Our Family Camp Experience

During the first week of Iain's 2 week semester break, we had the opportunity to go to Forest Home Family Camp. Forest Home is a Christian camp located about 2 hours from us in the beautiful San Bernadino Mountains. What an amazing time we had. I can not say enough about how well they run the camp! They offer endless opportunities for fun family and couple time.

So, here is how the day went. In the morning after breakfast Iain and I dropped each of the kids off at their own class and then attended a morning seminar together. The afternoons were spent together as a family enjoying many different activites. They had mini golf, swimming, play grounds, art, fishing, a merry-go-round, a cafe, a game room, a zip line, a rock wall and a GREAT Christian bookstore. Each family was assigned a personal babysitter for the whole week!! So, after dinner, the kids went with her. She took them around camp to continue playing until about 8:30. Then she brought them back and put them to bed. Iain and I had the whole night to ourselves until 11:00!! Normally we went to the evening talk and then afterwards hung out in the cafe with our friends. There were 4 couples there from Test Pilot school, we had a BLAST hanging out with them.

I enjoyed the whole week, but a few things stick out as my favorites. One night at about 9:00, we went and got the kids from the sitter and took them on a night hike down to the creek. We had so much fun, flashlights out, light sweaters on and plenty of bug spray..... Once we got down to the creek we spread out our blanket, turned off the flashlights and took in the amazing night sky. Afterwards we headed to the cafe for hot chocolate and snacks! It was 11:30 before we got to bed that night and I loved it. Another thing that I loved was the Christian bookstore. This was a fully stocked bookstore, and we don't have anything like it in our area. Abbie and I spent way too much money in there on books. One afternoon we all went in there during free time. Iain, Abbie, Will and I all grabbed books and headed to the couches to read. Mollie and Emma grabbed some stuffed animals and played next to us. We stayed there for a good 2 hours just hanging out together relaxing. Finally, I loved the FOOD! Yes, this was not your typical camp food. They employ a gourmet chef and he was really wonderful. I even got to attend a cooking class of his while I was there!!

It gets even better (if you are military, that is). Forest Home offers a military scholarship where enlisted families can go for just $100 for the whole week and officers go for 50% off! WOW!! We were so thankful for this week away and we look forward to going again next summer. Who wants to join us?