Camping in Heber (I can't believe blogger let me upload this many pictures into one post!)

We got to go camping with Nate's family this year!  Nate took Friday off, so we left Thursday afternoon right after school.  (I still feel bad about letting the kids play hookey from school on Friday, but whatever).  It was a really nice campground.  It's owned by the church and usually used for Young Women's Camps.  The people running it are acutally older Missionary couples.  They were so cute and sweet.  It was funny to watch the frail little gray haired ladies driving around on the four wheelers the whole time.  We were in Campground 4 in the Marjorie Pay Hinckley Campground.  In cabin 4A.  This place was really nice, very well kept, and fairly comfortable. 

We got up there just in time for dinner (how conveninet) and then Nate, Noah, Luke, Joe, Erika and I all went for a little walk.  It was a really pretty campground!  We ran into a few deer who obviously were not very intimidated by us.  They stayed within 10 feet of us until we quieted down and took some pictures.  They were so pretty!  I do love deer now.

Erika was a good girl for most of the campout.  I was actually really surprised with how content she was in the backpack.

Our first night was pretty awful though.  Not as bad as some of our fellow campers, but not my favorite nonetheless.  Erika woke up about every half hour and either kicked and pinched me or just kicked and screamed.  I felt so bad for Jen, Nate's sister who had to sleep with us.  Everytime I was able to finally get Erika to sleep, someone else would wake up or talk, or just move and she would wake up again.  It was SO miserable!! I was definitely not my "cheerful self" in the morning.

Friday was really laide back.  Everyone just played games, wandered around the camp, took pictures, filled out the little paper that Grandma had passed out, and basically just bummed around.  I loved the relaxing atmosphere.  And the chance to take some pictures of everyone. 

The poor little W boys.  Threw up all night and all day.... that had to suck.  It actually kind of caught on and everyone was doing it by the end of the trip.  We kept hoping against all odds that we wouldn't get it, using hand sanitizer like crazy (even though we know it doesn't kill the bacteria that cause vomitting), and steering clear of the sickies.  It was nuts.

Cute little E was such a fun little subject :)  She loved smiling and then coming over to look at her pictures after.  She is SO adorable!!!

As always I loved watching my kids hanging out with their cousins.  The kids were so diligent with these little worksheets Grandma Ruthie gave them.  They made sure to fill in every square !  Took them half the day to do it but they all did it and got their little prizes :)  They sure had fun with it too!

cute girls.... shoulda tried to find Charity and Sierra first!

M and his Dad made this cool Bow and Arrow.... pretty cool!

The boys all spent most of the day in the "forest" building forts and traps and stuff.... sure looked like they were having fun.  I couldn't believe the fort the older boys had put together!  Pretty amazing!

Our official babysitters for the weekend :)  The little kids entertained themselves by pushing the babies around the paviolion.  It cracked me up how much fun they were having. 

I thought it was funny to hear Luke saying "She's not your baby" "She's not your sister" "She's not your little sister" to anyone and everyone who so much as looked at his baby sister.  He's very possessive, and very much her biggest fan.

Luke played Bocce ball all by himself for a good half hour.  I couldn't believe how much fun he was having all by shimself.  He would roll them all out there and then go pick them all up to do it again.  Cheering and jumping when he did really well :)  It was adorable.  I got to play with him for a little while too, and he was so sweet to me, telling me how good I was (like him).  And helping me to do better, teaching me his strategies.  Lots of fun.

K was a sweetheart and cam eover and played with Lukey for a little while.  They seemed to be having fun.

Nate took off with the camera for a little while and got some really nice pictures.

I loved watching Luke an dErika.  Luke really just can't get enough of her.  He just loves her so much.  Makes me smile.

hmmm.... I wonder if those new little pearly whites had anything to do with the sleepless night?!!!

Erika did miss the freedom she enjoys at home, not being able to just crawl wherever on comfy carpet.  But the few times that she was on the ground, she made good use of the time.  Taste testing ever rock, crumb, wood chip, bug, you name it that was in her reach.

