Riley and Avery

Those pictures are pretty much in reverse order. Oh, well. The Kindergarten camping trip was last night. It was a lot of fun. Only two Kindergarteners this year! All four of us came, and Taryn's grandfather brought her (I didn't think her mother was the camping type!), and Rae and her husband were there. I think Rudi was relieved that he wasn't the only dude there. The campground was not too far away, just in Woodland Park. But oh, my, it was WINDY! We thought this would be a test run for our larger family tent with vestibule, but it was so windy we couldn't even get a good look at the tent to figure out where everything was and how to put it together. I mean, the think was flying into the air like a parachute! Beyond windy! Luckily, Rudi also had a 3-man tent in the trunk for when he goes camping solo, and we put that up with no problems since it is a simple dome tent. We survived the whole experience in good humor and with our marriage intact, which is saying something for anyone who knows Rudi!

The wind prevented us from having a camp fire that night, so everyone roasted hot dogs over the stove instead, and later marshmallows for s'mores. We all sat around the fire ring anyway, chatting.

The night was pretty cold. The girls each have their own sleeping bag, and Riley slept like a rock all night long. I don't think she even moved! Lola slept in the foot of my sleeping bag, so she kept my feet warm. Avery was in her own bag, but being in separate bags made the snuggling she's used to impossible, so sometime in the middle of the night she migrated to my sleeping bag. It was getting tight in there with Avery, Lola, and me in one bag! I should have gotten the family sleeping bag that I was *this close* to getting instead of buying each of the girls a bag. Lesson learned.

For some reason Rudi and Taryn's grandfather got up early and built a campfire. I'm pretty sure Taryn's grandfather knew what time it was, but I'm pretty sure Rudi didn't because there is no way that he would get up voluntarily at 7am. Knowing that, I got up a a short time later, thinking it was later than it was. Riley got up with me, and Avery, Taryn, Rae and her husband continued to sleep (like normal people!). We chilled around the fire until everyone was up and then we had breakfast. We chilled some more, waiting for it to warm up (at least the wind had stopped!). Then we took a short drive (about a mile) to Manitou Lake.

We took a leisurely stroll around Manitou Lake, which was beautiful with Pikes Peak in the background.

I can't believe that Riley is graduating Kindergarten on Wednesday! I always thought that preschool, Kindergarten, 5th grade, and 8th grade graduations were stupid, but I have to admit that this is hitting me pretty hard. That, coupled with all the teeth that Riley has lost, make me realize that she is growing up! I'll have lots of picture and video on Wednesday!