Oneida Narrows Trip

My family headed up to Oneida Narrows for our family trip again this year. This year was especially fun because Lance, Heather, Brooke, and Cicely flew in from Tennessee to come with us! It was so fun to catch up with them and I think all the kids loved being together.

We always like to go the weekend of my dad's birthday, but we always worry because the campground is really small and we never know if we will be able to get spots by each other, or even at all. This year we lucked out because the camp ground was pretty much empty and we were usually the only ones on the lake. 

The first day we set up camp and then went to the lake to play. All my brothers went water skiing and the girls and kids stayed back at the lake to play.

If the kids are playing I can usually find Tyler right in the middle with them. He loves hanging out with Cole, Hannah, Preston, and Maddie.

Preston, Gage, and Brayden caught this huge fish

Sadie, Brooke, Cicely, and Makayla played together all week. Cicely and Makayla are only 5 months apart and it was so fun to see how interacted.

All the cousins had so much fun being together. Here's Brooke and Hannah. Brooke is the cutest little girl and is so smart! You would never guess she is only four.

Makayla loved playing in the water.

We got this floating toy for Makayla but at first she was terrified of it and would scream when we would try to put her in it. Once we finally got her in it she decided it wasn't that bad.

Caden got a lot of attention from everyone. I absolutely LOVE Caden's smile in this picture (and Ryan in the background)

Preston and Caden were bestest little buddies on this trip. Preston was so cute with Caden and kept telling us that Caden looked just like him.

That night we celebrated my dad's birthday. He turned 66 this year.

My dad said the best part about his birthday was having his whole family together and I couldn't agree more. We snapped a picture of my dad and all the grand kids together. Our little family is getting pretty big now with 11 grand kids.

Each night we would build a fire and sit around talking. Thanks Meg for being the only one who would look at me.

The rest of the days we spent at the lake and going down the river. I didn't have my camera with me most of that time so I didn't get any pictures of our awesome water skiing skills or at the river, so just take my word for it when I say we had a blast! Tyler tried water skiing again and he got up after a few tries. I wish I could have taken pictures because he was "showing me how it's done"... and yes, Tyler, I did get my tickets to the gun show! :)

Right by the campground is a small pond and the kids loved to go down there and get minnows and frogs. Here's Gage's frog that he caught. He was so proud of it. P.S. don't you love his toothless grin?

 The second night at camp was the worst. We were sitting by the fire and we heard a skunk, so Cole went to go get his BB gun. I think his intent was to just scare it, but he ended up hitting it, and the skunk sprayed... right by all the trailers. It was the WORST smell ever! Our entire campground and trailer smelled for the next few days and I am still trying to get the smell out of our clothes. Darren and Cole thought the whole situation was pretty funny, but the rest of us were pretty mad. Lance and Heather even had to move to a different spot because the smell was making them sick. Other than the skunk issue, and getting eaten alive by mosquitoes, we had a fun trip!

Since we have two under two, we decided to rent a trailer and I'm so glad we did because our kids were able to stay on somewhat of a schedule. Even though it was really hard to wake up at seven every day, my favorite part was the mornings. We got to snuggle in bed with our kids

 Kayla and Caden got to play with each other.

 We liked to eat breakfast together as a family

 Kayla liked my Reece Puffs cereal more than her oatmeal. Smart girl!

 My two favorite boys eating.

 Makayla didn't eat like she normally does on this trip. We could barely get her to drink her bottle and she wouldn't eat anything. We later figured out it was because she was hanging out with Grandma who would give her cheese puffs, Rice Krispie treats, and every other possible kind of goodie. I guess that is one of the benefits of being around Grandma. It also explains why Kayla would get so excited when she would see Grandma. One time I got back from water skiing and found Kayla chowing down on popcorn.

 I can't get enough of this little boy and his wide eyes!

 I had two favorite nights on our camping trip. The first favorite night was when it started pouring rain. We go to hang out in our trailer all night playing with the kids. After they went to bed Tyler and I stayed up ate junk food and talked for hours.

My other favorite night was the last night. We all sat around the campfire telling embarrassing stories. We were all laughing so hard that our stomachs hurt! My favorite stories were Meg's "cactus" story, and Darren's story when he had the flu. I won't embarrass them by telling what really happened to the few people who actually read my blog.

We did miss the conveniences of home. I missed running water, an actual bathroom and air conditioning. We had to improvise quite a bit on the trip. We had to have sponge baths...

 And showers outside of the trailer...

Here's a few more random pictures of the kids...

Caden likes to snuggle with his giraffe blankie

 Kayla and I like to read her books

 We had so much fun this year and I love being with my family for five whole days. I know we won't be able to do this trip every year, but I'm so glad everyone could make it this time. It was a lot of work getting ready for it, and some stress along the way, but once we were up there with our family, I didn't care. When I look back on this trip I hope I remember how much fun we had together. In the end, being together as a family is the only thing that matters.