Family Vacation {Kanakuk Family Kamp}

We've been gone from the great state of Texas for a little over three weeks.  That's a long time away from home.  But, as all good vacations do, it flew by.  The first part of vacation was spent at Kanakuk Family Kamp.  If you've never been, you're missing out.  I've blogged about it before here and here.  The kids talk about it all year long.  I think some of their best childhood memories will be from camp.  And Chris and I both love it because the kids love it.  When they're entertained, we just get to sit back and enjoy the week... no cooking or cleaning.  No whining.  Really, hardly any parenting.  It's lovely.

Before we left we got a new car.  One that has a DVD player.  Let's all have a moment of silence for how great this was on our trip.  We've never had one in our car before, and let me tell you, those headphones and the hours of silence they provide on a trip=priceless.

We spent the first night at the Boldmans.  What fun for our kids to play with their kids (all 14 of them!!)  Everyone had a playmate, or two, or three.  

Saying that Asher loved baby Fyn would be an understatement.

Then, after peeling Asher away from baby Fyn, it was off to camp...

The minute we arrived it was non-stop fun.

Theme nights.

This night was a magic theme.

The ropes course is always a fav.  It's a good workout, but the three older boys do it with ease now.

Jopie had a bit of a hard time.  

But Chris didn't let him quit.  I'm happy Chris pushed him.  I would have let him get down after a few minutes of him in a total panic, but Chris pushed him along.  Jopie was proud of himself at the end :)

I found his faces hilarious.  

Nathan thought it took too long.

This was superhero night.  I made them all capes in a random Martha Stewart moment before we left.

Nathan was sooo excited to wear his Superman PJ's.

This is Whitney, the one who Nathan announced was his "girlfriend" halfway through the week :)

And then there's lots of pool fun.  We spent most of our afternoons here.

Just a side note to let you know how Nathan worked the pool crowd.  On the way to and from the high dive, he would talk to no less than three people.  He gets his people skills from his father, not from me.  I prefer to hide behind a book or magazine :)  

Holiday night.  Can you tell what holiday we are?

Asher:  President's Day

Graham:  Christmas

Nathan:  Halloween

Joseph:  4th of July

Samuel:  New Year's Eve

This particular night ended with a big storm.  We all had to run inside.  So what else can we do but have a dance party?

Super fun!

We went to Joseph the musical one night.  It was amazing.  Two of our kids were crying when the show ended.  Joseph especially loved it because he thought it was all about him.

The last morning is always happy/sad.  We said goodbye to all of our new friends.

Another one of Nathan's favs.

One of the main reasons we go to camp each year is because of these two.  Meet Niki and Shane, our matchmakers.  They set us up in Branson 14 years ago.  Shane works at camp now so we get to hang out with them and their TEN kids while we are there too.

It was an amazing week.  Thank you, Kanakuk!

And then we hopped in the car and headed north to Minnesota... more fun to come!