Apple Creek Campground

This summer we decided to get a pop up camper. As most of you may know, I grew up going camping, so for me it is really great to be able to now do this with our children. Joe likes camping too, so he was up for it as well and we packed up this past weekend for our very first camping trip to Apple Creek Campground in DePere, WI (near Green Bay). We went with our cousins Mark & Lisa and their kids, Marissa & Josh. Thank goodness they were there to help us out!! We were off to a great start, while Joe was working Cody and I managed to get the camper all packed & closed up. Joe came home and we hooked it up to his Jeep and realized our lights weren't working. After messing with it for a little while, in the rain..suddenly the lights went on. One of the break lights/turn signal was still not working, so..Uncle Bob rushed over to try and rescue us by changing the bulb for us..in the rain, but that did not do the trick. We decided that since all the lights were working but that one we would go and deal with it when we got home. It down poured the entire way there and man was I nervous. This was Joe's first time hauling a camper, so it didn't help that the wind and rain were so bad. The camper had a lot of sway and we did have a couple of close calls with going off the road a hair. We all had a lot of anxiety during the ride there, but Joe did awesome handling it and did get us there safely. With all the delays we didn't end up getting to the campground until 9pm. The rain finally stopped, but setting up for the first time ever in pitch dark was no treat. Like I said, thankfully Mark & Lisa were there. Once Joe finally was able to back the camper up on our site with guidance from Mark, we were able to set up. Needless to say, Joe got thrown into learning how to drive, tow, back up, set up, and close up a camper and learned real quick. Lisa took Delaney for us and Mark helped us get everything up quickly. Once we were set up we had some snacks and a drink and then hit the hay. The next day was hot and we spent most of the day at the pool. Cody and Josh had a blast jumping into their floaty things they bought. Joe got in to razz them a little. Marissa found that the slide was the funnest thing ever. Mark & Lisa joined the fun in the pool too. Delaney went in the pool for the first time, not long of course because of the sun. But she went in both Saturday and Sunday. Initially she cried getting in, but that lasted only a couple of seconds. Once we would hold her close she did great and actually seemed to like it. I was able to get into the pool and show Cody who's boss too. That backfired a bit...when did he become a teeneager who is taller than his mom and stronger now too??? I did pretty good at first, I was able to dunk him a few times...but I have to admit that the kid got me twice. I think I did a pretty good job considering he does weigh more than me and I am kinda old now! Later Saturday night, Cody started playing some quarter game in the game room where you win a different amount of tickets for each quarter/play. Next thing you know he's coming back to the camper with handfuls of tickets. Cody & Josh were counting them and Cody wanted to try and get 2500 tickets to win a digital camera. Josh had a bunch of tickets and because he didn't have enough tickets to win anything cool, he was generous and gave his tickets to Cody. About $25 later he won his camera, but wouldn't have been able to do it without the help of Josh. It was really cool to see them working so hard for it though and it kept them busy for hours. They had stacks & stacks of tickets and lost count having to start over a couple of times. Josh & Cody really had a good time though. The rest of the night was puggie pie pizza's, smore's, and campfire cooking. Marissa did a good job making a mess eating her roasted marshmellows and Joe struggled a bit making his first puggie pie, but got better as he went along. Delaney konked out for the night and we sat around the fire for a while having a good time with Mark & Lisa. Joe & I couldn't stop talking about how much fun we had with their family and how cool it was to know that Cody and eventually when she can remember, Delaney have these fun memories. The ride home was much better not having to brave the elements. The camper still had some sway to it, but not as bad and Joe did fine with it. On the way home we decided to detour over to visit Lambeau Field & picked up a couple of things and took a couple of pictures. We noticed some really souped up vehicles in a sectioned off part of the parking lot and from a great distance saw some really big guys walking into Lambeau, we couldn't make anyone out, but are pretty sure they were Packers. On our drive out of the parking lot though another big truck passed in front of us while we were at a stop sign and wouldn't you know, AJ Hawk was behind the wheel. It's so funny how excited you get when that stuff happens, we were acting pretty dorky so it's good that no one else saw us. Since this is where Joe proposed to me, we thought it was pretty cool to be able to bring the kids there. We took a family picture in front of the Lombardi statue in front of the Atrium exactly where he went down on his knee and asked me to marry him. We safely returned home to our puppies who were thrilled to see us. We had someone come to the house to care for them so they were sooo happy to be able to stay at home rather than be shipped off to a kennel. We can't wait to go camping with Mark, Lisa, & family again. We all pretty much crashed early last night from all the fun we had over the weekend. We are so excited for our next trip in two weeks for Labor Day. Fun, fun, fun.....