Thursday, July 17, 2008

Camping

On Monday we headed out for our first "family" trip. We have never gone on a trip with just our family. We have either gone with family or to visit family. So, a few months ago I decided that we needed to get out and do something with just the four of us. Camping was the vacation that fit the budget, so camping we went. We went to Silver Creek Plunge and ended up having a great time. Silver Creek is only 65 miles away, but the drive took just over 2 hours. The last 20 miles are dirt roads and the last 8 miles are ROUGH dirt roads. But it was well worth it. My dad let us borrow his truck and a ton of his camping supplies so we were well equipped for our little adventure.
I haven't been camping in a while and I've missed it. I really do like camping, so I was sure that we did all of the things you're supposed to do when you camp. John got to do his fair share of work. But I'm sure he didn't mind.
I'm sure that chopping wood is a lot more fun than sitting at a desk!
We explored the area and took lots of little walks with the kids.
We played in the river that ran through the camp ground.
The water was freezing but the kids didn't seem to mind. The cold water was refreshing, I think our toes even got a little numb.
We collected lots of rocks, Owen stored his in his shoes, and Ainsley came home with a baggie full of her special treasures.
Every time we got back from the river the kids were soaking wet. This is a picture taken after Owen had fallen in the river and had to get his clothes taken off. He refused to put on new ones, so he got to hang out like this for a while.
Owen also loved the dirt. I caught him on the little road by our camp spot one night picking up dirt and dumping it on his head. He seriously looked like pig pen and when I tried to brush the dirt out of his head there was a full on dust cloud surrounding him.
Luckily there is a hot springs at Silver Creek. At least it was a semi-bath for the kids two times during the trip. The water felt great in the morning, but down right HOT in the afternoon. I think the water was about 100 degrees. I was just like a hot bath.
We also took the kids on a very short nature walk.
We were sure to include s'mores. I was a bit disappointed in Owen however, he preferred the marshmallows raw and not cooked...he just might not be my son.
We also became great friends with the local wild life. Upon arriving back at camp one day we found that our garbage had served as a meal for some creature. I've never really thought about storing our food away during the day.
We should have learned our lesson the first time. But the next night we left a box with some of our food out on the table. When we got home we found that a lot of our food had been tampered with. We were the most disappointed that they ate most of our hamburger buns that we were supposed to be having for dinner that night.
I think this might have been one of our little dinner guests.
The only rough part of the trip was when Ains woke up the second morning and threw up. She was sick and throwing up for a few hours. She just sat in front of the fire and eventually fell asleep. Luckily her little bug (or too much junk food) passed quickly, and within a few hours she was completely back to normal.
We had a ton of fun, although I must admit that it's nice to be clean, and I won't miss the walk to the outhouse!

7 comments:

Lisa-Marie said...

Looks like so much fun. Isn't it neat to get out with just your own little family? It is different and special.

We camped in our backyard last night. I like camping much better when I know my bed isn't thirty feet away. I was pining for it all night!!! The kids had a blast though.

Aimee said...

Your camping trip was WAY better than mine!! Maybe my next one will be more like yours! HA!

Arin Rohrbach said...

I remember going to Silver Creek Plunge with my family when I was a kid. Oh so many good memories there. I haven't dared to try and go camping with my kids yet. Maybe next summer :)

SD and EJ said...

Did Ains see Bigfoot? I loved answering all her questions about him. She just couldn't understand why people would want to take his picture and why he has such big feet.

Kohl said...

You are a much better camper than I. I have to have a flushing toilet! Looks like it was a fun family trip.

Anonymous said...

We just got back from camping, too. So much fun. I love taking a shower though when I get home!! :)

**KT

Elizabeth said...

I can understand the need to go on a vacation where you aren't with family or visiting family--almost all of our vacations are that way. In fact, we just got back from a 48-hour trip to St. George with Russ's family, and let's just say anytime you get 30 people together there is bound to be drama! I'm glad you were able to get away by yourselves. I hope we get to soon!