Family Fun

** WARNING! Very long journal post ahead!**

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We finally made it camping!!! I can't believe it. It wasn't for any kind of reunion and we didn't even get a flat tire! Hooray! We returned to our new favorite spot for the third time in a month. Palisades Reservoir. It's always pretty there, but this year is especially gorgeous with all the rain that we've gotten. The mountains are green and lush with lots of wild geraniums and lupine and the lake is filled to the max.

Our ward had the Ward Camp Out scheduled for this last weekend (the 25th) and we'd been wanting to go, but Nels has been incredibly busy at work this past week and we'd decided that we probably weren't going to be able to make it. No worries. I just really wanted Nels to be able to finish the HUGE project that he'd been staying late, working on every single night last week - so that he can relax and not have everyone hounding him about it. However, Friday morning he woke up and said that we should just plan on going. Forget the stupid thing - he needed to "sharpen the saw". HOORAY!!

I packed and cleaned and washed and "list-checked" all day, but still wasn't quite ready when he got off work that evening. By the time we actually DID get all ready, it was getting quite late and we just decided to head up for the ward breakfast the next morning and then camp Saturday and Sunday. Not something we make a habit of doing - camping on Sunday - but it sure was nice to be able to spend some nice quiet time as a family without rushing back.

We got up to the reservoir at about 8 o'clock, just in time for breakfast Saturday morning. Spent some time talking and playing with our ward and then set out on a drive before setting up. Nels and the girls are always so sweet to indulge me in my compulsive "adventuring" - i.e. taking drives to who-knows-where. We found some pretty, secluded areas and some possibilities for our Chick Reunion next year, but all the spots were already taken for the day, so we turned around to go back to our originally intended campground. Only once we got there, we found that the water level had risen and our perfect spot was perfectly soggy.

We piled back in the van. A few miles down the road, we came upon the camping spot of our dreams. It was away from most other campers, not in a formal campground, lots of easy firewood, and right next to the water - with a perfect little ramp right to the narrow, sandy beach with shallow water. Because of the high water level, there were a lot of logs and debris piled up near the shore, but we cleared a nice little spot for the girls to get good and dirty in.

We had such a good time playing that afternoon, setting up and just taking it easy. Lilie decided that she is an expert fire starter. She restarted our fire several times when it would die down by putting more sticks in and blowing hard. LOL! She even gave Nels a wonderful video tutorial on "How to Make Fire". :) Very funny.

Lilie, breaking sticks and making funny faces. I don't know if I got one straight picture from her the whole night. :) BTW, if you haven't ever made s'mores with strawberry marshmallows and chocolate grahams, you should. Good stuff. Hmmmm. Maybe with white chocolate? I'll have to try it.

You see? This is what I got when I said, "smile nice and pretty!" What a girl.

At about this point, Elsie decided that she was exhausted and just couldn't keep her eyes open any longer. I willing gave into her request, changed her into jammies, and put her to bed! Hooray for Elsie!

Five minutes later, I looked over at the tent to see this:

One of my new favorite pictures of all time. :)
She was apparently no longer tired and had changed herself out of her jammies and back into her dirty clothes so she could play for another hour. LOL!

Isn't that gorgeous? Too bad I don't have the ability to build a house in that exact spot and live there forever. Also too bad that come Winter, this exactly spot is probably about 80 - 90 degrees colder than it was at that moment. :)

We finally did get all the kids to bed at about 10. They. Were. Exhausted. I even got my little Vi to sleep in her little portable bassinet. Which was seriously one of my greatest thoughts of all time. It has a little canopy that comes up over half of it. I laid her in, with her two pairs of pajamas, one blanket, and draped another blanket over the top (with a little peep hole for air) making the perfect little insulated bed and she slept ALL NIGHT!!! Holy moly! Till 7:30 the next morning with nary a peep! And the other girls? Awesome as well. I think we may go camping much more often!

Once the kids were in bed, Nels had a good time playing with his camera, while I made us up some hot chocolate. It was so nice to spend some beautiful, uninterrupted time together talking. Gosh, I love him. I also love campfires. Did I ever tell you that he proposed to me by a campfire - by a lake - after we'd been swimming? He did. But that's a story for another day . . .

Long exposures are fun!

Sunday we got up and just lounged around, playing on the beach most of the day. It makes my heart so happy to watch my girls play together. Making up stories and adventures. Just loving one another and being the very best of friends.

Aren't those just the cutest little chubbity-chubby legs??? I love them so! (Hers, not mine.)

{Somehow I didn't get a good picture of Elsie in her cute little swimsuit, but let me tell you a story about it. First off, besides her "princess dress" it's the only article of clothing that I can get her to wear willingly lately. Because it has a skirt. So this summer, I decided that she needed a new suit. The other one that she fit had been through two other kids and besides it was an 18-24 month old suit. She's almost three. High time for a new swimsuit. So we went shopping. To Target. To Walmart. To no avail. Finally to Old Navy. So many cute suits. However, problem. 2T wouldn't fit - too big around, fall off. 18-24 no go. Still too big. WHAT? What did we end up with? For a new suit for my almost 3 year old?? A 12-18 month tankini. I'm pretty sure that in 6 months it's going to fit Violet as well! :) }

Hazel and Lilie pretty much spent the entire day floating around on driftwood logs and playing on this half-covered stump near the beach. Pretending to be "Jack and Annie" and riding their "alligators". I love them! Sadly, I didn't think to put sunscreen on Lilie's poor little legs and she is now paying for my negligence. She has her Daddy's sensitive, white skin - while Hazel and Elsie got mine, which gets a little sun-kissed on occasion, but rarely fries. Poor Lilie. I just didn't think.

After packing up, we finally made it home by late afternoon Sunday. We had such a good time, but I still think Nels and I were happy to once again see our home. Not because of the dirt or the campfire cooking or any of the normal reasons you might suspect. You see, if we're going to go camping, both Nels and I would much rather NOT camp in a formal campground. Love the seclusion of finding the perfect spot without someone 10 feet away from you. However. There are certain conveniences of manicured campgrounds. Mainly TOILETS. I genuinely believe with my whole entire heart that our children have NEVER had to use the "potty tree" more times in their LIVES than they did in those 36 hours. LOL! Still, we had a GREAT time and can't wait to go again. Soon!