camping...

Last week, BJ was on break from school. So, he decided to take some vacation time from work as well and take the family camping. We went on a Monday evening. So, when we arrived at Alderwood campground, we were happy to see that we had the entire campground to ourselves. We set up camp and got the girls settled in for the night (when I say "we", I really mean BJ). Jase and I slept in the Durango. :) Our camping spot was about 30 feet from the best little stream. It was a beautiful location!



Jase enjoyed his first camping trip. This was a good age for him to go camping. Once the babies start crawling, I try to avoid camping until they are good little walkers. Otherwise, there is just way too much dirt! Jase hung out in his Daddy pack, the pack 'n' play or in our arms.



After making our breakfast of bacon, scrambled eggs, and biscuits over the fire, we cleaned up and headed down to the stream. We spent the morning talking, playing, and watching BJ try to catch a fish.





Later, we took a nature walk and had some lunch. Then the kids took a nap. Well, all except for Addy. She cannot nap. If she ever does actually fall asleep at naptime, she will be up until 2:00 in the morning. I heard somewhere that smarter people need less sleep. So, I am expecting her to be a genius :) So, Addy laid down until the other kids fell asleep, then joined BJ and I down at the stream.





She totally lucked out. BJ caught a fish and she got to reel it in! It was very exciting.





Now that Addy had caught a fish and we knew they were biting, I was determined to catch a fish too. I was kind of surprised to realize that I think fishing is really fun. I caught one fish but it escaped as I was trying to reel it in. Then, later I caught this fish... See it on the end of the line there? I know that it looks small, but it was actually a pretty decent sized fish. We determined that we would eat it for dinner. So, BJ was trying to attach it to the stake thing to keep it fresh until dinnertime and it slipped right out of his hands! I think he was just jealous that my fish was bigger than his :)



When the kids woke up from their naps, they straggled down to the stream.





You can see what type of fish Brighton was interested in catching!



After awhile, BJ got in the stream to try and set a trap for a particularly big fish that he wanted to get. Brighton wanted in on the fun as well. She was standing on this rock with her feet in the water, shivering cold. I kept warning her to be careful or get out because she might fall in. Well, what do you think happened? That's right. She fell in. And she was not happy about it!



We went back to camp to warm her up and start cooking our dinner. Addy's fish provided enough meat that each of us could have a little taste. Addy didn't want to taste it, but she was pretty proud of her "rainbow fish" for dinner. We were trying to get everyone in warm clothes, finish dinner, etc. when we realized that we had pretty much experienced everything we came for. So, we finished dinner, let the kids make some smores, packed up and drove home. That way we could all sleep in our own beds that night. On the way out, we saw several elk and deer. Look closely and see if you can spot the elk. It was pretty amazing. So, though it was a quick camping trip, we had fun together and made some great memories.