Last night I took the time to go through my photos from our weekend camping and uploaded a bunch of them. One of my favorites is this one

Taking the family into Franconia Notch and walking around as the sun rose over the mountains really gave me a sense of peace and happiness. I have fond memories of doing these things growing up and I hope the kids look back and someday remember them as well.

We got up there on Friday and instantly set up the tent and screen house. No sooner did we do this then the sky opened up and we had thunder and lightning. Typical mountain downpour in the summer that lasted about 20 minutes but we were glad that we had the typical Chapman timing on our side. We decided dinner out was in order and hit a little steak and seafood place. Dylan wanted lobster and I got a nice filet with crab claws which were not that great, but the steak rocked and Dylan didn't want his tail. Mmmmm...

Saturday we headed into the notch in the morning since nothing was opened yet. We stopped by The Basin and walked around there. The kids were not into the idea at first, but once they got out there and I asked, "so do you want to take off your sandals and walk in the river" they loved it. My feet were screaming in pain as I walked out in the water to get some shots, but it was ALL worth it.

We spent the majority of the day at Clark's Trading Post. I still can't believe Laura had never been so we hit everything. We all got good laughs at the bear show and the train ride was a lot of fun. Ice cream, candle dipping and bumper boats with built in squirt guns will always be remembered. Since we had some day left we hit a mini golf course afterwards. Both kids were acting up so this got a little stressful but in normal fashion we just sort of rolled with it.

Sunday we planned on hitting Lost River and then heading home but as we drove up the mountain to get there visibility went to none and soon it was pouring rain. The kids did some mining for gemstones and then we hit the road home. A quick stop at Shorty's (gotta love the beans!) in Nashua and then we were home relaxing.

It was a great weekend. Definitely needed and SO glad we went!