Camping Re-Cap

 

So. Summer is almost over, and from the looks of the ol' blog it seems as though we've done a big, fat nothing.

 

Not true.

We've actually been cramming in as much family fun time as humanly possible.
Which leaves very little time for documenting it, funny enough!

 

Last month, we made it to my family reunion camp-out!

 

I wasn't sure we would this year, with everything going on. 

We haven't missed a year in the 14 years we've been married ~ but we also hadn't suffered our second loss in four years before.
Life is so different now, it's almost unrecognizable.

 

BUT. 

Campout.

 

I'm going to leave you with picutres.

 

It's my favorite way to tell a story, ya know:
 

  

There was plenty of bike-ridin.

 

 

There was some bug-catchin'.  Let me just tell you ~ these bugs that the boys catch for fishing are the biggest, ugliest suckers you can imagine! Ew!  But the fish love them!

 

 

There was a LOT of cousin bonding time.

 

 

Prizes were won,

 

 

Tournaments were played,
 

 

Snuggles were given.
 

 

 

 And at the end of the weekend, we wound up with another family photo for the books, and many, many, wonderful memories made.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Family Camp 2015 ~ Part 1

 After a crazy-busy May, and a crazy-busy June, things *finally* started to slow down.


Ha!  Just kidding!
There was no slow-down.
We just jumped full speed ahead into July.

After celebrating a nice, quiet Fourth, we packed up the trailer and headed east for our annual camping trip, and family reunion.

We've had a very dry year here in Oregon. 
Our Spring months are usually very wet, and June . . . June can have crazy amounts of rain.
But I'm not sure we had one drop of rain in June, so by the first of July we were getting kind of used to the hot, dry start to Summer.

Until we hit the road . . .

 

 

When we took off from home, it was 90+ degrees.

When we pulled into Madras {a town about halfway between home and our camping destination}, it had dropped from 92 to . . .
 

 

Holy Moly!
 

 

And the rain!  We hadn't seen any in such a long time.
And certainly never in July on our drive over.
 

 

By the time we reached our campground, the weather had settled, and it was actually very refreshing.
 

 

And it made for a gorgeous sunset, once the sun actually, you know, came out.
 

 

We spent the first few days wandering around, catching bugs {as fishing bait},
 

 

and fishing with the Daddy.
 

Sissy killed it!

 

And then there were chipmunks.

 

 

Kam and Kenners were soooooo patient.

They'd just sit and wait for hours for a chipmunk to come around and take a peanut.

Jeremy taught Kam how to get one to come up on a lap, and she thought that was the coolest thing EVER!
 

 

They got friendly REAL fast, once they knew you had their favorite food.
 

Ahem.
Real friendly.

 

 

 

 

 And then we waited for the rest of our family to arrive for our reunion! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Only Child = Nap, Exercise, and Quiet

Pictures courtesy of Sierra {a budding photographer}

Yesterday Daddy and Gramps took Sierra and Makenna on a fun-filled fishing trip in the boat. Sierra has gone a few times, but this was Makenna's first trip out.

They took off around 11am, and didn't return home until 9:30 last night!

After a picnic lunch they watched for ducks and geese, played card games, and, of course, fished.

While my two older daughters were having the time of their lives out on the water, Kam and I were having a pretty good time as well. We met up with Nana {My Mom} to check out a new boutique that we've been hearing about. We browsed, found a cute little sweatshirt for Muffin Moo, and a lot more that, sadly, we couldn't take home with us.

I deliberately cut the trip short so that I could get Kameryn home for a decent nap, and guess what, I napped with her. Okay, so I had a hard time falling asleep, and am not really sure I actually made it to dreamland. But I got to lie down on the bed, close my eyes for a few minutes, and even indulge in a little book reading. I was a pampered princess, I tell you!

She almost looked as though she was pondering the change. The quiet, the stillness that comes with being the only two here. It brought me back to those first few months with Sierra. Those lazy days when clothing didn't take over my laundry room, dishes didn't pile in the sink, and my floors were always clean. And while I loved my time alone with Kam, I missed my girls so. I missed the noise, the drama, their shrieks, and the giggles.

My house is not as clean as it once was, the girls aren't always in bed early {okay, so they're never in bed early}, I never seem to catch up on the dang laundry . . . and that's okay. I'm constantly amazed at how quickly children grow. One day they won't need me like they do now, and that, I'm afraid, will break my heart.

So I will take it all in while I can. Even if that means missing out on a nap.