la la land pt.1

It's been a long while since my last post...I've been on an extended vacation!

The family and I have been camping, had family come visit us, went camping again, and now visiting family in Washington.  On our way back home, we'll be camping again.

As you can tell, we love camping.  Our family started  off camping in a small family tent.  We eventually moved up to a big family tent.  Then, my husband, bought a pop up cab over trailer (which was just too small for a family of five), so we sold it and bought an old but very helpful pop up camper trailer to sleep up to six people!  I don't care how old it is.  I don't care that it is not beautiful.  I love this thing!  We stay warm and it gives us plenty of room to move around.  One day, we will buy a brand new one.  Maybe a much bigger one with more storage, but for now, it works just fine.

What is the best part about camping for you?  Our family enjoys being out in the mountains...near a lake...and having no internet service or phone service available.  The kids enjoy running along the lakeside and even playing in the ice cold water.  We go fishing, build camp fires, and east smores.  The kids are playing with each other and with whatever creature they can find, like tad poles.  Which I had to firmly put my foot down because the children wanted to bring them home!  However, being disconnected for a few days is very rejuvinating.

And for the record, you can still go camping even if your child has Down syndrome!  New parents, your life doesn't have to change.  Lillian goes camping with us, travels 8 hours in a car with us, and goes swimming in the lake and river with us.  Lillian will also wake everyone up in the mountains with her screaching laughter and angry screaming when she has to go to sleep.  Note to self....Don't ever forget her playpen again on another trip, unless she knows how to sleep in a big bed!

I can't wait to share some photos of our trip so far.  Although, it isn't over, I thought I should show you the beauty of some of the most wonderful and amazing places to reconnect with mother nature. 

Tomorrow.  I will share more!

Lost in time...sort of

I missed an awful lot! There is so much blogging to catch up on and commenting to do!

However, my vacation is done...well, for now. We are back and I will have to share some stories of camping and family. OH, I won't forget to share the one about my dog.

Blogging on your cellphone works only when you have service available...the mountains did not provide service! We should have done the "Can you hear me test"! But, that's OK. It was nice to get away from technology for a while.

OK...now just need to catch up on laundry and will be back to share later.