This post by L.Leander, Author of Fearless Fiction
Last weekend we had my husband’s son and family at the lake for the weekend. Altogether there were eleven of us. Lucky for us, we have the best couple that camp next to us and they offered their camper to the kids so they wouldn’t have to pay for tent camping. They
also offered their camper in the woods for the overflow. That became a necessity, as we have redone our camper and there is now no room for guests to sleep.
It was a scorching hot, muggy weekend, but since all campers had a/c we made it through. Ralph’s son has five children, ranging in age from two – nineteen years old. It wasn’t too hard to find things for everyone to do because our campground has everything. The sixteen year old loved the golf carts and became the official limo driver. She even took our little Patty dog on rides and Patty was in seventh heaven!
The baby (boy) was teething and cried almost constantly but we managed to get through it. The next child is 6 (boy), and he just wanted to do things with his dad (mostly swimming). Next is a boy whose only want was to fish with dad (which they did and he caught a tiny fish and threw it back) and the next two are girls, 16 and 18. The nineteen -year old brought her fiancé and his mother.
Ralph cooked all weekend and enjoyed it, but got a little tired after the second day. His son was in charge of the campfire and it never went out. I ate my share of marshmallows and am not sure I want them again for a while.
It was Christmas in July at the campground and one campsite won the best decorated. We had a golf-cart parade in the afternoon on Saturday, and there was also a hayride. Add the swimming pool, hot tub and ice-cream shop and everyone was happy.
I learned a couple of unusual campfire cooking tips from our daughter-in-law that I’ll pass
along just in case you camp or know someone who does.
Omelets in a Bag
Use sandwich size re-sealable bags. Put a couple of eggs in the bag and squish the eggs a bit. Add anything you wish for your omelet such as tomatoes, ham, mushrooms, onions, green peppers and whatever else you like. Drop the bag in a large pan of boiling water (no more than three or they will touch and ruin). When the eggs are done, lift out of the water, open the bag and put on a plate. Yum!
Stuffed Bananas
Bananas
Peanut Butter
Small Chocolate Chips
Slice banana lengthwise, spread peanut butter on each side and fill with chocolate chips. Wrap in heavy tin foil and put in the campfire. These are delicious, but since the bananas got left home, we made up a new recipe that was just as good.
Tonka Pie (Pudgy Pie) Banana Delights
Butter two slices of bread and put in the pie maker. Spread the inside of the bread with peanut butter. Add Banana Crème pie filling and sprinkle with chocolate chips. Sit pie maker in campfire until done. Delish!
The weekend wound down on Sunday and as everyone was packing the baby found a big 
mud puddle. Before we caught him he had mud all over his new shoes, in his hair and was soaking wet. It was so cute, but meant his dad had to take him to the outside shower, clean him up and put new clothes on him.
I doubt whether the family was as tired as Ralph and I were – Monday we rested all day. Since we lead such a quiet life this was quite a change!
Wherever you are, I hope you are enjoying the days of summer. School is right around the corner and after that, cold weather. We are planning to enjoy every day we have left!
Books by L.Leander:
Inzared Queen of the Elephant Riders Video Trailer
Inzared, Queen of the Elephant Riders
Inzared, The Fortune Teller Video Trailer
Inzared, The Fortune Teller (Book Two)
13 Extreme Tips to Self Publishing
13 Extreme Tips to Marketing an Ebook
You can also find L.Leander here:
Writing Wranglers and Warriors 
What fun that sounded to be, and what wonderful neighbors. It’s these moments/days that are such sweet memories. Thank you for sharing,and the recipes…yumm! Doris
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It was super-fun, Doris. We do have wonderful neighbors. We’re so close that we each have keys to the other’s campers and borrow food or whatever else we might need even if the other isn’t there. It was really wonderful that we had the use of both campers for the weekend!
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What great hosts you are, Linda. I love the recipes and must try out the omelette one- though I’ve not camped for decades. We barbecue bananas – slit them, insert a chocolate flake, wrap and cook for around 10 mins. Once on a plate we squish along some squirty cream or add a dollop of thick double cream for total decadence. Even more is adding a liqueur to the cram. 🙂
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cream…Duh!
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Yum! Thanks for the recipe, Nancy. We will definitely try that one too! I am really finding that being a host is, as always, lots of fun, but I get a lot more tired than I used to. Naps are good!
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This sounds like a fun trip. Enjoy the rest of your summer.
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It wasn’t really a trip, Abbie. We live at the campground all summer long. But having the kids with us was wonderful and we all enjoyed it. You have a good rest-of-the-summer too!
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Those kind of camping trips are fun but exhausting for everyone but the kids I think! We just got back from 12 days camping in the mountains which I’ve tried to post twice, before we went and today but the site won’t let me in. Can you tell me how to get on wordpress again? It’s not working for me anymore. Love your recipe’s and story of your experience. Great family times for everyone.
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Neva, I was getting really ticked with not being able to get into the WordPress site. The funny thing is that I could get into my own site but not the WW&W. I know Cherley gave us a new password, but now instead of taking me to the page it used to, it takes me to the statistics page and I have to go the long way around to get a post started. I’m afraid I’m not much help. It took me nearly a whole day to get this post in. My biggest problem was trying to cut and past the links I put at the bottom for my own books. I think I finally figured that out by creating a new list in Word and saving it as a .doc instead of .docx. Let’s hope things settle down soon. Thanks for the comment.
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What a great time. Camping was always one of our favorite family activities. Your recipes sound delish. Have a wonderful rest of your summer.
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Thank you, Kate. As kids we camped all summer because my dad liked to fish. We had some really great times together. I did the same with my children and camping was what they most looked forward to when summer arrived. Hope you enjoy the rest of your summer too!
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I love the omelet in a bag recipe. I don’t camp often (can’t remember the last time I did) but will remember that one for sure. Sounds like it was a fun trip, Linda!
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I really liked that recipe, Sarah. We had a large group and it didn’t take long at all to cook the omelets. Since I’ve pretty much camped all my life I have many, many recipes I use over the campfire, but this was a new one for me. Thanks for the comment!
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It wasn’t Mexico, but it sounds like you had a lot of fun. Glad you got to spend time with the family. Cute photo. I understand about getting more tired than anyone else. Cher’ley
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Although I loved Mexico and loved traveling and living there, there’s something special about having the grandkids around for a weekend. It was a lot of fun and the kids asked if they could come again next year. That made me feel really good.
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Lots of camping stories coming from the Wranglers, I see. And some recipes too. Liked the bit about Christmas in July.
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Christmas in July was fun. You should have seen some of the campsites. We had our whole site covered in Christmas lights and garland. The campsite that won had so many wonderful decorations it was ridiculous! You wanted to just stand there so you could be sure you took it all in. The parade was lots of fun and the grandkids loved it! This weekend was Hillbilly Weekend and it was crazy. There was even a Hillbilly Weekend!
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I meant there was even a Hillbilly Wedding!
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You and Neva had great camping stories — thank you for sharing your special moments with us! I recall camping days with my parents when I was young, and I was blessed to share our cabin in the mountains with them this past weekend — we celebrated my dad’s 80th birthday. Family outings make great memories — so glad you all had such an enjoyable time together, Linda!
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It was definitely fun! I was worried the grandkids wouldn’t enjoy themselves but they had a blast. Can’t wait to have them out again.
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Thanks for the recipes I copied them to my travel file so hubby and I can try them out on our next trip.
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