Welcome To The World Of Williams: Lucas' 4th Birthday Bash!

Friday morning, Tony emailed me at work to say that we were going to head to Lake Anna, VA camping as soon as I got home. It was supposed to be in the 60s and any little boy would love a surprise birthday camping trip! Tony had the outdoor gear ready and in the truck by the time I got there. I got changed and packed my and the kids' stuff and was in the truck in 19 minutes... pretty impressive if I do say so myself!!!

We went a different route than normal in an attempt to bypass DC traffic. It worked, but we still didn't make it before it got dark. Luckily, Tony just got some nifty lights that made setting up in the dark much easier...

After getting set up, we got a fire going... it was freezing! We think the lows got into the upper 20s. Brrr!!! Usually, Charlotte sleeps in her own little corner of the tent. Once we came to bed and realized how cold it was, we scooped her up and brought her to bed with us. She's never slept in a bed before, but handled it just fine. Tony, Lucas, and Lottie slept while I stayed awake til almost 3 a.m. freezing to death even though we had 3 sleeping bags and at least 5 blankets.

Saturday morning was still pretty cold. We grilled hot dogs for breakfast, then played around the campsite a bit.

Then, we took a walk down the path towards the lake. We stopped for a minute to listen to Lucas' lecture at the outdoor podium. He hopped right up there and began to yell "I believe..." followed by some silly saying... Like "I believe round pizzas fall from trees" or "I believe poop smells bad".

We eventually made it down to the playground by the lake.

Then, back to the campsite.

Lucas got in a good bit of bike riding... It was great, as there were only about 3 other people camping. In the summer when it's crowded, there are tons of cars around all the time. But with nobody around, Lucas could ride his bike all over the camp loops. He did a fantastic job... There were some hills and turns, but he loved riding "laps"! Lottie thoroughly enjoyed being carted around too...

After some hard bike riding, it was time for some relaxation in the swing.

Of the 3 other people camping, one turned out to be a group of disc golfers. Go figure! Tony and they made an impromptu course out of the campground, where instead of aiming for chain baskets, they aimed for fire pits. It worked and turned out to be tons of fun!

After dinner, we had to break out the glow sticks and go for a walk... Wouldn't be a camping trip without glowsticks...

After the walk, Lucas stated that he was ready to go to bed... I started to get nervous.... Lottie was going to have to sleep in the bed too... It was only 7:30 - way too early for us to go to bed with them. She'd never been put to bed in a real bed, especially with another little kid... Turns out I had nothing to worry about. They didn't move a muscle after I put them down, and when we came to bed, this is what we saw... Isn't it the CUTEST THING EVER?!?!?

Luckily, this night wasn't nearly as cold as Friday night, so we all got some decent sleep. Sunday morning we played some and packed up for home. We stopped at The Grange, hoping to play 1/2 round of disc golf to wear the kids out so they'd sleep all the way home... No luck - the course was closed. But we did stop for a minute to say hi to Cricket the dog!

After getting back, we played the game of unload, unpack, clean, and grocery shop. Fun! Mommom and Pop came over later to have a mini-celebration with us for Lucas' 4th birthday!!! He requested strawberry ice cream and cupcakes - chocolate cake and green icing... with pirate cupcake papers.