Summer Fun Friday: Camping

This past week, we took the kids on our first camping trip of the summer!  We love camping as a family and honestly, couldn't wait to get out of town!  This is the time of year that feels the most renewing for me and after a long school year, getting into nature is something that really helps balance me out. I also feel like the kids need that break from the city and the busyness of every day life.

We headed 3 hours north of Phoenix to hit up a local lake.  We were lucky that we could get up there on a Wednesday morning....we had our pick of camping spots and the place was very quiet.  We ended up at a small campground called "Sinkhole" on the Mogollon Rim.

We decided to stay two nights and with the highs in the 80s, we were thrilled to experience some relief of the triple digit heat we've had in the Valley.  We spent a ton of time around the campfire, exploring the little field and the nearby lake.  We also drove over to Woods Canyon Lake just a few miles away to explore that recreation area.

It was so awesome to be up there, relax and just enjoy each other's company.  It was so beautiful.  And in true camping fashion, we had a couple of things to make the trip a little more interesting!  While the highs were beautiful, we weren't quite expecting it to THAT cold at night.  The lows were supposed to be in the 40s, but it ended up being much colder! I thought we came prepared, but it was literally freezing by midnight.

We had to abandon our tent and crash in the van.  Luckily for us, we are able to fit one of our queen air mattresses in the back of our van...it was comical to say the least, but at least we were able to turn the heat on every few hours!!

Comfy together!

Love that night sky

We also happened to pick up a little buddy named "Butters"...and of course the one most happy in the woods was our faithful friend, Molly.

All in all it was a fantastic trip and we are looking forward to more trips in the next couple of months!

I hope you've been enjoying your summer with your kiddos.  Link up here to share your ideas and adventures!

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