Our 1st blended-family gathering. . . Camping

. . .  And we had a GREAT time!

The Campfire. . .

. . . a favorite part of camping!

               . . . This where stories are told

                      . . . conversation happens

   . . . and memories are made

We made many memories this past weekend, unfortunately I wasn't as diligent as I should have been with getting pictures. . . shooting/target practice, sleeping, setting up camp, picture of a real S'more, our pile of fire wood, Superman pushing over an entire tree and hauling it over, sawing wood with a chainsaw gismo that only used elbow grease. . . way super cool gadget!  Dutch Oven dinner and breakfast, Oscar Dog, oh, the list could easily go on. . . hopefully you will enjoy what is here, with the promise of next time I will do better. . .

                                                                                                   I promise!

The perfect picture of a Happy Camper!

. . . seriously, every happy camper has a delightfully dirty face!

with that I mean EVERY child. . . 

. . . even the toddlers!

This little guy sort of got into eating rocks. . .

which was kind of gross!

                                       well okay, “kind of gross” isn’t quite adequate . . .

. . . it was gross and disgusting

we finally gave him his binky just to keep him from trying to eat the rocks!

Superman relaxing with his camera

The Genius was learning how to make a spoon, something he found on You-Tube

while the Ballerina watched and assisted with great interest.

first he carved the basic length and width from a tree branch

(sorry about the blurry pictures. . . it was getting dark)

                Then he took a piping hot, hot, HOT coal from the fire 

and burned the scoop of his spoon out. . .

I have to admit it was both cool and creepy how it would make his face “glow” 

when he would blow on the coals. . . 

kind of like a blacksmith. . .

once the spoon was “scooped” out with hot coals by the genius, 

the ballerina sanded it off on a rock.

The spoon was ultimately inherited by the Oreo, 

who loved scooping up dirt and rocks with it

There was a river a short distance away from our camp site and 

we went to explore this beautiful scenery

we decided to shed the shoes and socks to go for a wade

in what looked like a refreshing cool pond

. . . the problem ???

               this water was FREEZING. . . 

          FRIDGED . . .

 . . . Straight from the freezer COLD!!!

in fact. . .

I’m surprised that it wasn’t flowing actual ice-chunks!

the water was certainly cold enough

the ballerina made it to a rock and sat frozen like a popsicle

but since she was stuck in the middle. . .

she had no choice but to figure a way out. . .

SUCCESS! 

. . . She made it to the island in the middle of the river

. . . her very own island

her feet were numb by now, and the water no longer felt cold. . . 

. . . she kept playing in the river until her jeans 

were completely soaked all the way up her legs!

they were so numb, that she was pretty adamant that the water had warmed up and wasn't so bad

However, I'm here to tell you. . . 

. . . the water was still FREEZING COLD

While the Oreo only lasted about 5 seconds in the water. . .

. . . the ballerina played for over an hour

over log bridges. . .

. . . and through the jungles of shrubs

Then Superman showed up. . . 

he just returned from a bike ride and actually took a bath in this Freezing water!!!!

. . . I would rather just stay stinky and sweaty!

. . . he is MUCH braver than I am

or. . .

                                                    perhaps. . .

. . . I am brighter with more sense after all!

now, that is an amazing thought. . . .

This is where the genius slept . . .

for the first night of our camp, but he froze all night and didn't sleep very good
so he bailed for the tent the last night

The Hammock is a great idea for warm weather. . . 

but not so for those cold nights

at first our little Oreo wasn’t quite sure what to think. . .

but when we started him rocking in the tree he decided it wasn't bad and actually liked it.

one of the most important tasks of camping is collecting firewood, which we did a lot of!

                We let the Oreo help 

. . . and he did a great job

The one bad thing about this particular camp out was that there was a cold front that came through and it got pretty cold!

We were all bundled up and snuggling up to the campfire!

               

                           roasting marshmallows for. . .  

                                      

                                                       you probably guessed it. . .

. . . smores!!!

             

                        Even though we slept snuggly warm in our tents and sleeping bags . . .

. . . the next morning it was still SUPER Cold

Even though Yamaha Boy looks more like a hobo today,

he didn’t come prepared for such cold temps. . . 

. . . but that wasn’t all his fault

he came straight from Aaronic Priesthood Camp where he didn’t need all this cold weather

so we sort of packed for him and didn’t think about long pants. . .

In our defense, 

we did bring him a jacket, but he didn’t use it.

getting out of bed in the morning is one of my least favorite parts of camping!

we were greatly anticipating the moment the sun peeked it’s beautiful warm rays over the mountain tops to warm us with it’s inviting glow.

The genius looks more like a sand-people

the name of the game at this point was to. . .

. . . KEEP WARM!

since the Oreo had my stocking hat, I used  my hoodie

. . . I literally had 5 layers of clothing on here!

Superman didn’t seem bothered by this FREEZING COLD Morning at all

life went on as normal for him!

He took it upon himself to make hot cocoa and Mountain Man Hash for breakfast

. . . we were all very grateful

After breakfast and the sun came up. . .


and we were grateful as we warmed up in the rays of the beautiful sun

and it was time to break camp and return home

the Oreo was a great help in the process!

actually. . .

I don’t think he wanted to go home!

We had a GREAT time!

. . . and are already looking forward to

our next camping adventure!

Thanks for stopping by!
and sharing in the adventure with us
.