Andreae Adventures: Happy 4th of July!

I'm only running a couple weeks behind writing this...lol! I have really been a slacker lately on this blog! The girls are having a Grandma and Grandpa B vaca, so we are childless (and dog-less) for the week, so not only can I catch up on the blog, I can also catch up on all the housework, too! It is strange to have a super quiet house. Thanks mom and dad for the break!

We camped this year over 4th of July weekend which I don't recall ever doing. We broke tradition and weren't at home, which was a little odd for me...no parade, no traditional fireworks per se. It was fun and the weather was great, not too hot and not too cold! Our campsite was a little wet from all the rain we had the week before, but thankfully we didn't have any rain during our weekend. We camped with our friends, the Vandivers and Sebastians. We hiked, hung out, swam, cooked food...but man is camping a LOT of work! We camped at McCormick's Creek State Park which is about an hour from Terre Haute. I hadn't been since I was a kid. The hiking to the waterfall and cave were fun. The waterfall hike was my favorite because it was pretty rugged and we even had to cross over a creek a couple times. I tried saving my shoes and socks from being wet, but after crossing once and realizing we would have to cross again, I just said screw it and walked in the creek with shoes/socks on. It was easier that way. Aubrey loved every second of getting wet, Natalie not so much. Natalie doesn't care much for having wet clothes, she prefers to have a bathing suit on if she's going to be wet. All the kids did great on the hikes!

The girls all slept in the Vandiver's trailer and the guys tent camped. It worked out well, but Natalie and Aubrey slept in my bed and they tossed and turned all night long! We had several late nights, which caused for some grumpiness but overall it went great. Aubrey learned an important lesson about fire/heat. Both girls had been warned a million times to stay away from the fire pit, but Aubrey decided to not pay attention and fall backwards into the fire pit. Luckily the fire had been out for a little while, but the metal ring got a tiny spot on her finger and she had small marks on the back of her knees, but other than that she was fine...thank God!!!! Natalie almost fell in too at another point and got in a lot of trouble! I swear...they were like magnets to that fire ring!

Foodwise, the main items I was in charge of were breakfast burritos and hobo dinners. Both involve all the prep work ahead of time, so of course I'm doing that the night before we left and packing for everyone, too! That made for one tired pregnant momma...even before camping began! It is all worth it in the end though because we had a great time and love giving the girls these experiences I loved as a kid, too!

We watched fireworks in the parking lot of a race track in Bloomington on the 3rd and decided not to go see any on the 4th, which I was good with since we had seen some the weekend before at a local church anyway.

As you can see in this picture, Aubrey and I are soaked because Aubrey LOVED the waterfall, but Natalie is clinging onto Bobby for dear life because she didn't want to get her clothes wet...haha!