Jennie Raff Photography

The highlight of the weekend was definitely camping under the stars on Saturday night. We took Austin’s boat out on Lake Hartwell and sailed to a small island and set up camp.

Had the most amazing dinner by throwing chicken and veggies with olive oil and seasonings into foil and putting it right onto the fire. I know that eating food outdoors always makes it taste better (isn’t it true? Even Kraft mac and cheese tastes gourmet when you cook it under the stars) but this meal was truly amazing; it’s hard to believe it was cooked on a campfire! (Thanks, Graham, for risking salmonella in order to put together the our meal)

We stayed up late, danced a bit, talked a lot, ate s’mores, and finally went to our sleeping bags around 3:30 a.m. to watch shooting stars (I saw six!) before falling asleep.

Have to give props to David for completely making sure Aubrey and I were warm by giving us his two best sleeping bags while he slept in one that wasn’t so great. Seriously, it makes such a difference being warm while camping!

We rounded off the trip by making a great breakfast in the morning and were back in town by noon on Sunday. Great trip!

Other highlights:

-Eric made a pretty impressive dinner on Friday. He cooked for twelve people and made a meal that Martha Stewart would applaud: herb roasted chicken, pine nut and basil couscous, roasted asparagus, and seasoned potatoes.

-Jacob Johnson played in concert followed by The Bent Strings concert on Friday night.

-We carved pumpkins on Sunday night. I found myself completely engaged while carving; focusing on a creative project is always so calming, even if it’s just carving a pumpkin. It was really fun! My favorites from the night were definitely Steve’s pumpkin eating a pumpkin and Brady’s pumpkin with a huge smile. Hilarious.