Camping & the lightning tree

I wasn't the one to plan it (haha) but my family managed to get in one serious camping trip this year. Although I'm not a big fan of the dirt, Kels seems to really enjoy it so I can't complain when its only once a year. We went to one of our classic favorite spots, Wolf Creek. This particular trip I don't think I'll ever forget. It was definitely memorable.

Kelsie got introduced to hot chocolate with marshmallows and (of course) fell in love.

I guess the one thing that camping is great for is relaxing. I think Mister Billsters & Dex agree...

Then it started to rain a little. Probably more like a light sprinkle. We covered the fire wood and chairs and all gathered in the camper. I remember looking outside and there was a guy holding a baby and walking with a toddler wandering just outside our campsite. Then we heard the BOOM. It was by far the loudest noise I've ever heard in my life. The camper shook and my mom screamed out of fright. I don't even know how to explain the sound. It was intense. Then we heard people screaming and running towards the guy and the kids who were laying on the ground. The baby he was holding was screaming. They scooped the kids up and went running for their car. We all thought they had been struck by lightning and were rushing to the hospital. But their car never left. We were all shaking and crying and terrified to even leave the camper but curious to know if they were ok. After a little bit we saw them outside and my mom went over to check everything out. Turns out that a tree had been struck by lightning and was so loud and shook the earth that the guy naturally dropped to the ground to take cover. They weren't hurt - just really scarred. We got looking around and found the tree... 11 yards from our camper. You can see our truck and camper behind the tree in the picture below. There was bark and tree debris all over. We were so lucky that it hit the opposite direction and that nobody was hurt. Crazy!!!

After the whole lightning tree incident we all calmed down and had a really fun time. We took lots of mini hikes and spent a good chuck of time hanging around the campfire. Kels begged me to bring her elephant tent and her & Kailee had a blast playing in it. We also took a walk over to the group campsite. There's a little amphitheater/stage thing there and the girls provided some great entertainment. Kelsie picked a dandelion and came to me and said "let both wish for best camping ever" Which really meant to her that it WAS the best ever. Ooohhhh!!

We made this picture for my Uncle Troy who wasn't able to make it. He is the ultimate outdoors man and all the kids know when they see him to hold their hand up to their heads a say "moose".