Oh blog of mine, I am so sorry for neglecting you. I have had such grand visions of what you would be. I saw you as a place to record our camping adventures, share our nature excursions, and provide camping tips and recipes. I started you in the Spring excited about all the camping trips and outdoor excursions on our calendar. Then Summer came and the boys were off school and everyday was filled with playing and exploring. Little time was spent at the computer. Now here we are smack in the middle of Fall! We spent the first day of Autumn camping with dear friends and have spent many days outside tromping around admiring the changing colors and collecting treasures for our nature table. This blog has begun to feel like a scrapbook that I'm way behind on! However I haven't given up hope on it entirely. All of our adventures have been documented with my Nikon and/or my iPhone which brings me to the title of this post: Instagram Love! My Nikon pictures are all on memory cards or stored on an external hard drive but my phone pics are in a place where they can be seen and shared! Hooray for Instagram and Hooray for it's new web profiles! You can now view mine by clicking here or on the picture above and see that yes, we have been busy!

Maybe this Winter I will play catch up when it's cold and darker outside.
 
Who am I kidding?! The winter days will be spent with the boys and my husband outside on long Winter walks, throwing rocks onto frozen puddles of water, playing in falling snow and following animal tracks to see where they lead. 

But maybe, just maybe I'll sit at the computer and tell stories of a campout or two and share my moms recipe for camping bagels that we make for every camping trip. 

 So please do come back here but, in the meantime check out my Instagram feed and see what adventure we're on today!
 
 
I haven't forgotten my blog. In fact I've thought about it quite a lot. I've even been camping since my last post and made lists about what I'd post here. But for me thinking and doing are two different things! Summer has now come and gone with lots of outdoor fun and new, happy and distracting dreams for our families future. I'm not ready to give up on this blogging adventure. And hopefully by simply posting this tonight I will motivate myself to post again tomorrow. I can do this!
 
 
Have I got a summer soundtrack for you! It is an instant family camping classic! My husband heard a review of the Okee Dokee Brothers latest album Can You Canoe on NPR and being the wise man he is downloaded it from iTunes before the review was even over.  He knew I would flip for it and boy was he right.   It is the perfect music to play in the car on the long drive to a camping adventure and has the perfect songs to learn for singing around the campfire.  My husband already has the title track down on guitar and I happily have the song playing on repeat in my head. Every song on it is a treasure.  I like to think that twenty years from now these songs  will instantly transport my boys back to this special, happy, simple time of family camping and discovering the wonders of the natural world.
The catchy title track:
All this video needs is a Bell Tent! :
 A fun look at the birth of a beautiful song:
 
 
 
 
Yesterday we went for a walk in the rain. It was a wonderful warm rain that never let up. What started as a light sprinkle turned into a complete downpour and we couldn't have been happier! We all had our rainboots and hats on and the boys had their nets for exploring the streams and shallow lake water. Our senses were awakened in every way. Our eyes took in the brilliant greens while our ears heard the sound of rain falling on leaves and the lake. Our tongues tasted honeysuckle and caught raindrops while our noses smelled the freshness of the air and the earthiness of the wet ground. But I think the best part for all of us was feeling the drops on our bare arms and legs knowing were getting soaked and not caring. It felt so good to just walk in a downpour and not be running to get out of it. It was just me and my boys fully experiencing the moment together. We were invigorated and happy!
 
 
So I signed up for my second e-course created by the fantastic Susannah Conway. It is called Exploring the Senses and coincides with the release of her new book This I Know. I'm excited for my copy to arrive this week. In the meantime I'm happy to be diving into my class assignments! It will be a fun month focusing on my senses through photography and journaling.  The timing could not be better.  My oldest son is finished with kindergarten this week so we'll be spending all of our days (and nights!) together soaking up the world around us with all of our senses and finding answers to the questions that arise. 
 
 
  There are a number of things in life that are hard to do without smiling.   Tap dancing, chasing butterflies, and trying to jump over ocean waves are all things that fall into that category for me.  Another is hula hooping. 
  While at Del Fest we found ourselves captivated by hula hoopers! They were scattered all around the concert meadow grooving to the music while spinning a hula hoop in a variety of ways.  Their techniques and skills altered my perception of what hula hooping is.  On the rare occasions in my past when I have used a hula hoop I would merely try (often unsuccessfully) to keep it spinning around my waist.  Since the festival I have been intrigued by the possibilities and so yesterday I did a "how to hula hoop" search and came across this gem of a youtube video.  I dare you to watch it without smiling. Then I dare you to go out and get yourself a hula hoop and give it a spin!
 
 
  We are back from Del Fest, where for 4 days our bell tent became a "Del" tent! 

  Camping at a music festival is a very different experience than a peaceful/ back to nature campout. We chose to put the focus on the positives of great music, fun organized activities for the kids, and the camaraderie of our like minded neighbors in the family camp.  Then we tried our best to ignore the rowdy late night crowds stumbling by our tent and the flood light that we inadvertently set up camp by that shined like daylight into our tent all night long.
  The nights were quickly forgotten each morning as the fun of a new day began.  There was a stream to explore with nets and buckets, the Potomac River to splash in, puppet parades to march in, and amazing bluegrass music to provide a soundtrack all weekend long.
  We got a whole lot of compliments and questions about our tent.  We heard it called a teepee and "the Taj Mahal of tents"! A number of people stopped to ask what it was and to get a tour. Some even took down the name of the company we bought ours from!  We are so happy with our tent and already planning our next camping adventure (of the peaceful nature variety).
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The "Taj Mahal of tents"
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click on the above picture to check out the great Etsy shop Art To Go where I bought my beautiful flags
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The boys favorite spot
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New talents were discovered in the music meadow!
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My very own handsome puppeteer!
 
 
I'm busy planning and packing for our first big adventure! We've taken the bell tent out once before for a brief overnight camp out but this will be our first extended trip in it. We are headed to Del Fest! It's a fantastic music festival put on by bluegrass legend Del McCoury. We bought our passes back in January and can't believe it's finally here!  I'm looking forward to sharing our experience here when we get back.  In the meantime check out the link http://delfest.com/ 
Maybe you'll be inspired come join the fun and I'll see you there. :)
 
 
To help kick start this blog, my dear friend and professional photographer Susan O'Connor of www.prettypetalstudio.com came over for a photo session of us and our bell tent. The beautiful pictures you see here are from that fun evening. I have been so fortunate to have such a talented friend supporting me in my endeavor.  If you ever need a wedding photographer, a portrait taken or an amazing piece of photographic fine art for your wall check out her website!
To see more pictures from this happy afternoon check out Susan's blog post!