The great outdoors

Sorry things have been unusually quite here at the green dragonfly, its summer and we have been busy doing mostly outdoorsy family things. This week we’ve also been camping again.

This time it was a little more rustic than the last, beside the Hikutaia River on my husband’s uncle’s farm just out of Paeroa.

It is a very beautiful spot…

And very peaceful.

Swimming in the river was lovely, especially since the camping spot is right beside a swimming hole which is safe enough (and shallow around the perimeter) for small children. Cold though (hence the wetsuits mid summer)!

The kids spent a lot of time playing in the rocks and just sitting throwing stones in the river…

And searching for rabbits…

What do you mean you can’t see the rabbit?

There was a  swing bridge just up the road which was lots of fun too!

We did a bit of cooking over an open fire, which the kids loved.

Especially dessert…

Straight off the stick.

Or squished between two chocolate Krispie biscuits to make a yummy smores….

One of the great things about camping is that the kids love helping out, and doing chores they wouldnt usually do at home.

My favourite time was later on, once the sun had gone down and it was all quiet… except for the sound of the crackling fire and the river.

We let Maia stay up until it was dark… unfortunately her imagination went into overdrive and she woke up a couple of times during the night scared.  Poor thing!

There’s nothing better than waking up in the morning, and staying snuggled up in your sleeping bag when its still chilly (as you can imagine two kids in a tent means no one gets to sleep in)…

And once the fire is lit, a nice hot Milo! Nice plastic cup, mental note to self… get some new camping mugs.

When we were packing up I showed the kids how to draw using charcoal, which they loved….

Definitely a craft for outdoors! You don’t even want to see what their clothes were like…

Lucky we were going home!

How was your week?