Weekend Camping at Lake Perris

Last month in celebration of Mother's Day, Rachel had to draw a picture of her Mommy and write why she loved her Mommy. Her reason for loving Mommy, was because her Mommy takes her camping! Up to that point the kid had only been camping once that she could remember and that was last year on a camping trip to Mammoth!

So this weekend, I came through on Rachel's reason for loving me and we went camping! LOL. We spent the weekend with Uncle Robbie, Auntie, McKenzie, and Haylee, and some friends. Rachel was very excited to have the friends along as they have a baby, Nathan, who just turned one. Rachel loved spending the weekend with him.

We went camping at Lake Perris, not too far from home, compared to the trek will make in a few weeks to Mammoth. We had our campsite set up and ready to relax just after 5:00. It was later in the evening when the friends pulled their trailer in next to us and set up for the weekend.Friday evening the kids all played, and collected rocks to surround the fire pit. We had a campfire and then it was time for bed. The first night of camping is always the hardest when it comes to putting the kids to bed, they're so excited about camping, they don't go to sleep well. That doesn't hold true for the remainder of the nights. You'll see the cute picture farther down.

Saturday morning we had a wonderful breakfast and lots more time playing with the cousins. There was even a trip to the park across the road and a walk to the Marina for fishing. And of course, there is always time for grumpiness. After the trip to the Marina, Auntie pulled out a killer craft box, that even supplied everyone with aprons so that Rachel and Haylee could paint. A perfect thing for keeping in the trailer!After lunch, we had the opportunity to go on a boat compliments of Sarah's parents. Rachel was excited, until we were on the dock and it was swaying with the water, and until I put this big life jacket on her. It wasn't until we were all in the boat and out in the Lake and laughing and hollering that she relaxed and enjoyed the ride. From that point on, she loved it. She loved the water splashing and making the ducks in the path of the boat dunk under the water. The boat let us off at the island, where the rest of the group was. We stayed there for a while, the girls all splashing about in the water and having fun. After our time on the boat and out on the Lake, we returned back to camp. This campsite provided hookup so three of the four girls were able to get a bath before we filled the tank and didn't know how to drain it. Here, Rachel and Haylee embrace in a hug after cleaning up and smelling better.After baths, playing for a bit, and a late dinner, it was campfire time! While the other girls were able to get themselves to their bed, Rachel fell asleep in her chair at the campfire! No struggling with her to go to bed that night! She was tired and worn out from all the day had held.Sunday morning, Rachel was able to sleep in a bit. She came and crawled into bed with me and fell back asleep for another hour. For the most part, she's always bright eyed and happy when she wakes up and this morning was no exception!The rest of the morning, we packed up, and cleaned up. And managed to have some more fun with Nathan's wagon. The girls were all given bags to collect trash in. Rachel managed to collect every rock and small piece of wood left on our campsite. LOL. The chore earned them each a dollar, compliments of Matt, Rachel spent her dollar in the Marina on ice cream! A nice cool treat!Our time together came to an end after watching Uncle Robbie and Hannah fish for a bit. We then said our goodbyes and made our way to the van. Making our way home and unloading and a good scrubbing in the bath, Rachel keeps asking when we're going camping again. Thankfully we can say "soon". :)