A Camping We Will Go & Hearts At Home Curriculum Giveaway

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While the weather certainly says that it is summer, there are still a few more weeks until it is officially summer. Due to hubby's heath issues we needed to beat the heat and go camping now, and what better time than fee free weekend! We've spent the last 5 days camping in the beautiful Wayne National Forest. We are very fortunate to have such a beautiful and historical park so close to us. In 1833 the Vesuvius Iron Furnace was built, and by 1875 southeastern Ohio led the nation in iron production. So of course as a homes educating Mother of 3 we not only enjoy the beauty of the forest, get in tune with nature, we also look at all the history around us everyday.

                                               
                                               
Packing for 6 people for 5 days and 4 nights not only takes lots of planning, but it also LOTS of space. I ended up having to make 2 trips to fit everything. Luckily, it's not far from home. There is not a lot of room for Yang to ride her 4-Wheeler at the house (or at least that I am comfortable with letting her ride) so her Power Wheel 4-Wheeler and Poppy's bike took up a lot of space on the second trip. It was so worth it though. She had that thing such a muddy mess by the time we left that I had to lay plastic down in the back of my van!!

Our first night around the campfire was eventful! As the girls and I sat there laughing and chatting we heard a growl. Of course everyone gets super quiet as I shine the flashlight towards the woods, I see 2 little eyes peaking out from behind their black mask. I quietly tell the girls to slowly get up and walk behind me. See, earlier in the day it had started to rain and in our mad dash to get into the tents the dog food bowl got spilled. I did my best to pick it up but since it was water logged it was not possible to get it all. Of course the coons were very happy about it but were not happy about sharing what little bit was there with the each other! Needless to say they are a little to fearless for my liking, as they where less than 10 feet from us, so we all headed to bed.

A few days before we left I began going through the different pages I had pinned on my Pinterest Camping Board for meal ideas. Since we were planning on being there for 5 days I knew hot dogs would get old, and quick! Luckily there is so much more than hot dogs and s'mores that can be made over a camp fire! Our first morning we had sausage and egg bowls. I bought a 1.5 - 2lb package of fresh ground pork the day before and Yang fried it up in one of my cast iron pans. While she cooked the sausage I scrambled the eggs in a bowl and got everything out. Once the sausage was done we added the eggs to the pan and mixed everything together. You could easily add onions and/or bell peppers before adding the eggs, my kids just don't like them. Just dice them up at home and store them in a Ziploc bag or a small Tupperware container.

Poppy has been hosting a flat traveler from Texas so we hit the trails to show her all the beauty southern Ohio has to hold.

  

All in all, despite rain off and on for 2 days, one chilly day, 3 teens and a sensory kiddo, we had an excellent time. Can't wait to do it all over again in 2 weeks with my sister-in-law and her two girls!
                                             

Ends 6/15/13