I keep psyching myself up to camp in a tent. I love to travel with the kids, and we could go on bigger adventures on our tiny budget if I could just get in a tent. I have anxiety, and camping along with the kids terrifies me. I don’t know if I will ever be brave enough to camp alone with the kids, but thanks to a great homeschool group, I have camped in a tent with the kids.

On Sunday afternoon we packed up the car for a night at Elk Rock State Park. We had the youth group area, so we were a short drive away from the main campsites (you know, the fancy ones with electrical hook ups and toilets).

It was a small group, with four families staying over night. Two of the families had kids close in age to my kids, an they all had a ball together.

The other moms were great. They are the kind of moms that I would want to hang out with even if it wasn’t for the kids or homeschool stuff. I loved sitting around the campfire talking to them while the kids played. We even had wine in little plastic cups. It doesn’t get any better than that.

It was cold at night. I was thankful for good camping gear. We slept in hats. In the morning we had breakfast, sipped coffee, and headed to visit the Peace Tree.

I’m bummed that I just discovered how fun camping is with a group. I don’t want to have to wait until next year to get back to the campground.

The kids and I just finished Little House in the Big Woods, so we decided to go visit Pepin, WI and Laura Ingalls Wilder’s birthplace.

We visited the museum in town and visited the cabin (reproduction) on the original homestead.

We visited the shore of Lake Pepin and collected rocks, just like Laura. Unlike Laura, we did not collect so many that we tore the pocket out of our skirts. The museum gave the kids little bags to put the rocks in.

While at the museum we picked up a new passport. We’re pretty excited to add more stamps.

On our way home we stopped in Decorah to have coffee with my niece.

It was a long day of driving, but it was filled with fun and the audio book of Little House on the Prarie.

Suddenly my big kid looks even bigger.

I’m back at the wheel after not spinning much this summer. I’m not working on WI fiber yet. I’m working on a BFL/silk braid for a belated birthday present for Bonny. I hope it is purple enough for her.

I’m done with this bobbin. I have one more bobbin to spin, which I hope to finish next week after we return from a series of adventures.

I finished a pair of socks. Socks are about all I feel like knitting these days. The main color is Dyed In The Wool in the Don’t Pee in the Pool colorway. It is fitting that I finished these up while the kids were at swim lessons. The contrast color is a random partial skein from the stash.

I went to Wisconsin with a bunch of friends last month. You may have read about our adventures on other blogs. It was a really great time.

I was fairly restrained in my purchases. The only yarn I purchased was for the upcoming Stephen West KAL and for a Holiday Doodle KAL that takes place in November. And some yarn for a hat, but hat yarn doesn’t really count, does it? The purple skein is a gift from Jess that was dyed by Alissa. Pretty cool, right?

I was less restrained when it came to fiber. I picked up two braids from Honeygold Acres, Some big balls from a farm in Wisconsin, a taster of a Yak blend, a sparkly bat, a gradient I didn’t remember until I saw this picture, and the colorway for the show. Marilee brought me some qiviat and Liz brought me some camel silk. My friends are awesome.

I didn’t take many pictures. That has nothing to do with sharing a margarita flight with Marilee. That was just good fun.

Now it is back to my real life where I need to knit and spin up all of the goodies I bought this year. Later this week I’ll update you on my progress on last year’s purchases.