Camping September 3-4

Okay, okay- so the post is a little, ummm, late? But hey, we all know that (in the realm of blogs), late is better than never. We decided to be adventurous and took the kids camping on Storm Mountain, west of Loveland, up the Big Thompson Canyon a ways. This required a fair amount of preparation (particularly since we had not been camping as a family before), a fair amount of borrowing (a larger tent was a good idea, as well as a few handy doo-dads for around the campsite). Here is everyone enjoying the evening campfire, and you can see those good ol' Colorado lodgepole pines in the background. (This was a week or two before the state-wide fire ban; we canceled any further camping trips, as the fire in the evening just makes the experience!)

A snapshot of what camping is really all about- s'mores!
Here's Silas tasting his first s'more. You can tell how much he hates it.

Another one of the horrors of camping- hot chocolate before breakfast!

Here are Silas and Amelie making their contribution to the campfire. (Everyone did arrive home fully intact.) They also contributed in other ways. Two shovels make the digging of potty holes all the more quick, right? The only problem is that holes dug 5-6 feet away from the campfire are deemed by the parental authorities as unusable and inappropriate!

David earned a Merit Badge (j/k!) on this trip. Check out the pot hanging over the fire. Apparently he had to do a little searching for the perfect piece of wood to act as a hook at the end of the string.

This is the littlest camper, worn out after a night of telling his mommy how much he disliked sharing a sleeping bag with her! He spent probably 40% of the night fussing/crying, 40% nursing (tired mommy equals a mommy willing to allow free nursing privileges for the benefit of 15-minutes of uninterrupted sleep), and 20% actually sleeping without complaint. The morning found a tired mommy and baby pair! Thankfully, the mommy found the mountain air to be somewhat invigorating (it was either that or the hot chocolate before breakfast- maybe a combo) and had decent energy the next day.

Four-wheeling in the Jeep. This was the kids' first experience four-wheeling. On Friday they requested that David stop driving in the ditch. It was just too bumpy for them! By Saturday, they were a little more used to it, and Silas told us that he wished we could always be just in God's creation. (I think, though, that was a reference to his enjoyment of the natural environment, not the "natural" road!)


Here is the view off from Storm Mountain. Long's Peak (one of Colorado's more famous Fourteeners, located in Rocky Mountain National Park) is in the far range on the right side of the picture.

Colorado's quaking aspen trees.

Driving back down to the flat lands through the Big Thompson Canyon. Back home we went to de-smoke ourselves (there's something about a campfire that no matter where you move, the smoke seems to follow!), and clean up. The whole trip took a fair amount of work, but was definitely very enjoyable! There's something so nice and relaxing about getting away from it all.