Camp Joseph - Sharon, VT

Rather than preparing to spend three weeks in Utah, we decided our time would be better spent with some friends camping in Vermont. I'm glad to say we were right! Camp Joseph is situated next to the monument that commemorates where Joseph Smith was born. Its a nice place even just to go and ride bikes around. We drove up Saturday morning and spent the night in a cute, very little, cabin. By little I mean probably an 8' x 10' space that has two bunk beds and a chair. We managed to put our port-a-crib in between the two bunks, but that's about all the space you have. In total we had nine families, 29 kids. It was amazing to see people rally together to feed that many people, put kids to bed, help find frogs and salamanders, clean up and many other things. I think it was a true sign of being part of a church that teaches us to help one another and also to rely on one another. We were so glad to have gone and on the way home we made mental notes of the things we'll be better at for next year. Here are some of the things we came up with:

1. We will pack more food and beverage. - Once again relying on others for a meal or two.

2. I will bring shoes and socks. - It got a lot cooler than I anticipated. Socks and flip flops are so yesteryear.

3. Remember our camping chairs that we've never really used because in the eight years we've been married I only recall camping maybe twice.

I'm sure there is more but I can't think of them, maybe I should add pen and paper so I can write it down.

It was so much fun to watch the kids play together. They were able to roam free and play and just be kids. I think its a hard thing to be in this day and age of modern conveniences and electronics. I think that kids really forget how to be creative with sticks and dirt. I also loved the "play" that some of the kids performed right before we left.