The Miller Family Camps

Several, SEVERAL years ago I was listening to the radio & a segment came on that was about healthy families...it may have been a Focus on the Family spot, I honestly do not remember. There was an expert talking about families & sharing stories of families he studied. He said that of all the research & interviewing he had done there was only one thing that was common across the spectrum. All the healthy/good/engaged/successful families camped. He stated that he didn't know if this was a direct result of their time spent camping but it was too big of a correlation to ignore & therefore he had started taking his family camping. I have remembered that for so long...don't know why but for some reason it just stuck with me.

When Josh & I started dating one of the things that I found attractive about him was that he was genuine. He had hiking boots & backpack equipment because he hiked & backpacked...he wasn't (& still isn't) an outdoors poser. Since getting married & having children he has looked forward to taking them camping. Talk about the providence of the Lord to join the two of us together...a guy who likes to camp & a girl who heard & remembered a radio segment (probably when I was in high school) about camping being good for families. (Sidebar - there are many, many more reasons I know the Lord was looking out for us & had a plan for us to marry but I won't go into that on this post!)

Well, we took our first family camping trip the last weekend in April. Josh took that Friday off & we headed up to Devil's Fork State Park.

Josh gets our tent set up while the boys check out the campsite. This mainly consisted of Josh figuring out how to fit our rather large 6 man tent onto a smallish tent pad & Sam & Troy playing in the dirt. I took pictures & handed Josh tent stakes.

Once the tent was set up we had lunch & then put the kids down for their naps. Josh is explaining tent etiquette...no shoes in the tent AT ALL.


As you can probably guess, Sam & Troy were too keyed up to sleep. They had books to look at but their favorite thing was to jump on all the therma-rests...I think they thought it was like jumping on the bed.

I had some time to get my book on. Ahh, reading in a camp chair, can it get any better?

Yes it can...Josh cooked supper! We had grilled chicken, grilled corn on the cob, & fried potatoes & onions. What a feast!

We sat around our campfire after it got dark. The boys loved roasting marshmallows & playing with their new flashlights.

After a somewhat restful night (Sam woke up once & I lost count with Troy after #4...Josh of course was on the outside of the sleeping area & was blissfully unaware of anyone waking up) we had breakfast - Josh made pancakes (which made up for him not waking up with the kids during the night) & we headed to the playground.

Both the boys had a blast sliding & swinging.

Sam mastered climbing up the slide.

Troy, still working on it.

After the playground we went on a little hike. We stopped to throw rocks in the water...Josh helps Sam with his form.

His lessons paid off.

I made them go get on these rocks for a "manly" picture.

And now, it's time for them to get back on the shore.

After walking around the lake we headed into the woods on the "Oconee Bell" trail. We missed the blooming of this rare wildflower by about 4 weeks but it was a nice hike anyway.

Troy of course had the best spot. About halfway into the hike Sam got tired so Josh, being the genuine outdoor guy that he is, slung Sam on his shoulders. That's right, he had both boys on his back at the same time.

We hiked back to our campsite for lunch & naps. We must have worn Sam & Troy out because they both fell asleep & I got to nap in the hammock! Once everyone woke up we packed the car & headed home...just in time to miss the big rain storm! We had a great first family camping trip & are looking forward to the next one. Any suggestions for our next camping spot?