How hot is too hot??

Bill and I grew up camping with our families; therefore, we try to make a committment to go camping at least a few times each summer. He has fond memories of Yogi Bear park and making crafts with Yogi and I have fond memories of trips to the river to camp and waterski. We really want our kids to love the outdoors as much as we do. We had a camping/float trip set up with some friends (Browning and LaGarce families) at the end of July. We had reservations at Ozark Lodging for our tent site and the site to put in and take out our rafts. We got new rafts for floating, upgraded an air mattress, bought extra batteries, and helped the kids get appropriately excited. What we DID NOT plan on was for it to be heat index of 110 degrees!! After much deliberation we decided to brave it and this is what we got:

Kids who UNDERSTAND what hydration means

A little boy who doesn't care how hot it is as long as he can roast his marshmellow.

Two boys who agree that "shirtless" is much better.

Three rafts, two kayaks, one large canoe, and one tube to float down the Meramec River.

Seven kids who LOVE the water

Three little girls who squealed in delight most of the trip.

Two little boys discussing the meaning of life over lunch,

One VERY good cherry pit spitter (Lora!)

A 20 month old who found her bag of cheetos!

A nice long nap in the front of the raft (surrounded by cold water bottles)

A HUGE fit when it was time to roll up the sleeping bags

A DIRTY little girl who smelled SO BAD no one would sit by her in the car.

A few minutes of relaxation for mommy.




And lots of great memories.