The Barri (more than one Barrus): A Family Campout

The summer is winding down and the list of activities grows ever shorter. This weekend we had the DeMartini Family Campout, held this year in Christopher and Tysen's backyard. It was marvelous good fun. We swam, we ate, we played played played, we slept, then we played played played after we ate. I'm not sure how it could have been better.

We gathered in the afternoon at Mom's house for a swim. Everyone was in the pool and had a great time. I arrived early with the kids, and together the three of us had a fun time. Sometimes they don't want anything to do with me (which is fine) and sometimes we can play together. Today we played together.

After swimming, we all went over to Christopher and Tysen's. We prepared a delicious fajita dinner with chips, salsa, and guacamole, as well as fruit. We pitched tents and got our sleeping situation sorted, then played a game. We had played it at Heber Valley Camp when we were there last year, and it was really fun. You have a partner. One partner goes into the middle of the circle blindfolded. That person is trying to avoid being bopped by a blindfolded person with a noodle. The other partner is outside the circle calling in directions to you to tell you how to avoid being bopped, while the bopper's partner is calling directions to help them find someone to whack. We laughed a lot. Some of us cheated (not to name names, but a habitual peeker lives at our house and has a pink bedroom).

After gaming, we started a fire and roasted marshmallows for s'mores. The roasting was very popular, while the actual eating of s'mores was not. We had lots of sticky fingers. At one point Lyla offered Christopher a bite of her chocolate bar, and when he said no thanks, he doesn't like chocolate, with disbelief in her voice, she said, "Dad? How can you not like chocolate?" Good question!

The highlight of the campout was a game my kids have been talking about for weeks, and this week in particular, anybody they have spoken to--friend or stranger--has heard all about it. After dark we dropped Christopher, Guy, and most of the kids off at a church about a mile and a half away from Christopher and Tysen's house. They divided into three teams: Christopher, Griffin, and Brandt; Blake, Makenna, and Blythe; Guy, Crew, and Luke. They were to get themselves from the church back to Christopher's without being seen while others of us, Eugene and Sharea, Mikayla with Ava, and Kent and I, drove around in cars trying to spot them. It was marvelous good fun. Everyone loved it! The kids were thrilled to be out sneaking around people's yards and acting like ninjas. It was harder than it might seem for those of us in cars to actually spot the runners. At 10:30 Christopher and Blake's teams had been caught, but not Guy's. We made our kids get ready for bed because it was so late and they were tired, and as a result, we sort of missed the general get-ready-for-bed chaos. We were all asleep before Guy and Crew got back, the only two to successfully get back without being caught.

We all slept well. We got a new tent and air mattresses recently, and as the air mattresses are 13 inches deep and durable, it was almost like sleeping at home. The kids slept great too. Kent went home and returned in the morning, so he was fine as well. There was such a thrill for the kids to be in the tent and not in their beds. It's so exciting!

We woke and made french toast, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, and fruit for breakfast. It was delicious. Kent disassembled our tent and gear, and while the kids ran around together, the adults played six tricks and hand and foot. We talked and laughed and enjoyed the little people. We are so blessed to live close to the kids cousins and be able to together regularly and for such fun activities. Here's to family and summer!

I will now post many pictures, many of which are taken from Mikayla's blog because she took way more pictures than I did. But not a single picture from Saturday morning. We were too busy eating and talking and playing.