay. But she was actually force feeding the dog. it seems he did not want to eat it when she thought he should be. I think she actually did sneak in a nibble or two in the end. (I wish I had enough battery left to have video taped this it was too cute.)

We gave my niece and "tough guy" nephew a ride home. The battery on my camera kept dieing but I did manage to get a shot of how cozy everyone was on the way home. even a "tough kid" can look sweet when he falls asleep on his cousins shoulder. Don't they look cute back there in the corner?

All in all it was a great vacation for us. we played games, read books, slid down mountains, had a water balloon fight, played the "Amazing Race", went for scavenger hunts, ate great food, and even watched some movies on a screen hung between two trees.