Last week, my parents decided to do a "Last-Hurrah" camping trip before Molly leaves on her mission, and we decided to tag along. We camped at Knoll Lake, which is, in a word, breathtaking.
It was especially fun, because after several years' worth of fire restrictions here in good ol' drought-ridden AZ, we got to have a campfire! The kids thoroughly enjoyed roasting marshmallows and throwing things in to burn.
Our attempt at a family picture just before we left the campsite on our last day....the kids were tired, hot, and filthy by this point, but still happy campers! (haha, get it?)
My aunt Lisa and her daughter, Carla, came along, and it was so fun to get more time with them. I lived with Lisa while Steve and I were engaged, and so her family has always had a special place in my heart...
Helping pack up...
I love how this little girl walks. She's so hilarious!
We're hard core red-neck campers and even brought our beat-up old horse trailer to prove it...Jack and Clark are pulling a nice little Vanna White on the trailer here...
Clark spent the majority of the trip like this--filthy. My parents brought all the stuff to make chocolate milk with, and since that's basically meth to this kid, he went to town. Oh, well--we're camping, right? What goes better with camping than eating a ridiculous amount of food that's bad for you and getting dirty while doing so?
My parents at the lake--the weather was perfect. It was hot and clear in the mornings, perfect for going out on the lake, and then in the afternoons (and evenings) thunderstorms would roll in and keep us cool. Thanks to my dad's expertise, he tied tarps up in all the trees for shade and rain protection, and it made a huge difference to be able to get out of the sun/rain when needed. I've learned that camping with my parents is great, because they've basically learned all the camping hacks needed to make it as relaxing as possible.
We went crawdad fishing on the second day, and although the kids didn't catch anything, they had fun trying...
Clark and his daddy relaxing in Lisa's raft. Steve got fried....which of course has turned into a gorgeous golden brown tan by now. Lucky.
Lisa was missing her husband, who had to work, and asked me to take this pic to show how "lonely" she was...
Snack time!! You'll notice Clark's hat--we've learned through hard experience that no matter how much sunscreen we put on this kid, he will inevitably burn any time he is outside for any longer than five minutes. So he now has a "hats on at all times outside" rule....and success! He didn't get sunburned!! (Lucky kid--he got my fair Beecroft skin....you know, the kind that burns under a 100-watt lightbulb?)
Hanging out...
My brother, Abe, had a surgery on his foot a couple of weeks ago, and because of said surgery, he was unable to put any weight on his foot or get it wet at all. He was pretty sad about the fact that he couldn't do any of his normal camping activities (he's quite the outdoorsman and loves hiking, exploring, and swimming), but he was quite the trooper and had a good attitude! He fished all morning, but didn't even get a single bite....I'm not sure how much of that had to do with the fact that we were all splashing around within 50 yards of him, but he was a good sport about it.
Carla and Lisa on the raft
My dad brought his canoe and took all three of the present grandkids out on a trip around an island they discovered out in the lake. He's a good sport, for sure!!
I was feeling pretty icky by the second day (pregnancy sickness/soreness + trying to sleep on an air mattress but failing miserably=not really wanting to participate), but Steve convinced me to take a canoe ride with him. By the time we got back near the shore, Clark was done riding and wanted to swim alongside us. We figured it was okay--that's what life vests are for, right?
Yay!
Daliah enjoyed reading for the majority of the time we were at the lake--I can't think of a more relaxing place to do so!
Swimmin' times
Molly, Maggie, and Dad in the canoe--Maggie was nervous for that first trip and didn't enjoy the movement of the boat too much--it kind of freaked her out. By her second trip, though, she was a pro!
Evening approaches. We spent both evenings sitting around the campfire, singing songs and telling stories. Each of my kids got especially excited about the "storytelling" portion and told their own stories--which usually lasted at least fifteen minutes each and were mainly unintelligible, although I did catch at one point when Maggie mentioned someone's panties catching on fire.... hmmmm...
Knowing that it was forecast to rain every day that we were there, we stopped at Dollar Tree and grabbed a bunch of cheap puzzles and games for the kids to play. They loved them and kept begging to get them out even when it was great outside!
Rain and s'mores! What better?
Cheese!!
The first afternoon that we got there, it was already too overcast to get in the water, so we practiced skipping rocks:
Molly helped keep the kids out of the water, and I discovered that not only am I a pretty decent rock-skipper, but I also manage to get a totally sore right arm after only a couple of hours of throwing rocks!
Hi!
Carla on her way back from the bathroom, most likely...
My mom and her sisters always enjoy every minute they get together, and it cracked me up to watch them take any excuse to go off and talk, whether it was walking to the bathroom together or going back to the campsite to grab items we'd forgotten to take down to the lake with us.
Carla was immensely helpful in playing with my kids and keeping them busy, so they went to the (empty) campsite next to ours and made their own little playground! These were Carla's "balancing rocks..." the boys said they helped her with them, but I'm not sure how much of that help was actually helpful, haha!
Jack made this campground for ants. I'm hoping he can use those landscaping talents to help me out in the future!
Abe's incision....like I said, the boy is a trooper.
Jack's had this thing where he has to flex for his pictures lately. I think it's hilarious and adorable.
Our campsite. Steve, the kids, and I were located in the blue tent--although my dad had rigged a tarp over said blue tent to prevent rain leaking in, the tarp (as we found out around 1:00 in the morning) was only somewhat waterproof--and the tent we were using didn't have a fly. Luckily, we also found out that our children are heavy sleepers when camping and will even sleep through water getting dumped on their sleeping bags!!
I put Maggie's hair in a "camping" hairstyle--two french braids. It's so fun that she finally has enough hair to play with!
Our entire group--L-R: Dad/Mom Flake, Clark, Daliah, Molly, Steve, Jack, Me, Abe, Maggie, Carla, Lisa
I'm glad we went camping, even more glad we took lots of pictures of it, and even more glad that I'm now home where I have access to hot water and my comfortable bed--where I've never even once woken up to water leaking on me.
Next up: Fourth of July pics!
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