This was a bunny that we saw when we were driving around, probably when we were sitting in the car waiting for Nate to talk to one of the many rangers we encountered :).
So, I'm really shocked that I didn't write about this campout at all yet! I must have been thinking I would just do it when I posted the pictures, not knowing I wouldn't be able to post them til I'd forgotten all the happenings. Kind of a bummer since this was a highlight for all of our kids, but hopefully we can do it some justice. I'll get help with the remembering :).
SO there was a lot of changing of the scheduling, when we were going to be able to go up and who would get up there first and when. I think both families ended up changing work schedules and stuff so that we could go up a day sooner than we originally thought possible. It was a lot of work to plan and pull off, but so worth it!
So with all the packing and extra trip to the store, then getting lost on the way there, we reached the camp ground in second place. We knew the Maughans had beat us up there, but without cell service we were not sure where they were. By that time it was pouring rain so we weren't sure if the Maughans would want to bag the whole idea or not. We drove around the campground a couple of times, then up to a few others, drove around for at least an hour, just trying to find a vacant campsite, once we'd decided that they must have ditched us. Luckily though, we found a minivan that looked just like the Maughan's car!!! We even got Erika out of the car to peep in the windows and verify the carseats and other few things in the car. I will admit it wasn't as clean as I would have pictured the Maughan's car, but we were sold and KNEW that they were there so we began a more thorough search of the camp ground we had already driven through about 3 times. We hadn't even seen any vacant sites, so it seemed like a long shot, but we were on it. Wasn't too long before we caught a glimpse of Rachel! We were so happy that they were there and even happier to find out that they'd actually found two sites right next to each other!! It was seriously a miracle!! There wasn't another available site in the whole area. I couldn't help but say a little prayer and thank Heavenly Father :). Unfortunately, though, the rain that had let up just a little while we were looking around had started back up again. We were trying to unload our tent and sleeping things along with dinner stuff in the pouring rain!! It was nuts. I was glad that the Maughans were there though, it was easy to be happy and still manage to have a good enough time :). Plus, while Nate was putting up our tent and canopy, Travis put up a tarp over the table so that we were completely drenched (and the food). That was nice. We ate our dinner in the dark, with the rain, and the kids even took their dinner in the tent- that was a funny happening- then hurried and got dry and to sleep. Not a lot else happened. I have to admit I enjoyed the sound of the rain all night. Thanks to Nate's ingenuity, putting our canopy over our tent, we stayed mostly dry. I think there were a few edges that let a little water in, but for the most part... It's too bad we have such a crappy tent or we could have had the canopy over the table.
We woke up to some more rain. That was a bummer. The kids of course, still managed to have fun and did make the rounds, exploring things. It was a wet, wet day! We ate our yummy breakfast courtesy of the Maughans and then slowly made our way over to the lake.
Everyone just kind of did their own thing at the lake. I was glad everyone was so content. The men fished, along with some of the kids. Emily and I took pictures, and the littles just played to their little hearts' content.
I really loved the scenery. This was Smith and Moorehouse (I have no idea how to spell that)
Kelly spent a lot of time doing boondoggle
Looks like Noah fell in or something... I wish I could remember all the details.
So after a little while, Nate was getting antsy and couldn't keep catching nothing, so he made his way around the reservoir and found himself his own little fishing hole.
I couldn't believe how successful that little spot was! Everyone was catching them there. I think Luke caught a few, Noah did, Rachel, Nate caught a couple... it was perfect!
We tried to go over there, but crossing the river on a wobbly tree for a bridge with a baby and camera in my arms didn't seem like a good idea. I let Charity and Bradley go without me and Jack.
It may not look like it in this picture, but Bradley was being such a gentleman, helping his big/little sis across the stream. I was happy about that :)
A lot of the kids spent most of their time over there.
That white thing near the water and reflecting is a fish!
Apparently I couldn't settle on just one of these shots :). I was pretty fascinated with how close I could zoom in. It had been a while since I'd played with my zoom lens. That was another highlight for me.
The biggest highlight for me, though, was hanging out with Emily. She has become one of my best friends. It's been so fun to get to know her and be able to hang out with a friend again. I have so much fun around her. I love her positive attitude and while I wish it could rub off on me more, I really appreciate her perspective on life. She's so uplifting to be around and has such a great sense of humor. I really can't express how grateful I am to have moved one house away from someone I admire so much and always look forward to hanging out with. It's such a blessing. She is a lot of fun. And should I even say it- look how good she looks after 2 days of rain (no sleep) and camping!! So jealous. I'm glad I don't have a picture of myself there :). Thanks for your friendship, Emily, if you're reading this :), I feel so lucky to know you.
Jack's "fishing pole" :)
I just want to have this picture to show Charity's future boyfriends :). She pulled her shorts up so high, you can see her shirt tucked into them, coming out the bottom... still makes me laugh.
Her shirt says it all!
I should have got a picture with each kid that caught one, but I guess Nate can take credit for the great location :).
It started raining while we were at the reservoir, so Emily and I loaded the kids up and sat in our cars while we waited for the guys to finish fishing. Seemed a lot longer than we might have planned, just sitting there :). But Luke and I played around a little :).
That night we sat around the fire telling stories. We all enjoyed the Dads and their creativity. That was a really fun night. I was so glad the rain had stopped earlier in the evening for us to be able to relax a little. We had delicious dutch oven pizzas and twisted bread sticks for dinner. That was delish. AND peach cobbler afterwards... so good!
We ran into the Harrisons while we were up there. That was fun. It's been a while since I saw Andrea. We always say we're going to get together, but we never do...
The last day we got up and ready to go to the reservoir for swimming this time :). Erika was too tired and threw several huge fits. It was sort of torturous. And Jack wasn't all that cooperative either, which wasn't going well with Nate's plan to sneak off and fish. We found a cool little spot though. Most of the kids had fun jumping in and out of the water, it was so cold! It was still fun and the kids were all happy to have finally swam in the water :).
happy now :)
I think we packed up and went home after that. I've left out so much. I hate when I put off journaling. I will need to get more from the kids. We will definitely have to consider making this a tradition... we had way too much fun to not.
