Meanwhile.. back at camp

While Daddy was in Belize, the kids and I decided that we all wanted to 'Get out of Dodge' for a few days! We love to camp and had not been able to do so for over a year.. true, this was the first time that we were going to attempt it without dad.. but he had already gave us his blessing to go since his sons have become such great (BIG!) helpers! So we headed up to Walupt Lake in the National Forest, out near Packwood. It was such a beautiful 5 days! The weather was perfect.. in the 80's during the day and in the 50's or 60's at night. We met many special folks.. and even had a few conversations about the Lord with a few of the campers. It was such a reminder that we need to be available and with an answer at all times, even when we are in the middle of no where! :) We came home feeling very refreshed.. and looked forward to Daddy's homecoming from Belize, just a few hours after our return. Once he got home of course, the older girls, dad and mom stayed up until 4 am talking about the Belize trip and catching up! 6 am came pretty early the next day!

This campground is worth the bumpy 15 mile trip down the bumpy gravel forest service roads~

 

Walupt Lake

The boys were dismayed to hear that in this paticular lake they could not use bait or barbed hooks

Even so, they had fun catching a few smaller fish with flies, bubbles (?) and other various thingy-ma-jiggies that mom doesn't know the name of!  :)

 

 

Best friends

Watch out Gracie!

Grace and Laura washing the dishes

Good Morning!

Going for a ride in the bike cart

Poor little Laura's eyes started swelling shut on that first day we arrived. We think she may be sensitive to wood smoke. In addition, just like in Belize, every mosquito in the area found her!

The poor baby was covered in bites. Thankfully, a more prepared camper in the next site over had some children's Clariton which she gladly shared. She and another camper also gave us some very strong bug spray which also helped.

I found Gracie cutting up this watermelon.. with a MACHETE! Hee Hee

(notice the blade is pointing UP!)

 

The creek that flows into the lake was so beautiful. The boys had fun catching huge craw dads there.

 

 

Yummy! Steel cut oats taste even better when cooked over a fire!

 

 

On our trip home, we stopped at Mayfield Lake and Rye caught this big one right away!

Ryan, Amanda, Laura, Gracie, Ashley and Grant

~Our Blessings~