What a busy month July has turned out to be. For the fourth of July we did our semi annual tradition of going to Newport. We crabbed during the day and then met the Sanchez family on the beach to watch the fireworks. It was colder than it has usually been, but we still had a lot of fun. Last week we did another traditional trip and went to East Lake. The first day we stayed at Grandma Susan's house. Then on Wednesday we headed up to the lake. It ended up being the longest we have ever camped with the kids (four nights).
We love this lake because usually it is warm enough to swim, but the first day it was really chilly, especially the first night. I don't think Ken and I got hardly any of sleep.
The big activity of the summer was learning to skip rocks.
We had a lot of laughter on this trip bonding with the family. I have to be honest. Now that I am a mom camping is a lot of work. It can be very stressful. You have to let go of not wanting your kids to be dirty (having a lake helps). You have to be prepared to not get any sleep. In the past camping has not been fun for me. Yet I came to realize that it is fun for my kids and really fun for my husband. So I changed my attitude. I figured out what the most stressful parts of camping were for me. In my family growing up a big tradition was cooking. When we woke up in the morning we had a big breakfast, then we cleaned up, then we started lunch, then we cleaned up, then we cooked a big dinner and then we cleaned up, and then we had dessert. At first I tried to keep up this tradition, but the fact of the matter is I am married to a husband who's idea of breakfast and lunch is a couple of granola bars. He doesn't enjoy cooking and therefore the result that I was in charge of the cooking while he was fly fishing, and with little ones this didn't work. So he would come back to camp in the evening and he would find an unhappy mom with grouchy kids. As a result on this camping trip I made all of the food ahead of time. At dinner all we had to do was reheat the food. It was wonderful to eat when we wanted and in a quick amount of time and then as a family go down to the lake and camp.
The kids also had a blast feeding the squirrels and chipmunks. Any pictures taken of animals were by Midge. She said that the animals kept reminding her of her pet hamster, Snuggles.
Evie did really well on the camping trip considering camping isn't easy for little ones. What is it about little ones refusing to stay in their sleeping bags.
Ken took Midge and Leo out in the boat. It was fun until they were 10 feet from shore and Leo started screaming that the sharks were going to get him. Ahh good times.
Our poor little Midge did not feel good the entire trip. She was exhausted and had the achy cold feeling. She was such a trooper, and I am so proud of how she tried to be with the family. She even ended up taking a several hour nap in the middle of the day, something she hasn't done since she was 3 years old.
Another picture by Midge. There is a squirrel in there.
We had a little duck that kept following us around. Little Miss wanted to catch him so bad but he just kept swimming around from her.
Our Midge finally having enough energy to try swimming for a little bit.
Another part of camping that is stressful is the lack of personal time each day. I told Ken that I needed to have some time each day. During the afternoon he would take Midge and Leo and I would take Little Miss in the stroller. I would turn on my ipod that had a book I had downloaded on to it, and then we would walk. I had a towel over the stroller and it was tilted back. The first day I walked over an hour until Little Miss fell asleep, but by later in the week she had gotten used to the schedule and would fall asleep within a few minutes. We got a reputation in the campground because people got so used to us walking around, and with little Miss's feet sticking out of the bottom of the stroller. It was a nice relaxing time for myself to rejuvenate.
What a cutie!
On Friday afternoon the Swendsons joined us. Leo, Midge and Little Miss immediately hooked up with their kids. Midge loved that Shelly made her an anklet, and Leo had so much fun telling them all his funny experiences. The first night he was sitting in Shelly's lap and talking to her and then he started drifting into random topics. Finally his talking wound down like a toy and he fell asleep in her lap.
On Saturday the kids had a great time building a fortress with Andrew.
Nancy and I were able to sneak away for a short time and take a hike to see the Obsidian Falls. It was amazing to see the impact of the volcanos on the geography.
You could find these natural arrowheads.
One thing that surprised me was these purple flowers that would grow in the cracks in these desolate conditions.
When we got to the top you could see Paulina Lake with Mt. Bachelor and South Sister in the background.
I was so glad Nancy and I were able to take the trip. It was great to talk with her and get her wisdom on so many of her life experiences.
Evie was so frustrated that she didn't get to go out on the boat. She would cry from the shore when the big kids pulled away.
This was hilarious. Andrew wanted to go fly fishing. He didn't have waders, so Shelly helped him make these homemade garbage bag waders. They worked fantastic for about 5 minutes. He would be willing to make you your own custom deluxe pair for a small fee.
The whole Gang
Little Miss and Midge loved the Swendon's trailer. Midge wanted to know when we could get one.
The boys caught quite a few fish.
Andrew and Eric taught Leo to use a plastic spoon as a catapult and he loved it.
Eric, Bro. Swendson, and Ken fishing at sunset.
Bye all and thanks for a great trip Swendson Family.
