We love the outdoors, and we couldn't wait to go on camping adventures with our kids this summer. In June, we were supposed to kick off the camping season with a trip with family near Baker City, but we had to cancel because of rainy weather. It wasn't supposed to rain closer to us, so we decided on an overnight trip at Farewell Bend State Park instead.
This turned out to be a bit of a camping misadventure. First of all, we were not successful in avoiding the bad weather. The wind was blowing like crazy the whole time, and it rained for a little while. We opened our tent to discover that Kelson's Boy Scouts had failed to put the stakes back in our tent, so we stacked as much stuff as we could in the tent to try to keep it from blowing away. Grandma and Grandpa came up for dinner, and we were afraid we would have to eat in the tent because the weather was so bad. It calmed down just long enough for us to eat, which was a blessing.
About the time we started thinking about getting the kids ready for bed, we locked the keys in the car (Thank you, Chris). Of course, all of the bedding was still in the car. Luckily Grandma and Grandpa were still there, and they drove the 25 minutes back to our house to get our spare keys. Crisis number 2 averted. We finally got everyone to bed by about 11:00 at night and settled in to listed to the wind blasting through the campground all night. I couldn't sleep because I was nauseous, it was hot, I had a baby squishing my bladder, and my hips were killing me. About an hour after I finally fell asleep, Sarah woke up because she needed to use the bathroom. It took her 3 hours to go back to sleep. 10 minutes later, Chris woke up. We finally all got a little more sleep before waking up for the day. It was a miserable night. I was ready to be done camping for the summer.
The good news is that the kids had a great time and were just excited to be camping. We went home through Weiser the next morning and had a lunch picnic at a park. First camping trip accomplished.
It took some convincing to get me to go camping again two weeks later. As it turned out, this was a much more successful trip. We went to Garden Valley in the Cascades. We brought steak up to barbecue for dinner, and it was fantastic.
Grandma, Grandpa, and Anne met us in Garden Valley so I could go to a play with them at Starlight Mountain Theater. Kelson hung out back at the campsite with the kids.
We went to see The Wizard of Oz, and it was so much fun!
I have never seen such an excited little girl.
The most exciting moment of the evening was when Anne got pulled up on stage during intermission. She was so thrilled!
I made it back to the campsite after 11:00 and found Chris peacefully asleep in the tent (which was a very happy thing because we accidentally forgot his bed, and we weren't sure he would sleep if he wasn't confined) and Sarah sound asleep in Kelson's arms by the fire. We got her tucked in to her sleeping bag, climbed into ours, and everyone slept peacefully all night. So much better than last time!
There was a hot spring right across the road from our campground, and the kids loved it!
Sarah and Daddy had a great time building sand castles where the hot spring ran into the river.
On the way home, we stopped for a picnic at Birding Island and waded in the Payette River for a little bit. Great camping trip!
A few weeks later, we finally made it to Phillips Lake with the Hindman family
It was really hot, which made it perfect for playing in the lake.
These two girls are the cutest cousins!
Listening to the conversations these two 4 year olds have is pretty entertaining.
It wasn't really cold enough for a fire, but making s'mores was an important part of the evening.
Saturday morning, we all loaded up in Jeremy's raft and paddled out in the lake. We got most of the kids to jump out and swim in the middle of the lake. Only Chris was not a fan. He and I snuggled in the boat while everyone swam. Even Daisy got in on the party.
We also went for a walk along the lake. This was another great camping trip! On the way home, we stopped at another spot along the river and did some archery practice with Grandpa and then went back to Grandma and Grandpa's house for a water fight.
Our final camping trip of the season was at the end of August at McCully Fork near Sumpter with Jeremy's family. It got a lot colder on this trip. Both kids woke up early in the morning because they were cold, and we each ended up with a kid in our sleeping bag. Chris was very cozy with me.
See that little speck of blue? That is Sarah's arm. I had to make sure she was alive in there.
Yep. Snug as a bug in a rug.
Doing a little target shooting with Daddy.
A little coloring after breakfast. Can you tell Sarah loves spending time with Daddy?
Sarah had no problem braving the cold and getting in the creek to hunt for water skippers. She was super excited when she finally caught one.
We made so many great camping memories this summer!
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