Months ago we had a few friends invite us to do some New Years Eve camping…and I told them ALL no! haha I didn’t think that camping in the cold would be fun. But we had a last minute invite to camp at Lake Perris…which we did for Super Bowl last year…and since its an “easy” trip I agreed…with the condition that if its raining or windy I was NOT going!
Well…rain was in the forecast. So I was on the fence and trying to back out of this trip. Well…it didn’t work. We loaded up the trailer and I thought if I had to come home because I was miserable I’d do that! BUT it ended up being one of my favorite trips so far.
Lake Perris is an easy place because our friends works there so we always get a great isolated spot, its parking lot camping that has lots of space for towing vehicles and toys. The kids love it because they can run in the fields, ride bikes and just play without worrying about strangers and cars and stuff. Its great.
Mason and Maggie are a few days apart…and are so funny when they are around eachother.
Of course nothing starts a camping trip like hectic set up AND a daddy bocce ball game (wtf…right in the middle of set up…I love that…says no wife ever!)
It was freezing and they had to beat the rain…so they said.
The days were chilly, nights even chillier but it was fun. Rowe always goes all out..he even brought his Star Shower Xmas light and it made the darkness so pretty in the evenings!!
Night one they got the UFC Fights…Ella rode her bike into the late hours of the evening…that girl LOVES her bike! And Mama had a few glasses of wine by the fire! It was a win-win!!
We woke up NYE day and the rain started!! Yes…well…it kinda poured for a lot of the day! We set up 6 easy-ups…were thankful for the propane fire pits and so happy when we had breaks of the rain to let kids out and run around. Over-all, the kids did SO good. They found things to do, trailers to hang out in and did great.
Sometimes I catch these 2 girls being so good to eachother. I know Ella can be a handful..she is getting so much better with her behavior and she is actually so kind to her baby sister. Especially since Maggie has NO sense of privacy.
The plan for celebrations were pretty fun. Prior to leaving each trailer/family signed up for an hour/country to celebrate. Each family was suppose to research any New Years traditions, drinks, foods, activities, etc. We were going to start the New Years celebrations at 3pm with Germany.
3pm Germany…and DAMN Victor and Andi put on a good spread…TONS of food, desserts, glass mugs, photo-booth!
AND it was Andi’s birthday…so after our Germany celebration, Victor also had a birthday cake for her too!!
Next up…4pm was Ireland and of course we did Ireland.
We had Baby Guinness shots, Magners cider, McDonnell’s chicken curry and rice, bacon fries and chocolate buttons. Unfortunately my chicken curry wasn’t very tasteful…didn’t come out as my best batch BUT the yanks had no clue either way so it worked out.
I remember as a kid…every NYE at midnight my mom would make all the men in the house go out the back door…grab a piece of turf and run around to the front door…to bring in the good luck!! I have great memories of my dad running out…it was always funny! I was planning on making the men run around the trailer BUT…it started sprinkling during our hour so I cut the “activity”.
Yosh also busted out some Irish whiskey for anyone who wanted some…
Getting a shot in with the hubs!
These little ladies were enjoying all the screaming and yelling HAPPY NEW YEAR every hour
5pm. We moved our Mexico hour up…Our original 5pm family weren’t able to make it and since they had some kid activities we wanted all the kids to be awake for it. They had pin the tail on the donkey and a pinata. Corona’s, Margarita's, taquito’s. It was yummy.
6pm. Brazil. I’m happy I was in getting Maggie to bed during this hour…from what I hear Joel gave them all straight alcohol shots! lol Actually later in the night they were spitting this booze into the fire and it was like being a fire person. They also did the conga line and made fried rice balls.
7pm. Argentina. They made some pineapple booze drink and lentil bean soup. Any by this point is was POURING and cold!
The big kids were all still up and going strong with a game of LRC. I loved having older kids on this trip…they really helped keep our kids entertained and out of trouble!
There was a river between our trailers…so much rain!
8pm- Dominican Republic. It was cheese quesadilla’s and rum and coke’s. The quesadilla’s hit the spot for me. Familiar food was what I needed to keep up the drinking!
9pm. Washington DC/East Coast New Years. This was one of the funnier hours! They made mexican food (taquitos and tacos) on one side of THE WALL…and white castle hamburgers on the other side. They had Trump Kool-Aid with Puntin vodka. It was so funny!
Again I was happy to see familiar food…the taquitos and taco’s hit the spot!! The boys were loving on each other of course doing some karaoke to past the hours.
11pm. Canada-A! I was nervous. It was just shots. And we were at the end of the night so shots were getting harder and harder.
And a good few of us made it to midnight. We got to watch the ball drop on someone’s TV. And I’m not sure why but New Years makes me so emotional. I cry every year for I’m not sure what reason.
So after all the rain and cold from New Years Eve…we woke up to start 2017 with BEAUTIFUL weather. The park put on a guided hike during Maggie’s nap time..so I stayed back and daddy went with the group for some hiking. \
Thankfully Daddy had lots of friends with him…because he quickly found out that Ella is the worst hiking partner ever…she does NOT walk for long…at all.
And a few helped Daddy out…by taking turns with Ella on their shoulders! lol
Owen loves nature so he was diggin’ on the fun facts the ranger was sharing
And the day continued with relaxing/recovering from the night before, playing, more eating and BINGO!
Football and BINGO…how much better could it get!?!? Oh…winning…that makes it better! BOOM!
And yes…Maggie’s jacket was filthy…but I only brought her one big jacket…and she kept falling down and getting dirty anyway…so we just dried it every night and back on in the morning it went! Don’t judge.
Teach them young to clean…
Our matching beanies made by Nana. Top-Knot Bun beanies are a hit right now and Ella and I love ours. But couldn’t leave maggie out so Nana made a normal one for her little head.
Maggie like the fire…the big kids only like the fire when there are treats OR they are so tired they want to be carried to bed.
Then it was clean up day the next morning. We are really starting to get our roles figured out and the timing of it all. I like the way Yosh and I can work together. Yes he does more of the lifting and setting up…I do more of the prep, load and prepare stuff. But I usually clean the whole inside of the trailer then daddy loads it all up and unhooks, dumps, etc. Yes he does the “dirty work”…but thats what Daddy’s are for right. heehee.
And this is Ruger…our friends Italian Massif puppy!! Maggie LOVED him. ANd hes HUGE. ANd doesn’t realize he’s that huge.
The ride home from camping is usually a nice and quiet one!! These kids go full force for days…and then it all catches up with them and they knock out! I love it. I looked back and caught these cute sisters.
Of course The Beast isn’t sleeping…but she was tired and quiet so thats all that matters! haha.
It was a GREAT trip!! Thanks for organizing it Rowe’s!
Now…please God 2017 is a great year. Happy New Year everyone!
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