Well as most all of you are aware I am the oldest of 7 kids. As you can imagine holidays get pretty crazy, so in an effort to help relaxation at that hectic time of the year...we instituted the Annual Married Sibling Camp Out. We leave a few days after Christmas for 3 or 4 days every year & it's so much fun! As the name implies you must be a married Pope child or the child of a Pope child in order to attend, ofcourse we have made special exceptions such as the return missionaries get to come the year they come home, (Jeff got to come along this year) but only that once! Now some of you may say we're crazy for camping in the winter time, but I have to tell you it is a great time to go. The camp grounds aren't crowded (so we pretty much have run of the camp ground), little to NO BUGS, there are ways to keep your tent toasty warm, and the places we've gone have hot showers & usually heated bathrooms even. As long as there is a place to get warm, I'm GOOD! I digress...this year we went to ALABAMA & had so much fun...as we always do.
We had a great site on the side of a big hill, with the playground right next door and a creek ran inbetween, so cool! The kids had a blast building a dam (which I am sure all the animals appreciated...not!), going fishing, hiking, playing on the play ground, as well as all the traditional camping activities like smores, campfires, hot cocoa, etc. One day we drove north about 45 miles to go see some caverns only to find out they are closed during the winter. Jeremy felt really bad since he was in charge of the expedition, but figured when he called for information about them the park staff might have mentioned that fact!
There was a really cool playground there as well as a nature trail that we utilized instead.
How many Popes does it take to keep Uncle Jeff in the AIR???
We all pretended to be billy goats and hop from rock to rock on the trail, it was pretty funny!
Arynn & Aunt Laura are the marshmellow twins......Aren't they CUTE!!!!!!!!!!!!
We had a great site on the side of a big hill, with the playground right next door and a creek ran inbetween, so cool! The kids had a blast building a dam (which I am sure all the animals appreciated...not!), going fishing, hiking, playing on the play ground, as well as all the traditional camping activities like smores, campfires, hot cocoa, etc. One day we drove north about 45 miles to go see some caverns only to find out they are closed during the winter. Jeremy felt really bad since he was in charge of the expedition, but figured when he called for information about them the park staff might have mentioned that fact!
There was a really cool playground there as well as a nature trail that we utilized instead.
How many Popes does it take to keep Uncle Jeff in the AIR???
We all pretended to be billy goats and hop from rock to rock on the trail, it was pretty funny!
Arynn & Aunt Laura are the marshmellow twins......Aren't they CUTE!!!!!!!!!!!!
After we were done camping we drove on to Castor, LA to visit Mammaw Patti & Popples (Adam's mom & step dad). It's always fun to stay at their house in the WOODS! But the highlight of the trip is always Mammaw Patti's HUGE Jacuzzi Bathtub! Can't leave her house with going for a SWIM!
