Sunday, August 02, 2015
Snapshots of Summer 2015
 |
| At the splash pad. |
 |
| Riding with Hermes. |
 |
| And again. |
 |
| Sylvie's first ponytail. |
 |
| Berries! |
 |
| Mulberry fingers! |
 |
| Sleepy Tigger. |
Devil's Lake Camping 7/2015
The girls and I took another camping trip with friends a few weeks ago...they are getting to be quite the little outdoorswomen!
This time around we had beautiful weather, and time for lots of hiking and swimming. Plus, "glamping" in style thanks to the Mikkelson's awesome accessories.
This time around we had beautiful weather, and time for lots of hiking and swimming. Plus, "glamping" in style thanks to the Mikkelson's awesome accessories.
 |
| Chalk rocks. Kept all four girls entertained for hours. |
 |
| "Riding" the septic tanks. 'Cause, you know. That's fun when you are 5. |
 |
| And sitting on rocks is pretty cool, too. |
 |
| Photo op. |
 |
| Fearless Chris, leading the way. |
 |
| Up, up, up to see Balanced Rock! |
 | ||
| A steep climb! |
 |
| Switchbacks! |
 |
| View of the swimming beach from above. |
 |
| I swear they weren't as close to the edge as they appear in this photo. |
 |
| Sylvie had a haven't-napped-in-forever meltdown at the top of the bluff, so she and I took a detour back to base while the others trekked on. |
 |
| She was much happier once she realized she could climb rocks all the way back down. |
 |
| Waiting-for-a-large-group-to-pass selfie op. |
 |
| The girls singing and drawing on the art blanket back at camp. |
 |
| Cooking in style. |
 |
| The after dinner clean-up crew! |
 | |
| And our favorite Cards Against Humanity combination of the trip. Too bad he wasn't there to appreciate it! |
Monday, June 15, 2015
Sylvie's first camping trip!
In honor of Elsie's 5th birthday, she asked to "please go camping!". She has great memories of our solo trips before Sylvie was born, and was anxious to put up the tent again. Our friends, the Watermolens, just happened to be planning a group camp for her birthday weekend, so we jumped on board!
Andy decided to stay home at the last minute, but the girls and I had a wonderful time. There was a little rain and a few snags in the plan, but overall it was a great experience. We made some new friends, reconnected with old ones, and even had a few wildlife encounters!
We had lots of fun organizing the campsite (seven families!) and trying to set up the tents and prepare dinner while the kids ran amok. They played with stilts, beanbag toss, and hammocks, in addition to self-organizing games like "Sharks and Minnows" and "Ghost in the Graveyard".
The campsite was surrounded by 60-foot tall evergreens, which where filled with nesting herons! We got to watch them swoop in and feed their babies, and the girls loved to listen to their funny honking cries.
The highlight of the trip for Elsie was our close encounter on our way to bed. We stopped by our picnic table to grab our water bottles, and came face-to-face with a very large raccoon sitting on the table, helping himself to our garbage bag! When he ran off, we walked to our tent past another friend's table, only to see our raccoon had a friend in crime busy trying to figure out how to open a cooler on the table!
As we got ready for bed in the tent, the herons began hooting/calling/fighting REALLY loudly! It, I swear, sounded like a flock of pterodactyls had invaded the forest. Crazy! They kept it up for most the night, not the it kept the girls awake at all.
We left after breakfast, and weren't out of the park before Sylvie began asking, "Mama, go camping again? Please?". Yep, our first family-of-three camping trip was a success!
Andy decided to stay home at the last minute, but the girls and I had a wonderful time. There was a little rain and a few snags in the plan, but overall it was a great experience. We made some new friends, reconnected with old ones, and even had a few wildlife encounters!
 |
| The lake was beautiful! |
We had lots of fun organizing the campsite (seven families!) and trying to set up the tents and prepare dinner while the kids ran amok. They played with stilts, beanbag toss, and hammocks, in addition to self-organizing games like "Sharks and Minnows" and "Ghost in the Graveyard".
 |
| The "other Andy Cooper" had lots of assistants setting up their tent! |
The campsite was surrounded by 60-foot tall evergreens, which where filled with nesting herons! We got to watch them swoop in and feed their babies, and the girls loved to listen to their funny honking cries.
The highlight of the trip for Elsie was our close encounter on our way to bed. We stopped by our picnic table to grab our water bottles, and came face-to-face with a very large raccoon sitting on the table, helping himself to our garbage bag! When he ran off, we walked to our tent past another friend's table, only to see our raccoon had a friend in crime busy trying to figure out how to open a cooler on the table!
As we got ready for bed in the tent, the herons began hooting/calling/fighting REALLY loudly! It, I swear, sounded like a flock of pterodactyls had invaded the forest. Crazy! They kept it up for most the night, not the it kept the girls awake at all.
And, of course, proof that the girls did actually sleep the whole night! What big kids!
We left after breakfast, and weren't out of the park before Sylvie began asking, "Mama, go camping again? Please?". Yep, our first family-of-three camping trip was a success!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)