Camping

We've been planning for this camping trip for months. We'd been telling the kids "we will go camping when school is out… when it's summer." But we foolishly planned the trip for the END of summer and had to hear about it for weeks. We were lucky to have my mom join us this time. We had so much fun at Silver Falls last year, we decided to go there again.

But this year we didn't do quite as much…. We relaxed a bit more. The go go go of last year's camping trip was too much! So this year we did what I believe is the ideal camping activity….

We sat around the campfire morning, noon, and night. We talked, laughed, eavesdropped on nearby campers, and MADE SMORES, of course!

Having my mom there made things entertaining. She is so lighthearted and I think we would have been camping zombies if she hadn't been there to bring up odd conversation topics and make us laugh.

Reagan and I, seconds before our eyeballs were blinded by the smoke. Is it just me, or is smoke-in-the-eyes the most excruciating pain ever? It feels like burning acid on my cornea… of course I can't complain... since I was too stubborn to move my chair

Anyways…. Here's the roasters "Marshing Marshmallows," as my kids would say. Nice socks, Mom! You can get away with it here, and only here. I love that when you're camping can you wear the most mismatched, unclean, out-of-style clothing… and actually pull it off.

We got a little bored of the usual SMORE and decided to experiment a bit…

Jefferson created a Smore brownie, which turned out to be dry and crispy. My mom seemed to like it though…

Shawn created a Peanut Butter Smore. It was delicious, trust me! Nicely done.

Night time was fun. We went to a couple Ranger programs where we learned about constellations and the mythical stories behind them. The boys fell asleep within seconds of laying their heads down, but Reagan wanted nothing to do with sleeping. She would stay in the tent, though… playing and talking to herself. Every once in a while we would hear the zipper of the tent open, and a little set of eye balls looking out… then a head

One day we took a bike ride to a stream where we could go swimming. The water was freezing cold, but the kids didn't seem to notice.

And that's where we found this little creature. He fell from the sky and landed in the water. Grant saved him… although I think he would have preferred to just lie in the water and die. We tried to be gentle, but I think we were borderline torturing him

His coloring was so beautiful. Everyone had their turn holding him. The boys brought their bug catcher to camp so they kidnapped kept him. They picked flowers for him to eat (that is what they eat, right??). He survived all the way home. He's buried in our front yard now.

The most spectacular part of Silver Falls is the "Trail of Ten Falls". Last year we hiked the whole thing over 2 days. This year, Shawn, my mom, and the kids hiked about 4 miles and saw 7 waterfalls. I dropped everyone off at South Falls, and picked them up a few hours later for lunch. So, no, I wasn't there for all the hiking excitement (and whining), but Shawn took tons of pictures. Here's our family at South falls…. Breathtaking. I think walking behind the waterfall is the most amazing part.

And off they went…..

The boys, exploring some caves.

Everyone looked close to death when I picked them up. But I made them walk a bit further so we could enjoy Upper North Falls, which is my favorite waterfall.

We had lunch, and the boys explored some more. Their goal was to get across the stream. We didn't think they could do it… they did!

It was a great trip. I can't imagine taking our family on any other vacation. The kids love it, and we love relaxing. We had no cell phone service, and felt completely isolated from the real world.... I loved it! I'm telling you all, someday I will find my own Walden Pond and live my blissful life.