Camping: Pipestem

We enjoyed our 3rd annual camping trip to Pipestem in WV. We love having such a fun place with so many entertainment options within a 2 hour drive! And it always excites us to have a chance to eat at Chilis, although they've now added one in town. 

Kim somehow always remembers to bring the extra fun things, like glow sticks and sparklers! The kids enjoyed playing games, riding bikes, and taking off on the hiking trails on their own. 

Saturday morning we headed down the tram to the river. We remembered water shoes this time so the kids could get in the water. The kids enjoyed building a "raft" though they would need to hone their skills in case of emergency! We also tried volleyball for a while but didn't have too many volleys...

They set their raft to sail and it...didn't...  What did sail was Hannah's flipflop! 6 times to be exact ;) On the 6th time Willow was able to grab it about 20 feet downstream. 

We biked and played games before heading down to the lake in the afternoon. We knew rain was in the forecast but when you're wet in the lake anyways, it doesn't really matter. Unfortunately there were 2 evacuations due to lightning but thankfully they were pretty short. The water seemed warmer than in the past, so that was nice. The kids enjoyed a couple of new inflatables and Willow successfully launched Hunter off the blob once with no tears! 

Poor Chad grilled burgers in the rain with an umbrella then we crammed into the Caldwell's camper to eat and play Headbands. 

Unfortunately we had a bad window leak, soaking the kids' sheets and cushions. Thankfully Chad had a large tarp to prevent any further leaking and they were willing to let Willow sleep in their camper. Owen slept diagonally between wet spots (sigh). 

The rain calmed down to enjoy sparklers before bed!

This bird sure felt comfortable eating Chris' leftover muffin off his wrapper!

Sunday morning we headed out for a zipline adventure. Hannah and Hunter met the weight requirement minimum to participate but they (and Owen) needed to be "rescued" on multiple of the 9 zips. Thankfully our guides, Collin and Mattoc, were good natured and patient! It was supposed to be a 3 hour trip but took us 4.5 hours with all the rescues. The poor guides were late getting back for their next group and had to scarf down their lunch. We were sure to tip them well! We'll wait a few years before trying it again ;) 

The longest zip went over the river, which was pretty cool! It was the only one that made Owen a bit nervous!

The GoPro didn't work after the 2nd zip so I had to practice living in the moment instead of always capturing it ;) Here's a video of the 2nd zip which included a nice view of the gorge!

One of many "rescues:"

Here's a quick Instagram Reel of the highlights of the weekend!