Camping at Indiana Dunes

Matt and I prepped ourselves for the possibility of getting no sleep and set off to take our family of four camping for the first time. (Skylie camped out once as a toddler.)

How'd it go?

I loved it! I'm already planning our next camp out.

Friday morning we drove 2 1/2 hours north to Chesterton, Indiana to the beaches of Lake Michigan. The beaches are beautiful and the sand is great! That evening we checked out the marina area in nearby Michigan City, Indiana.

(Please excuse the poor quality pictures and videos. My camera was stolen a few months ago, so we are sporting our not-so-hot camera phone for now.)

This is at the first of two beaches that we played. Not bad for Indiana. The beach in Michigan City looked even better. No rocks.

 

A few videos of my crazies playing in the water. This first one is my favorite.

• We camped at Dunewood Campground--a quiet, lush area one mile from the beach.
• Roasting hot dogs and s'mores, and getting lots and lots of sand off our bodies filled our evening. 
• Four people sleeping on a deflating queen air mattress inside a two-man tent was the toughest part of the trip. But all things considered, it couldn't have gone smoother!

• Saturday we took the kids on a 3.75 mile hike in Indiana Dunes State Park, checked out the nature center, and played on the play areas.
• Rain and cool temperatures prompted us to forgo the beach in the afternoon, but five minutes into our drive home Skylie had fallen asleep. Hiking wore both girls out.

*****

I know the things my kids say are probably only funny to me, but I like to remember them, so here's a funny one from Skylie:

Skylie grew tired on our hike. In an effort to keep her moving I said,"Let's hurry to make sure Daddy and Kaitlyn are okay."

Skylie, unconcerned, "I think they got eaten by a bird."

 She continued crawling through the sand like a dinosaur.

A few minutes later Skylie looked up, pointed at a bird in the sky, and explained, "That bird ate them."

Seems she's not too concerned about her parents since the previous night she nonchalantly remarked to Matt that "If mosquitoes eat Mommy, you'll have to take care of me."