Day 1
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leaving town |
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at the camp site |
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putting up the tent |
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playing with all the juice bottles |
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throwing rocks in the creek |
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sagan walking on water |
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night number one |
Day 2
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cae in a tree |
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doing the breakfast dishes |
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Pokemon in the tent |
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little kids playing "tell tale" |
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standing under the open trunk to get out of the rain and hail |
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sky clearing |
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on a walk |
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rowan called this the Totoro tree |
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cae splashing in the water |
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mom's and kids creek side |
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we had 22 kids with us! |
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campfire! complete with roasty toasty mallows! |
Day 3
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peas peas |
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walking over the bridge |
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tom helping the kids with the fishing poles |
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cae got pretty good at casting |
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sagan got tired of waiting so he made his own pole! |
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wade caught the largest thing all day! |
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more Pokemon |
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playing in the water |
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discussing cups |
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anais with strawberry eyebrows |
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fiona doodling |
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making a mud castle with moat |
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meg in the mud |
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patting the mud pie |
Day 4
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fiona still snoozing |
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breakfast and pokemon |
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katherine and rowan playing uno |
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"avalanche" hill |
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logan and cae checking out the Totoro tree |
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in the creek |
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more rock throwing |
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row and logan |
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daddeee |
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anais standing up sleeping while nursing |
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wyatt and row playing "spot it" |
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logan listening to tunes |
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and back to the creek |
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we just can't get enough of that water |
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sunlight thru the trees |
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grassy path |
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perspective |
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fiona creek side |
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loving on daddy |
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art creekside |
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last campfire... with music |
Day 5
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morning discussion |
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last wander in the woods |
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sunlight thru the cottonwood |
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(pic by daddy) logan is HUGE cottonwood |
I am not even sure where to start... we had such an amazing time. It was like summer camp with the whole family present. Camping, surrounded by your best friends... Priceless. The kids just kept going and going and going. Up at 6 AM and non-stop until they passed out at 9PM. Out in the sunshine, fresh air, playing hard, laughing, getting soaked at least 3 times a day.
There were moments I wish I could have caught better on "film" and moments that I just didn't have my camera ready for. Like the times when all us mama's with little ones were sitting around all nursing at the same time... outdoor nature LLL meetings! Or the hilariousness of marshmallow roasting every night. With 22 children at 7 campsites, running, riding, scooting all over the place it was a good kind of madness. I loved the ebb and flow of the days, how the kids went from camp to camp, i loved the endless games of Pokemon, and the constant eating and the hikes down to the creek about every 2 hours all day long. I really loved how the kids all connected and moved throughout their days. And I loved the lack of TV and computers.
Personally, I was a bit freaked out about doing this. Having not car camped in well... YEARS, and never alone, I wasn't sure how I would fare. But I did it. I DID IT! And really I wasn't alone. Doing this surrounded by friends made the whole experience just so amazingly sweet.
So looking forward to our next adventure.