Out With the Boys

Joseph got to go on his first camping trip, last weekend. It was pretty rainy, as they set out, but they decided to brave the storms (that were clearing) and be men anyway. Well, Joseph decided and Daddy went along for the ride.


We have no pictures of Joseph cooking hot dogs "on a stick with fire" because it was raining and Jonathan didn't want to ruin the camera, but I'm told that they were a big hit. S'mores? Not so much. He was all excited about the idea of getting fire on marshmallows, but wasn't too enamored of the taste. Which, honestly, was fine by Daddy because Daddy didn't want to be cleaning marshmallow off of everything.

Saturday morning turned out to be bright and beautiful. While hiking the trail, Joseph stopped to look at everything. "Loot! A cadderpiller!" "Loot! A fowler!" "Loot! A rot!" "Loot! A thin'!" He was also fascinated by the moths in the restrooms, though he kept calling them "mosses."



Daddy thought that they were just going to have a short wade, since the river was cold with rainwater, but Joseph had a grand time digging in the sand and "swimming" in the shallows.



Everyone came home in good spirits, though all of their gear was totally soaked--the rain fly didn't get found until the morning, long after the thunderstorm rolled through and drenched the tent. Joseph had somehow slept through the whole thing. They caught up to me, Elena and James at the kids' Aunt Sherry's graduation party (congratulations on your Master's!) and we set the tent back up in the living room to air out. James thought this was the awesomest thing ever and tried to convince Daddy that he was big enough to go camping, too.

Daddy/Daughter Campout

Able bodied men who didn't have daughters headed out to Lake Jackson to help clean up, Saturday. Those who did have daughters were excused so they could go camping, Friday night. I hadn't realized it, but apparently Daddy/Daughter is huge. Inactive dads take their girls camping for this. Non-member dads take their girls camping for this. No one wants to upset that sort of thing. I've been feeling great so I excused Jonathan from newborn duty (Joseph and James would be asleep for most the time he'd be gone, anyway) and he and Elena packed their gear and headed out.


Elena, of course, loved the tent and everything about it. She kept Daddy up half the night with "now what can we do?"


There were friends to see and cook hot dogs on sticks (camp forks) with.


They swam in the lake, and Daddy found a castle.


Everyone had a good time, and came back in even better spirits than they left in. It must have been a success!

Camping

Mom called me up, last week, offering a spot at her ward's Mother/Daughter campout, and Elena jumped at the chance.


One of the families in her ward had a large plot of land, so we camped in their yard--just rural enough to feel rustic and primitive (if so desired) but with the house and the barn right there so we didn't feel worried that we'd left the kitchen sink at home. Between the setting and the weather, it was perfect. I cooled off enough to make the fire feel really nice, and we even had fog in the morning. Here, Elena is toasting her very own marshmallow. Maybe it was because it was her second time, maybe it was because the fire was up off the ground, but she seemed braver, this time, and insisted that she do all the marshmallows.


Each of us had our own flashlight, and that meant that we could find the girls anywhere they wandered--they were the only ones old enough to walk with flashlights, but not old enough to use them to light their path. We went to bed a bit late, but that's the fun of camping. Elena started in the same tent as Bridget, but ended up swapping with Gramma.


In the morning we had yummy sausage and farm-fresh scrambled eggs with our pancakes and hot chocolate. Elena, Bridget and Gramma went on a little nature hike while Regan, Tess and I relaxed, munched snacks, and helped pack up.



We had a lot of fun, the girls had a blast together, and Elena and I both got naps that afternoon. What more could you ask for?

Campers

Here are my happy campers, ready to go. They climbed into the car, started down the highway, and Elena exclaimed "We're going to my Happy Birthday party! We have cake... and ice cream..." Poor Jonathan had to carefully explain that the party will be next week.


Marshmallows, cajun style?

In the morning.

Enjoying the water.


Elena had so much fun, camping with her daddy. She told me all about all the fun things she did. She cooked her own hotdog, but only wanted to watch as Daddy did the marshmallows. They saw bugs (fireflies?) and saw the stars and the moon in Daddy's spotting scope. She stayed up late listening to the noises ("ka-kay-das" and "ki-kits"). In the morning, they had pancakes, bacon and eggs, and went swimming and canoeing. They climbed on the rocks and Daddy jumped off the big rock into the water.