We went camping with several other home school families at Rocky Neck State Park.

A view of our entire campsite. This shot was taken from the bathhouse, close but not too close to the bathrooms. It was the perfect spot for our family.

All the families in our group were situated around the outside of one circle. We "shared" a field that backed up to all our sites.

A view into our "two bedroom" tent.

Our site was five minutes from the beach, so we went once on Friday, once on Saturday.

Avril was fearless of the water. We had to watch her close or she would have crawled in head first or I guess I should say, she did crawl in head first, so we had to stop her before she went in too far.

Norah "swimming."

Don't worry, Dad. It only looks deep. She was really standing and pushing her arms out and back. The water only came up to her chest for a hundred yards out.

Baby's first taste of sand. No kidding. I snapped this picture just as she brought her hand to her mouth for the first time.

Norah made fast friends with a little girl from the site "next door," also five years old, also a homeschooler. We had her "over" for breakfast one day and Smores the next night. It was so pleasant to be around another five year old who seemed to bring out the very best in Norah all weekend. The two of them rode their bikes together around the big circle, single file. They helped each other look out for cars. And, this little girl told incredible stories. I was so impressed with her ability to communicate and had to wonder, "Is this what Norah seems like to other people?!"

This teenager, also home schooled, set up her art supplies under a tree. She let Norah come and sit and draw with her for hours. I had a great time chatting with this girl in front of the campfire, too. She is an aspiring writer, so we had a lot in common.

The board walk leading to the beach.

Norah found and brought home this huge clam shell.

She collected all the seed weed she could find and piled it by our feet.

We bought a beach umbrella (for the baby, of course) and packed a picnic.

Dwayne plays with the girls on the water's edge.

Avril loved to sit in this muddy puddle and tear down the drip castles her dad and Norah made.

Avril's seat. We had to improvise.

We managed to teach Norah the importance of keeping the zippers shut. Here, she is getting dressed one morning and needs to talk to us from inside the tent.

I love Dwayne's camp coffee. It's the only coffee I ever drink.

She's too big for his lap, but that doesn't mean the love stops.

The youngest kids, including Norah, collected money from all over and managed to get a lemonade out of the machine. They shouted hoorays and came racing across the field with it held high like a trophy. They were so proud of themselves. We split the lemonade for them three ways in plastic cups.

Scrambled eggs and toast on the last morning.

Exhausted.