CAMPING

John's been dying to take us camping this summer.
I'm not a real big fan of camping...unless it includes a hotel and room service :)

but I know the kids and John love it so I asked John if we couldn't compromise a bit.

I'd go camping if we could stay in something a little more comfortable than a tent.

He found a GREAT deal on a camper to rent...the owner lives close to us even!

we headed up to the mountains this past Friday (9/16).

It was supposed to be 100 at home -but it was a gorgeous 75 up in the woods!

we found a great campsite at a campground really close to the lake

we decided to take a little drive Friday afternoon, and as we were heading out of the campground we saw 2 elk -the baby is above, the mama below.

these were smart elk -they were hanging around the campground during hunting season -there's no hunting within a few miles of the campground. :)

a few pics of the scenic view a few minutes from our campsite

this camper perfectly suited us -the kids had their own "bedroom" ~2 sets of bunks!

Saturday AM we were up bright and early and heading out for a fishin' expedition!

the lake was so beautiful!

picking out our fishing spot

Biruk was a natural at casting. He picked up on it immediately.

His trouble was sitting still and letting the line sit for a bit.
He wanted to caste, sit for a minute and then reel it in if he hadn't caught anything.

patience isn't his strong suit. :)

I think by the end of the 3 hours he was casting and sitting for about 5 minutes.

Becca trying her hand at fishing


for the record -we caught nothing.

there were fishermen all around us catching -but just not us. :)

I think it had something to do with the fact the other fishermen were able to caste their lines far into the lake,
and ours were,
well,

only about 3-4 feet away from us. :)

the kids still had a blast AND I had planned a back-up dinner just in case we got skunked in fishing!

after lunch John got the pellet gun out and everyone took their shots at the target

oh my heck! isn't this the funniest picture?!
we took another little drive Saturday afternoon to a trailhead for a hike.

I looked out my window and saw Becca's face in the double mirror and just HAD to grab the camera

headed out on our hike

in just minutes we were hiking down into this meadow of ferns -beautiful

the obligatory kid pics

what goofies!

I can't even begin to tell you how many times Andrew found a stick and made it into some type of weapon!

short legs get tired easily!

the girls and their daddy

30 seconds into the drive back to camp, Elizabeth was asleep!
hikes tucker little ones out!

playing "war" before daddy gets the campfire going

getting ready for s'mores!

s'mores!

I think we all had a good time!
It was so nice to just get away for a few days and be in the cooler weather and fresh air!