Monday, April 30, 2012

Our trip to the Verde Valley... in pictures

Day 1

leaving town

at the camp site

putting up the tent

playing with all the juice bottles

throwing rocks in the creek

sagan walking on water

night number one
                                                             Day 2


cae in a tree

doing the breakfast dishes

Pokemon in the tent

little kids  playing "tell tale"

standing under the open trunk to get out of the rain and hail

sky clearing

on a walk

rowan called this the Totoro tree

cae splashing in the water

mom's and kids creek side

we had 22 kids with us!

campfire! complete with roasty toasty mallows!
                                                           Day 3


peas peas

walking over the bridge

tom helping the kids with the fishing poles

cae got pretty good at casting

sagan got tired of waiting so he made his own pole!

wade caught the largest thing all day!

more Pokemon

playing in the water

discussing cups

anais with strawberry eyebrows

fiona doodling

making a mud castle with moat

meg in the mud

patting the mud pie

Day 4

fiona still snoozing

breakfast and pokemon

katherine and rowan playing uno

"avalanche" hill

logan and cae checking out the Totoro tree

in the creek

more rock throwing

row and logan

daddeee

anais standing up sleeping while nursing

wyatt and row playing "spot it"

logan listening to tunes

and back to the creek

we just can't get enough of that water

sunlight thru the trees

grassy path

perspective

fiona creek side

loving on daddy

art creekside

last campfire... with music

Day 5

morning discussion

last wander in the woods

sunlight thru the cottonwood

(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.