With the warmer weather arriving in Arizona, it was time to go camping. We made reservations, packed up the Sportsmobile and headed south to 75 degree weather. Our campsite was located outside of Sedona on Oak Creek Canyon. The first weekend we went with our friends the Dougans. (They went to Mexico with us) They are one of the best families ever to go vacationing with as they are so laid back and easy to be around. The kids all tried their hand at fishing. The boys collected firewood, went on adventures and played a lot of soccer and football. Kelly, Chad and I took turns cooking and so it truly felt like a bit of a vacation. One day we also went into Sedona and went for a nice hike. The sky was blue, the rocks were red and the kids had a lot of energy to expell. We stayed for 2 nights and headed back mid-week so Balin could get some work done before we headed out the following Friday for another two nights of camping with a couple of other friends at the same campground.
The following weekend we went with 3 other couples, the Coffmans, the Garashas and the DeVitos for another great outing. Perrin had her best friend Faith as a playmate and Sam tagged along with the girls as they sought out adventures at the playground, duck pond and the muddy river bank. Faith ended up spending the night in our camper and did surprisingly well. Her parents were leaving that afternoon so we kept Faith another night without parents. It was really fun and all the kids did surprisingly well. The weekend differed from the previous one as we were in a different part of the campground that was more park like and open. The boys played a game of baseball with the kids, we all went fishing, kayaking, ate a lot of good food, took a nap and actually got a chance to read a couple of pages in my book. It was great! I have to admit though that once I'm camping I have a great time, but any mom would testify that getting ready to go and cleaning up from camping is a lot of work and can sometimes color the desire to go. I was tired from the first weekend and almost wanted to stay home from the second weekend but in the end I was glad we went as it turned out to be relaxing and great memories.
Sam and Perrin loved being in the "sucky" mud. 
Our friends brought their kayak and Balin took the kids for a spin. Sam loved it.
We took my sister's son Jack who had a great time catching and eating crawdads.
Pepe hanging out near the river. 
Sam at the campgrounds playset. 
Sam and Balin fishin'. They didn't catch much.
Sam checking out the crawdads that were caught. 
Perrin using her "eagle eyes" on our hike in Sedona.
All the kids on the hike in Sedona. 
Sam, Riley and Kaden in Sedona.
Perrin driving the sportsmobile.
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