Where the Wild Things Are

We capped off a fabulous 

4th of July 

weekend camping at Winslow Park in Freeport.

We called it 

"Fake Camping"!

We were in tents....but on mowed grass!

Perfect for the lil Norts, 

as we were 'testing the water' on this 

first of many camping trips with 

all five Nuggets!

Casa de Norton!

Biggest tent ever!

In fact, I think the packaging referred to it as a 

'vacation lodge'!

Sai overseeing the sleeping arrangements.

First things first.

The kids were so excited to set their chairs around the fire!

The only thing separating each campsite was a giant hedge.

When we arrived at our "spot"....the kids jumped out of the car 

and ran wooping and hollering to the 

edge overlooking the water.

As I followed in the wake of all that

  Nugget excitement 

I glanced over to the nicest, cutest, oldest couple 

sitting on some lawn chairs enjoying their own view.

 In a split second I saw all the serenity of that moment shattered by a  

family of seven 

pulling into the spot next to them. 

The looks on their faces said it all!

Oooooops!

I did try to contain it....

but the lil Norts had an

 infectious sort of enthusiasm 

about these sort of things! 

And they were

  excited!!

Daddy getting ready to

  work some magic!!

You're not 'officially' camping 

until the tent is set up and the fire is started!!

The kids liked sitting around the fire in their chairs chatting!

Fast forward 10 years?

An exciting thought to picture these munchkins 10 years from now

doing the same things!

I love it!

S'mores!!

Me and Baby Cakes.

Or as I like to call him now

"My FAT Handsomeness"

(Ryan hates it!)

Logan love'n on some s'mores!

Rob in the background!

9 months.

Not quite bi-pedal.

Working on the standing.

Jon and Ellen Ashton had a camping spot just down the road and came to visit.

Jon kept the kids amused with stories about a 

vampire bunny.

"Bu-nicula"?

The kids loved it!

Good friends!

Behind those bushes was an embankment and the ocean.

We had the most amazing view.

The temperature was incredible too.

Perfect camping weather.

Snug as some bugs in a rug.

Sai is the caboose in his porta crib.

I love this tent!

Sometime during the evening of our first night I got a text from Bernie that he was 

"headed to our neck of the woods".

Turns out he had parked and slept one exit away at a truck stop the night before.

Bright and early I went to pick him and Marah up to surprise the kids.

He had a few days off and was going to come hang out with us!

Awesome surprise!!

Bernie and his 'rig'!

Bernie and Marah put up a map and 

marked all the places they wanted to visit and the states they had family in.

They had seen and done a lot!

Home Sweet Home.

They were making it work and it was really impressive.

What a fun adventure for them.

The kids were sooooooooooo

EXCITED!!!

"Uncle Bernie!"

First things first......

lets get this fire going!

You know you're camping with a 

Sanders 

when there is a fire going at all times of the day and night.

We don't like to be 

without a fire....

no matter the external temperature.

Genetics 101

Explaining to the lil Norts how they are 

1/4 Indian

using M&M's.

That's soooooo "Bernie"!

This was the funniest 

Bernie-idea!

He decided he needed exercise.
For his 20 minutes of 'rigorous exercise' he told each kid

 he'd play with them and do

"whatever they wanted" 

for 5 minutes each!

He definantly bit off a bit more than he could chew....

but was a good sport and let Marah keep a 'modified time'!

By the end he was huffing and puffing!

Ryan's turn.

Logi.

Bubba.

They were a big fan of the spinning.

However Bernie did have them on his shoulders galloping around.

He did push ups with Logan on his back.,

and tried an assortment of tosses and flipping about,

but they always came back to the 

spinning!

Later they went to the beach.

I'm not sure who this idea originated with?

But it took very little convincing.

Either to convince the Nuggets  to cover Bernie.

Or to convince Bernie to let the Nuggets cover him?

Still not sure.

It was a team effort.

Logan's getting that belly button nice and good!

Seaweed for hair?

Why not.

Maybe a little more......

During all this Bernie scared a little girl on the beach and made her cry!

Poor thing!
No one else has a crazy Uncle Bernie!

Story time.

Dinnertime.

Day 2.

Daddy trying to explain  to Fox why it isn't the best idea

to bounce your dog off the coals!

 Robert and Ashley in the background 

with Sai!

We planned for an amazing weekend and it turned out a 

100x better than we expected!

We had great friends visit us both nights we were camping.

A surprise visit from Bernie and Marah.

Perfect weather, yummy food,  and 

happy Norton Nuggets!