Our Favorite Campspot!

It is just beautiful here! It's way up high on a mountain. It's a great place to go during the hottest time of the summer. The temperature was perfect all day. There was no afternoon heat we were trying to escape like down in the valley. It was just perfect! The lake was even warm enough to swimming in. We took the kids and floated. We also took the dog on this camping trip for the first time and he did great! no fussing at night.

I just loved the perfect still reflection of the trees on the lake first thing in the morning. So beautiful!! We did not want to leave this place.

It was my brother-in-laws idea to come up here. We normally like to camp by the river, but I'm glad we came here and met up with all the cousins. It was fun to camp with all the family. 11 cousins total. Most of them girls and most of them under the age of 5. They all played so well together. It was a really nice time. I think it'll become a tradition to do a family reunion up here each year.

Camping Camping Camping!

In my attempts to speed up the "catching up" process, I thought posting collages would be faster. Just click on the picture to see it bigger.

We have been camping alot this year and it's been fun. I love getting out and camping in a new spot each time. It's fun to explore new places and talk about what we liked and didn't like about the spot. Since we've been going so much this year, we decided to keep a camping log so we can refer back to it in the future.

I love being out and away. Feels like an escape. The kids just play all day and I don't worry about schedules or really anything at all. I just feel free. some of my favorite times though were when we put the kids to bed and just me and Glen stay up sitting at the fire and looking up at the trees and watch the shadows the fires casts up on the trees and looking up at the big sky full of stars. So peaceful.... all you hear is the crackling of the fire and the river.

Each time we go camping we make mental notes of what to do or not do in the next trip. Here are some things we've learned:

-don't skimp out on the food. Always bring s'more makin's (we didn't one time) and use two coolers! one for drinks with crushed ice and one for food with block ice so your food doesn't get all soggy.

- Bring a well prepared first aid kit and keep it in the same spot every time and have everyone know where it is.

(One night just before bed, Ginger went to crawl in her sleeping back and got stung twice by some bees in the dark! We were scrambling to find the first aid kit and luckily I had packed some pink cream for that kind of thing. (I also heard baking soda paste works great too). When you have little kids and you are so far out from anywhere, you really need a GOOD first aid kit. I got little bottles and typed out little labels for the different medicines and ointments I was packing for the kit. I pretty much packed everything I normally keep in my cabinet at home.

- Last lesson, don't skimp out on the clothing. Always bring at least two of everything especially when you have little kids that like to get dirty and wet!

We passed this house that had 15 peacocks all over the porch and in the tree. So strange. We drove through such beautiful country. I felt like I was in a country calendar.

We stopped off at Wallowa lake on our way home on one of the trips. I wished we could have stayed longer. It was our first time playing in the lake.

I decided to make hats and a sleeping bag sleeper outfit for Gretchen to keep the kids warm enough at night. This outfit was such a pain to sew!! As you can see, it stands up on its own because it is so stiff and thick. I have a layer of that aluminum insulating stuff you use to make oven mitts with along with some other insulating layers.

This is just some pics from the lake one evening. We went up for a fire dinner and fishing. Ginger caught a fish. :)

They're growing up!

I cut Gretchen's hair for the first time! I gave her bangs and Ginger was thrilled. She said, "Hey, now she looks like me!"

I didn't want to start poddy training Jack until later in september when things calm down and we aren't traveling etc. But I thought it would be a good idea to set the training toilet in the bathroom for Jack to get used to seeing it. I've been dreading the training days, but to my relief, this kid is ready. Ginger really helps. When I remind Ginger to go potty before we go to the store, then Jack says, "oh, I forgot to go too". He hasn't actually gone in the poddy chair but he has spent quite a bit of time on it. In this picture, he and Ginger sat forever on the toilets laughing and giggling and singing etc. Then Jack asked me to take his picture. So I did. I thought that was so funny he asked me to.

This is the desk I just found at a garage sale. I was so excited. I had one like this when I was a kid. I loved my desk and wanted one for Ginger. Remember that mom?!