camping trip

we went camping last weekend with our friends, the harmons. it was a great time. joanna picked the campground, and it was perfect. we had trees to keep us out of the sun, grass covered ground (which made for softer sleeping), a nearby bathroom, a creek a short walk away. it was near mount nebo, which made it a littler cooler.

we all got up there friday afternoon and just relaxed for awhile--letting the kids run around, play, explore. we had foil dinners and then made smores for dinner. the harmons made homemade mac n' cheese dinners, which looked fun.

brian found a snake at the creek and gave it to the kids to play with for awhile.

sierra and louisa played in our tent for quite a long time. sierra had louisa laughing really hard, which was fun to hear.

sonny, eli, and w playing in the harmon's tent.

friday night, the adults sat around the campfire and had a good chance to talk, which was a lot of fun. we even sang several of our hootenanies to the harmons, which they liked. and anyone who likes our hootenanies is a-ok by us! joanna sang some campfire songs, which were new to us and really fun. after dinner, brian and jordan told some riveting stories that we all enjoyed.

the next morning, we woke up and had eggs and pancakes. the coleman stove wasn't working, so we opted to make it all over the fire, which worked out surprisingly well. the food was good. i took the boys to try to find the woodpecker we were hearing, but we couldn't find it. we did see a really nice stellar's jay on friday though.

after we cleaned up, we left the campsite and headed out on the nebo loop. it is beautiful up there. we stopped at a place that had bryce canyon-like rock formations, which was cool. we then found a good place to stop and go for a hike. we hiked for maybe 2 miles and enjoyed the nice alpine air and the beautiful scenery.

w, louisa, and eli with a catepillar eli caught.

eli with a butterfly on his shoe. we actually had several butterflies land on us on this hike. i huge yellow one landed on brian's mexico hat, and another big yellow one landed on the front of my shirt. it was pretty cool.

the view from where we stopped to take a break. so amazing.

jordan and b amongst the aspens.

after we got back from the hike, we had a quick lunch and then went our separate ways back home. along our way home, we stopped to see payson lake (we've heard alot about it but have never been there). it was a really beautiful lake with a sandy beach and trees all the way around it. maybe some time i'll take w and s there. it reminded me of lakes back in oregon.

on the drive home, w and s both fell asleep (that has never happened before). we woke them up when we were back in town so we could all go into the DI. as you can see, the fun never stops with us!