13th Annual Outing

Every July the Kerpers gather up in beautiful (aka rustic) Northern PA for a family reunion (even though we pretty much see each other all the time anyway...it's just a good excuse to get away).

This year was the 13th annual "Kerper Outing" (named after the outhouse in the woods) and our first experience up there with the 4 kids. We had to stop about 2 hours into the 3 1/2 hour trip to run laps. Seriously.


When we arrived we realized that our cousins had set up a tent the size of our first floor at home (it had a bedroom). Our 5 person tent paled in comparison.


The first morning was dewy and cool - perfect conditions for going salamander hunting. The little critters were out and about and we saw tons of lizards and a few snakes too (ew).


Dean, on the other hand...not so into by the wildlife. Kids are so hard to impress these days.

That afternoon the kids were looking for entertainment, so we fired up the hose and filled some water balloons. The grown ups soon realized that there was a sling shot, so we knocked the kids out of the way so we could have our own fun.

In the midst of all this excitement, Charlie fell onto the pole of The Palace (our cousin's tent) and ended up looking like Nelly for the rest of the trip.

Once the kids got the taste of the hunt, it was off to the mud hole to dive for salamanders. I don't need to tell you how this ended up - use your imagination then multiply that mess by 5.



The fam recently got this hauler / tree-cutting-down-thinger and Eric took some of the crew for a ride. He ended up needing to chop something down in the middle of the path and the kids marveled at his burly manliness (with their hands over their ears).



Here's a picture of the kids (minus the 2 baby munchkins who were inside napping). Just a few years ago we were hanging out with GG trying to kick the keg...now we're chasing after kids and diving into mud puddles.

At least there was still a keg!