Little "Jewum buddy" was another fun little poser :) He sat and did his cute little fake smile for me for several minutes :)  Such a sweetie.

Noah just loves his Jewum buddy.  He kept chasing him around to give him hugs and stuff.  He and J are a couple of little clowns when they're together :)  They're seo much alike it's weird.  I love watching them play.  For how young they are, they sure get along and have fun with each other.

L has quite the fan-base at these family functions.  My girls kept asking "when is L gonna come?" "How much longer till L gets here?".... she's pretty popular.  She taught the girls boondoggle, and shared her abundant supply with them.  She's so fun and sweet to entertain them so much. Hopefully she enjoys the extra shadows :)

Bradley went off on his own and with the older boys for most of the campout.  It was fun to catch him every now and then with a new "gun" or "sword"... I love how boys can make ANYTHING into a gun.  He sure looks up to his cousins and wants to be like them.  I'm glad he has boys to look up to.  It really blows me away to think about how old he is now.  He's just gorwn up so fast on me...

B is so cute how she always has a baby on her hip :)  Such a cute girl.

These two were being so cute I didn't even notice that they were playing over a hot fire pit.  (no fire, just hot still)  But it wasn't till A got after them that I realized I was getting them in trouble.  They're so dang cute though!  Nothing bad happened.

Friady night was much better, not perfect, but a lot better.  We were all happy to see R and H and their family, and happy to have them in our cabin.  The older kids slept much more soundly that night too.

On Saturday we got to go participate in Challenge Courses.  We all split up and went to different courses according to age, I was in the group with the littlest ones.  We had a total blast!  The big swing was the favorite part of course.  In fact I think the kids had completely lost interest after the first few minutes of the second course.  Which was fine :) I think we all still had a lot of fun.  But the swing was incredible!!  I can't believe how brave those little kids are!  I went on it and didn't think much of it until I was 30 (ish) feet up in the air, having to let go of the strap that held me u pthere!  It was FREAKY!!!  I seriously couldn't contain my scream!!  It was a lot of fun though!  I wanted to get pictures of all the kids, and play around with them a little on the photo editor, so here they all are.  It was a lot of fun to watch each of their cute little faces as they wizzed past.  They sure seemed thrilled. 

I didn't get to see Charity or Brad on their courses, Nate was with Brad and had some fun stories to tell about him being the brave one to volunteer to go first on the climb up to the zip line.  Nate needs to tell thate one though, I can't do it justice.  I just know that my little boy is a stud and totally showed up some of the older boys :)  We're pretty proud of him :) 

Sounded like Charity did some pretty cool stuff too.... I'll have to beg Matt for those pictures. 

It was a lot of fun.  Exciting things that my kids have never had the chance to do before.  I like that.

After the courses we came back to our camp, finished cleaning up, took some last minute pictures of everyone and everything, and then sadly headed home.  This is when we started to get nervous about kids getting sick.  Charity had a stomach age and Kelly wasn't feeling 100%.  We knew it was coming, and pretty much figured it would happen on the way home.  Luckily it waited.  Saturday night, after we'd had dinner, and were gettng ready for bed, Noah announced that he needed a bowl, then a few minutes later, during family prayer, he vomitted.  Erika followed suit shortly after, and then it was my turn.  They've both been sick for the last two days.  I somehow managed to get by with just one time.  It was probably the most I've ever thrown up at one time (sorry if that's tmi), but it was only once, so that was nice.  And I have to say I was really grateful to be AT HOME and not camping when it all hit the fan.  It really could be worse.  As I'm typing this (at 4:00 in the morning) Charity is dealing with it too.  I'm hoping the rest of them can skip it.  Especially Nate since he starts on the floor for the first time (Again) today.  Cross your fingers for him!!    It was a good camout.  We all had so much fun.  The cookie tossing definitely made it more memorable.... kinda like the rain a couple of years ago.... we'll probably never forget it!