Our first camping trip as a family of 3!

This was a weekend of first for this little family. Ever since Eric and I started dating 6 years ago, we have gone camping together and we love it. However, when Abby was born 2 1/2 years ago, wee took a short camping hiatus, knowing that it would be a couple of years before she was a ready and willing camper. We decided that this summer, would be her summer to camp. However, we did not seem to find the right time to do it this summer, and I was determined that she was going to experience it this summer, since next summer might be out of the question!
So Friday night we packed the Xterra and headed to Pokagon State Park in Indiana for Abby's VERY FIRST camping trip!

This is Abby all packed in the car on our way there. She was loving it!

This is our campsite with the tent and everything all set up.

This is Abby's cot, that was right next to Eric and I's bed.

Another first that happened this weekend was that Abby got to ride a horse for the first time. Abby loves animals and always wants to touch and pet them. SO there is a place at Pokagon that she can go on a short pony ride for only $3. It was totally worth that money to see her get so excited to ride the horse.


This is Abby and her horse Wheezer. I am assuming from the name, that he is the horse saved for small children to ride.


Look how happy she is!!

Her nervous excitement!!


And Abby got to pet other horses and mules that were at the barn too.


Here, Abby reads her princess book by the campfire.


There is a cool spring there, that we went and visited. Abby really liked the spring, but the water was COLD!


This is Eric. He will even grill while camping, what a man!

The last story I am going to tell you is another first that happened, but we don't have any pictures of this one. On Friday night when I put Abby to bed, I laid down in the tent with her for a while because she was kind of scared (this was her first time). While I was laying down with Abby, Eric was sitting by the fire. He heard some rustling behind him and turned and saw a raccoon with his hand in a bag of our food trying to get some out. Eric shooed one away and another one came from behind him and kept trying to get our food. So Eric put all of our food bins in the car except for the cooler, which had mostly pop in it. Once he did that, the raccoons left and we did not hear from them again. Well, a little while later, Eric came to the tent and laid down. About 10 minutes after he laid down , we heard a thunking, popping kind of noise. Well, we were camping right under and acorn tree and there had been acorns hitting everything all evening so we assumed an acorn had hit the cooler and we tried to go back to sleep. Not 30 seconds later, we hear the ice in our cooler moving around. Eric jumps up runs out of the tent and finds the raccoons have unlatched the cooler and opened it up ( it was a big cooler) and were inside eating the grapes!! Well, again, Eric shooed them away, and actually, at that point, threw them all of the grapes because they were ruined by then. He then had to put the cooler in the car. And that could not quite end the raccoon drama, when Eric finally comes back to bed. We lay there about 1 minute more and we hear 2 raccoons right outside the tent fighting and growling like dogs over something and that goes on for a minute or 2 before it finally quiets down and we can get some sleep. It was a very weird night overall. But a success because ABby loved it and cried when we put the tent away because she wanted to stay.