Camping Trip

We decided to do something that we don't do often enough--go camping!  It was the perfect activity for a family that has  been separated for 9 weeks.  Jonathan was able to arrange his work schedule so that we could go for 2 nights.  Monday afternoon we headed up past Payson to Willow Springs Lake. 

We got to the campsite late so we quickly set up the tent and went to bed.  In the middle of the night Jonathan woke up with a rash and tightening of the skin.  After an unsuccessful search for benadryl in the first aid kit we decided to wake-up and load the kids into the van and drive back to Payson for some medicine.  On the drive there both Braedi and Dyllan threw up.  Then Ephram threw up on the way back to camp.  GROSS!  Corbin kept his ears plugged and Faythe slept through it all.  We made it back to the tent with out any more incidents, went back to sleep and were all feeling better by the morning. 

After breakfast we headed to the lake to do some fishing.  If you ask any of the kids they will say that fishing was the best part.  Over the 2 days they were all able to catch a tiny fish (minus Faythe who just used pretend bait). 

Breakfast always tastes better when camping.
We had pancakes the first morning
and scrambled eggs and bacon the next.

I think that the kids learned a lot about fishing on this trip:
Corbin, Dyllan and Ephram baited their own hooks and
Braedi and Corbin used the pliers to remove the caught fish from their hooks.
They followed Jonathan's choices for bait and places to fish.

I'm not much a fisher so I brought some books
and relaxed and watched and took pictures. 

After a morning of fishing we had a late lunch and a little rest time.  Remember that we were up for part of the night?  4 out of 7 people took a nap.  Then we hung out at the campsite.  There is nothing like nature to make kids be creative and explore and learn.  Corbin found a stick and some string and made a bow.  He and Dyllan found bark boats.  There were some neat animals--caterpillars, blue jays and other birds, squirrels and bugs.  Jonathan brought his leather tools and let the kids play around with them.  They also played a card game.    

Jonathan made a yummy lasagna in the dutch oven with rolls and peach cobbler for dessert.  Then it was off to bed for the kids.  They were all tired and went to sleep quickly--which never happens when we camp.  They were TIRED!  Jonathan and I stayed up and played a game.  That is one of my memories from when I camped as a kid.  That night it rained on us and Jonathan and I woke every hour or so to see if the rain flap was leaking.  Only a little rain got in and we all stayed dry. 

The next morning we slowly packed up our camping gear.  We weren't in a hurry.  Then we went to another part of the lake and fished again.  I tried to get everyone to go hiking, but they voted for another day of fishing.  Unfortunately Faythe was done after just a little while so I tried to keep her occupied with other things.  We ended up going back to the car and trying to take a nap.  We had some squirrels come so close to us.  We made lunch and were just about to take it back to the rest of the family when the sky opened up on us.  It was crazy how much rain there was.  We ran back to the van and hoped that everyone else would make it back.  We ate lunch (more like and early dinner) in the van and headed home. 

This camping trip made Jonathan and I realize that we don't go camping enough.  It's a great way for us to spend time together and the kids love it.  Hopefully we can work it in to our schedule more often.