Do the Earth

"I love it more than Christmas."

That's my oldest son's reaction when asked if he likes going on our annual camping trip over Labor Day weekend. I think I agree. It's a tradition in my family that goes back about 30 years. Some of my best memories as a kid come from our Labor Day camping excursions. I'm not even sure why. It was always hot. Or raining. Lot of bugs. Poison ivy. Burnt food. Cold showers. Hard beds. Cramped quarters. More bugs. Despite all the shunning of creature comforts, I looked forward to that trip all year long. I still do.

Apparently it's good for you, though.

Our family needs to do it more often. Lately, we only make it out twice a year. Next year I'd like to double that. It's a lot of work to pack up five kids and take them camping, but they really do love it. The list of benefits (especially for children) from spending time outdoors is growing. In Japan, they even have a concept called Shinrin-yoku, which translates to "forest bathing." It's considered a form of therapy and has been shown to decrease cardiovascular disease, lower heart rate and blood pressure, decrease cortisol and increase white blood cell counts. One study showed that a two night trip to a forest resulted in increased human natural killer (NK) cell activity, increased number of NK cells, and increased intracellular anti-cancer proteins with the effects lasting for more than a week afterwards for both men and women. So if the elements and poison ivy don't get you, spending time outdoors can have a real and significant impact on our health.

My kids won't mention the health benefits when they talk about how much they love our annual camping trip. It's fun for them. There's a certain freedom that comes with our week in the woods every year. I can see it in their eyes the moment they step out of the car. Freedom from schedules. Freedom from staying clean. Freedom from electronic screens. Freedom from boredom.

Here are some of my favorite photos from our 2014 trip.

My cousin organized an "obstacle course" for the kids. It was a blast.

It was competitive to say the least.

Sometimes it takes a few years to get promoted from the kiddie table.

Luckily this fella was behind glass.

Experienced hiker. No biggie.

The rocks were GINORMOUS.

Epic canyon hike. Felt like a lost world.

View from above.

Lots to explore.

It took a sharp eye to discover this little guy.

Just dangerous enough to get the heart pumping.

Highly recommended hike in Indiana.

Campsite clothes dryer.

The grown ups got to pretend we were 20 years younger than we really are.

Build a Bigger Iceberg

I took some of the kids camping this weekend (mom stayed home with a sick child and a homebody). We go camping around this time most years. It's freezing cold outside and it's my favorite time to camp. It's the kind of camping where a fire isn't just for looks or roasting marshmallows -- it's for keeping your toes from going numb. The campground is mostly empty and there isn't a bug to be found. It feels just a bit more survivalist and that makes it all the more invigorating.

This was a fairly cold one. The low was 26º and the high was 40º. The kids were completely unfazed and hats and coats somehow managed to become optional. (How do such little bodies with so little insulating fat maintain so much heat?) We were well fed with food and drink that warmed from the inside. The peacefulness of it all was amplified by the cool air and nearly bare trees. We had no choice but to unwind. And, the best part, there was no talk of movies, video games and cell phones.

The water couldn't have been more than 35 degrees.

My grandfather built this killer campfire rig in his shop.
My kids never met him, but they're impressed with his work.

While this may look like chopping firewood, in reality it was
getting the splitter caught in a log. Repeatedly.

The cold was for real.

Cold weather camping bonus: No need for ice!

Junior sausage chef.

Biker heaven.

November Camping

If the weather cooperates, most years we take a short camping trip during the first weekend of November. To me, perfect camping weather requires jeans and a sweatshirt during the day and bundling up in a heavy sleeping bag at night. That's pretty much what we got this year. Unfortunately, my perfect camping weather is inappropriate for the two and under crowd, but, fortunately, this meant Jameson and I got to spend some time with just each other.

The scenery was beautiful and the hikes were nice, but the highlight of the weekend was lying in the tent at night with Jameson pondering the mysteries of life. I can barely recall what was said, but I can clearly remember the smile that wouldn't leave my face. It was a smile that arose from a remarkable mix of pride, whimsy, admiration, awe and endearment. Nights like those are nourishment for the soul. Oh, and watching Jameson pee on a tree like a man was cool, too.

Peace, Love and Roasted Marshmallows

Labor Day weekend is when my extended family holds its annual family camping trip. Supposedly (I don't know who's doing the record keeping), next year will be the 25th such trip. It's probably my favorite family event. Making fires, playing euchre, drinking beer and eating hotdogs for breakfast, lunch and dinner are all activities that are in my proverbial wheelhouse. With it being the 25th anniversary and all, I'm expecting all Murphys to be in attendance next year so you can pretty much assume that I'm looking forward to it as of right now. I'm guessing that altogether next year we'll occupy no less than twenty campsites.

With Darwin only being 12 days old, we decided against partaking in the camping this year, but we did make day trips down to the campground on Friday and Sunday. The kids had an excellent time and we felt bad taking off for home both nights. Next year, we'll do the real thing.

Staying dry was one motivation for skipping the overnight tent accommodations. There was ample rainfall Sunday morning and more than a couple campers (and their gear) got soaked. We didn't totally escape the water, though. While we arrived after the rain had stopped, there were copious amounts of standing water for the kids to explore. And by explore, I mean dive into. There was too much water to realistically keep the kids out of it, so I just gave in and accepted the fact that I was going to be dealing with very, very dirty children all day. It was worth it simply for the fact that this may have been the single greatest day of Truman's two years of existence.












The remainder of these photos were taken by Jameson. I always like to get his (three feet off the ground) perspective on things. The first photo, with all the chairs in the circle, is pretty much what comes to mind when I think of our family camping trips. Lots of chatting, story telling, joking and catching up.

Irish Catholics

I just came across this picture from our last family camping trip. Man, there were a lot of kids there last year. A lot. If there's one thing you can say about the Murphy clan, it's that we like big families. Or like makin' babies. Or we're crazy.

It doesn't look like we'll be making the trip this year since we'll probably be in a hospital delivering another baby. You know, we're just doing our part to over populate the planet. And keep camping trips crazy and fun.