Bethany North Camp Out

It's time for the Annual Bethany North Camp Out!

They moved the camp out from Whidbey Island up to Lake Stevens this year, which made for a much easier commute.

We stopped at One Cup for a treat before hitting the road.

The camp is amazing, they have miles of trails, a dirt bike track, RC Cars, Go Carts, Jumping Pillow, zip line, etc.

The weather this summer has been amazing, no question.  So, one would assume that the weather the last weekend of August would also be nice, right?

Not so much...

We were warned Friday night that someone had heard that the storm coming in that night was supposed to be one of the biggest storms seen in this area in recent history.  Sounds like a great time to be sleeping in tents and playing outside.

It POURED down rain the whole night, but we were fortunately warm & dry in the motorhome.  The kids loved splashing in the puddles.

We spent some of the morning checking out some of the things to do.  Unfortunately, Parker was a little timid to try much out, but he had a great time going from place to place.

Cecily woke up super cranky, which is why she was napping by 11am:

I spent most of the morning sitting outside the motorhome reading a book, I'm not complaining.

By afternoon, the wheels were starting to come off the retreat.  The winds made them shut down the high-ropes activities, and by 1pm the campground had lost power (and water, and sewer).

We spent most of the afternoon waiting to see if they would send us home, but they got the generators going and most of us stuck it out.  We had a low-key dinner in the dark and a nice chapel service without all the electric bells & whistles we usually require.  They also still had the annual talent show Saturday night.  Cecily was continuing the cranky/sleepy attitude she'd had all weekend, so I missed the talent show to put her down, but I heard it was amazing.

Later, everyone came up to the fire pit by the motorhome and made smores.  Nothing creates memories quite like roasting marshmallows in the POURING rain.

On paper, this was the worst possible camping trip, but for those who "survived" we really had a great time and the kids are going to remember this trip for a long time.

As soon as we got home, Cecily changed back into her "normal" clothes.