Camping

We finally did it! We went camping with the kids (looks like we'll be keeping the tent trailer for now). We went to a place called Elk Horn, it's about 20 minutes outside of Loa. Anyway, we had a great time. We were a little worried cause when we got there it was raining but we figured it was just the afternoon heat stirring things up a bit. By night the clouds had cleared and it was great. We cooked and hiked, fished, and played in a lake, played "mountain boccie" and rode bikes, ate too many smores and roasted starbursts (got to try those), and just plain had fun with the kids and watching how much fun they were having. Railey learned all about the potties and loved going much to our frustration, but hey she's pretty much potty trained except for naps.

Here's Kenna on her first real camping experience.

Here the kids are getting ready to play a game as we wait for the storm to pass.

The wood around camp was so wet that it made getting a fire started a loooooooooooong process, with lots of blowing by Steve. The problem was we had planned to have hot dogs on that first night and when we saw how wet it was we thought we would switch meals but the other was still frozen. We got a fire going long enough to roast our dogs and a marshmallow or two and then we let it burn out. It was too much work to keep it going.

Friday the weather was beautiful and we took a little walk then later went down to a little reservoir. Getting down to the river just about made me pee my pants. It was so steep and nasty and I literally would open my eyes only to close them again in fear. Lets just say we were grateful for 4 wheel drive when it came time to leave.

That night we were so excited to get to bed cause we were all exhausted. It's not hard to convince kids to go to bed when you're camping, they love sleeping in the tent trailer! Just as we had drifted off to sleep though lightening struck and kept us awake for a good couple hours, or so it seemed. It was so close! There were times I didn't even count to 3 before hearing the boom. Too close for comfort when you are camping! I laid awake thinking of how fast we could get the trailer put away and get off the mountain if there was a fire. Not that we had a lot to worry about with all the rain from the day before but still it kept me awake worrying.

All in all it was a great time! We loved it and are already planning our next trip. My favorite part was just seeing how much joy was in my kids faces as they experience new and different things. I loved seeing them so happy and I loved that there literally was no fighting. It was amazing!