Tuesday, July 4, 2017

The 4th of July Camping Trip!

Hello future readers!

Happy Independence Day!

This has been a super holiday! Raychel invited me, Susan and Robyn to go on a camping trip on the 4th of July! Isn't that groovy! Raychel's older brother Randy had the flu (man is that ever a drag in the summer!), so he stayed home with their mom, while Raychel's dad drove us out to the woods just outside of Springfield to go camping. We unpacked the car and set up our tents.












Raychel's dad set up his tent a little ways away from us. After we finished setting up, we were deciding what to do next.



It was starting to get dark, so Robyn wanted to go hunt for fireflies. Outta site!



"You guys go ahead. I'm gonna stay here and get stuff ready for dinner."

I knew the real reason Susan didn't want to come with us; she isn't too crazy about bugs.



"OK Susan, we'll see ya in a little while."




 After Mr. Shaunessy warned us not to get lost, we walked down the trail where we could see little flickering lights in the bushes and plants.



"What are we gonna put the fireflies in once we catch'em?" Raychel wanted to know.
"I brought my bug jar." Robyn told her. "Let's start looking."





"Hey here's one!" I yelled.


"I found another one!", Robyn called out.



"I got one too!" Raychel said.

We put them all in Robyn's bug jar. They were so pretty shining all together.





Raychel's stomach started growling, so we headed back to the campsite. Susan found the hot dogs Mr. Shaunessy packed, so we put them on sticks (I think they're called skewers) and roasted them over the fire.



Far out! This reminds me of our backpacking trip at Camp Echo Hill a few years ago. Only the boys aren't here to ruin it with their dumb ole ghost stories!



I don't know why, but hot dogs always taste better with cherry Kool-Aid. It just tastes like summer, yknow? But when you're camping, you gotta call it "bug juice". Suddenly Raychel says,
"I ONE the hot dog."
Susan was next. "I TWO the hot dog."



Followed by Robyn. "I THREE the hot dog."
My turn. "I FOUR the hot dog.



"I FIVE the hot dog."
"I SIX the hot dog."
"I SEVEN the hot dog."
"I EIGHT the hot dog."
Everyone looked at me and said "You ate the hot dog?"
"Yep and it was good too!", I answered and put the last bite in my mouth. HAHAHA! Then Susan grabbed the bag of marshmallows. "Who wants to toast some?"



YAY! What's a camping trip without toasting marshmallows? I like mine really burnt. That makes it super gooey on the inside. I ate 2 of them before we made S'mores.


As we were eating out S'mores we could all hear the sound of frogs and crickets. So I started singing:

"Jeremiah was a bullfrog, (the others joined in)
Was a good friend of mine
I never understood a single word he said
But I helped him drink his wine
And he always had some mighty fine wine."



"Singing Joy to the World
All the boys and girls, now
Joy to the fishes in the deep blue sea
Joy to you and me!"




Raychel's dad said it was almost time for the fireworks to start. The rangers were gonna shoot off fireworks over the lake and we were gonna be able to see them from our campsite! All right!  He gave us sparkler sticks and said he could walk around waving them, just to be careful of the fire pit.





The fireworks were super groovy! The shot off so big, you could almost reach out and touch them! But it was getting late and we were bushed. So all of us hit the sack in our tents. It was a dynamite holiday. I hope yours was just as groovy!





Until next time, future readers,
Your friend,
Julie Newman

8 comments:

  1. Looks like an awesome way to spend the 4th of July! My favorite part of an outdoor fire is the marshmallows, I could eat the whole bag. Probably not a good idea though!

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    1. Thanks Flo! I hope you had a great holiday! I know what you mean about the marshmallows. I had 3 plain marshmallows and 2 S'mores. YUMMY!

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  2. Hi Julie,
    Boy, did this story ever bring back a lot of childhood memories for me! I grew up camping. We went every weekend. My favorite part of camping was the evening campfire. Cooking over an open fire, looking up at the stars, singing "Michael Row Your Boat Ashore", those were such fun times. Hope you didn't get too many mosquito bites.
    Your future friend,
    Fawn

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    1. Hi Fawn,

      I remember learning that song in Music class a couple of years ago. And I usually get bitten between August and September. I don't know why...maybe my "meat" isn't ready until then! *giggle*

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  3. Hey Julie,
    What's this about no ghost stories? No "Three Finger Willy" or "Confederate Soldier"! What are you, a bunch of babies?
    Your friend,
    Turkey

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    1. Yeah Kevin, I know this is you. And I wouldn't talk about being a baby when someone screamed like a little girl at the sight of a hot dog covered with ketchup in his fishing tackle box!

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  4. Hi Big Funny Feet,
    It was so hot and humid here that we decided not to make a campfire and roast weenies, but instead had Kentucky Fried Chicken, corn on the cob and watermelon and ate on the porch. We went to the pool to cool off before dark and then came back for sparklers. With the three hour time difference between the east and west coast, I was probably doing sparklers while you were setting up camp.
    Your Forever Friend,
    Vivienne.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Vivienne,

      It was pretty warm here too, which is why we weren't wearing any jackets in the woods. It sounds like you had a groovy time too.

      Friends Forever,
      Julie

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