Rassi Family Campout!

I've fallen so behind in blogging our lives...I realized that I HAD to get this family campout post done before too much time goes by, otherwise it would become just another loooooong post that I would put off. :S The 5th? or maybe 6th? annual Rassi Family Campout was a success. And I even remembered to take pictures! Hopefully you still think that's a good thing by the end of this post. :) Greg went early on Friday to start the making the chili over the fire, and the kids and I came along later. Max's weekend started out REALLY fun...Uncle Phil played basketball with him!


Throw it, Max!

Awww, missed. Now you have to pick up the ball again...

...and try again!

I love this picture...if you can't easily tell, it's after Max threw the ball.

This next picture has a story behind it...I don't remember what was happening, but some of the kids were looking pretty cute and Mom, Carmen, and Heather all had their cameras out, taking pictures of them sitting by the fire. Now, my dad (and consequently, pretty much all of my brothers) doesn't like being in front of the camera. He made some remark to Mike, (who was sitting by the fire opposite the cute kids), about "sitting on the right side of the fire, behind the cameras." Poor dad. He didn't know I was behind him. ;)

So Friday night we enjoyed chili, cinnamon rolls, mac and cheese, hot dogs, fruit, carrots and dip, and I'm sure more things that I'm forgetting...yum! After it was dark, the kids did the treasure hunt, which was fun as always.

This year, I opted to sleep inside with Nora since she sometimes wakes up and I heat her up a bottle. I just figured it would be easier. Plus, it freed up space in the pop up so that Mike, Kate, and Lincoln could camp this year!

Saturday morning, people were up and around fairly early, since they were mostly camping in tents. They went right to work fixing breakfast!

Mom started working on the doughnuts

Yes, I snitched. How could you not?

John, Jacob, and Jason worked on frying the bacon.

Nora worked on walking and Hannah worked on following her around. :)


Jason a bit later, working on scrambling the eggs

Breakfast consisted of bacon, eggs (scrambled and fried), doughnuts, fruit, caramel rolls, and once again, I'm sure more that I'm forgetting. Needless to say, it was quite delicious. :)


(Just ask Lincoln!) :)

The kids pretty much always play together great. As usual, the SandMaster 440 was a big hit. Silas loved being the manager, making sure all the beans were getting in the truck, etc. Max liked watching, and Jack liked turning the crank for the conveyor belt.

The operation begins...

Max (of course in his adorable King Max suit), looks on.

Who says only boys can play with beans and dump trucks? Hope wanted a turn, too! :)

I told Hope I loved her outfit, so she let me take a picture of her.

This one's a bit blurry, but I love Jack's expression. Definitely a 'Jack' face. :)

We had a surprise guest this year to the campout...cousin Sam! It was great seeing you again, Spamuel! :) Thanks for coming!

A shot of the campfire/set up. The tan tent is Phil and Caleb's, the blue one is Jason and Jack's. Behind me, (not pictured) is our pop up, and to the left (not pictured) were John's tent and Chad and Laurie's tent.

One of the prizes in the treasure chest was bottles of bubbles! Max and Hannah had to try theirs out.

He couldn't quite get it. :)

Hannah, on the other hand, was a bubble blower extraordinare!

I just love her cheeks. :)

While Max and Hannah were busy blowing bubbles (or trying to), Lincoln was busy trying to clean up....outside.

Way to sweep up that nature, Linc! :)

Grace did a great job at entertaining/babysitting some of the younger kids. She even made Kate a cornhusk doll!

Cute!

The kids started getting antsy before lunch was ready, so another treasure box toy was brought out: Playdough!

I think the objects of choice to make were...cookies. :)

Lunch was great! Dad grilled ribeyes for ribeye sandwiches and burgers. I can't even remember what all else we had, but, once again, it was so good. Laurie had brought pie for dessert, so once the birthday people were served, it was time to sing!

Michael, Kate, John, Joel, Caleb, and Nora (we did Aug., Sept., and Oct. bdays)

Nora and the REAL birthday boy...Caleb turned 16 that Saturday! I can't hardly believe my 'little' brother (who is taller than me) is 16. No driver's license yet, but he doesn't have too many driving hours left before he gets it!

We left the campout around 3:00 to get the kids down for naps. I was nervous that they wouldn't be long enough, since we had plans that night at 5:00. I know, we pack our days pretty full sometimes. Paulo and Roseli had still never met Elena yet, so they invited the whole family over for supper. As always, Paulo grilled some awesome meat, Roseli made her amazing beans and rice and chocolate balls! As if we hadn't eaten enough over the weekend, we definitely were stuffed after that!

To work off some of the food, Paulo set up the Wii so we could play it. First of all, Greg and Paulo competed at tennis.

It's so hard to get a really good action shot...I'm not that good with our camera yet.

Then Greg played Mom. (Mom won! But in Greg's defense, he was a lefty using a righty controller.) ;)

Dad Beutel LOVES boxing, so of course that had to be next.

Get 'em!!! He was actually pretty good. :) Even despite Max rolling up the carpet on him, as you can see here. Max was ready to go home.

Knock out!

I don't have pictures up here, but Sheila and Greg both boxed, plus they played bowling and golf. Overall, it was a super fun weekend with family and friends. We are so blessed!