Camping

A few days before we left Idaho, the boys went camping. We all gathered at a beautiful camping area that my family used to frequent when I was younger around 3PM. The kids played in the water as we watched from the beach, and we all swatted away enough flies to fill a bus. Once we'd had our fill of the beach, we made our way back to the campsite for dinner. Hot dogs, fruit and s'mores were on the menu. The kids tried to cook the dogs, but the teens and adults had to take that over. Immediately afterwards we started on the s'mores. (The girls were not staying overnight and it was already 7PM at this point.) Personally, hot dogs weren't enough to lure me anywhere, but s'mores are, so I was fine with getting to the good part that quickly. The marshmallows were the biggest I'd ever seen....they could have been halved and still been big. Maddux and Eli loved that part, of course. A tasty treat and fire? The perfect combo for them!

Once we finished dessert, the girls all headed back to the house to sleep. Maddux and I slept together on a blow-up mattress, which she loved. Eli and the rest of the boys played a few card games until it got dark and then went Snipe hunting. Eli had been soooo excited about this. Treis, Cole and Uncle J really played it up, and Eli would have walked over hot coals to be included in the 'hunt'. Lehr tells me that Justin did a great job creating the scene for Snipe hunting, and Eli was into it, 100%. Once they finished (Eli was disappointed that they came back empty-handed), they hung out around the fire a little more. Lehr said that Eli asked twice, very seriously, to go to bed. On the second request, his wish was granted, and he slept later than anyone the next morning.