Our Annual Palisades Camping Trip

May 27th-31st, Thursday-Monday--We just LOVE going to Palisades State Park, near Manti, every Memorial Day Weekend. It is such a fun place to camp! As soon as Elise was home from school we packed up and headed down. We rented a camper again (complete with bathroom!) and pulled it with the Trailblazer. This year, my friend Heather, and her two kids, came along with us. Besides us, there were the usuals, my sister and her family and mutual friends that come every year. The first two days were WINDY! It made for rough sleeping! Heather had just bought a fancy tent from Cabela's and the wind snapped two of the poles. Being "handy" women we duct taped the poles like crazy and secured them with twigs. They bent some but held up the rest of the time. Luckily the weather was pretty good the other 3 days.

For the most part, we hung around the campsite just being lazy and enjoying everyones company. A few times we went into town. Ephraim (next to Manti) does Scandinavian Days on Memorial Day Weekend. We took the kids to the parade and then to the festival. Sunday was the best day! We found ourselves down at the beach catching some sun (hard to believe it had snowed a week before!) and getting tans/sunburns. Nate and I got some very comfy Cabela's lounge chairs for Mothers/Fathers Day and they recline so we spent our time totally relaxing. We did get a little too much sun but had ointment for that.

Many of the meals we shared with others. Everyone brings a dish to share. I love it! It's nice to have variety. Friday we did soups and breads. Saturday we went to the local pasta joint and got a few varieties. Sunday we did a brunch and Sunday night we did Mexican. YUM! At night we'd usually gather around a fire pit and cook up S'mores. With all the good food and plenty of snacks we didn't go hungry and ended up packing on a few pounds. I tried to stay active but lounging in a comfy chair was so much more appealing!

Since Brady is headed to Kindergarten we won't have to pay for preschool anymore, which leaves us money to buy a camper. We're thinking seriously about it and I'm hopin' we'll get something for next year. WAHOO!