Camp Out...

The second half of the Epic Fourth of July weekend of 2014 landed us right smack at the top of Monroe Mountain for a camp out.  Our kiddos wanted nothing more than to sleep in a tent and have a fire.  Wishes granted, gents.

That's one of the coolest parts of being a parent.  You can make these little itty bitty dreams come true with the slightest of effort, all the while doing something that you know they'll remember forever, and you wanted to expose them to anyway.  Win-win-win.

So, with a couple of cousins we headed to the mountain tops.  We enjoyed the wildflowers, a summer hail storm and lots of wildlife.

We carved our names into the family trees.  Don't panic, y'all - this is private property.  The big man, Grandpa Hooky, is totally fine with our etches.

We climbed to the peak and watched as our little men exclaimed with wonder... "We are bigger than ALL the mountains!" and "We are up in the sky with the clouds!"  And we watched the sun set lower on the horizon as we pointed out parts of the beloved valley stretching below us like a patchwork quilt.

Enter my kids personalities coming through in photos:

Dramatic

Intense

Ready to Move...

We dished up dutch oven taters and ate s'mores all of which ended up on their little faces as clues to the makings of the evening's killer menu to anyone that might have missed the feast.

And we played horseshoes.

{It's worth noting that the Gardner's were the tournament champs. Did you have any doubts?}

It's gross - camping.  I'll be amongst the first to admit.

But holy moly did these little men of ours seem to be in Heaven.

 And I won't lie to you.  It felt a little bit like Heaven on Earth to me too.