Camping 2011

Fourth of July was on a Monday this year so it made for a perfect camping weekend.  We went to a place called Kinder Crossing Trail up on the rim.  In total, we had 9 families with us.  The area was really dry and the days were still pretty hot in the beginning.  The first day we got there around 1pm and had just enough time to set up camp and get dinner ready.  The next two days a monsoon storm had built and we got rain both afternoons.  It was wonderful!!  It cooled right off and settled the dust and made for perfect chicken noodle soup weather.  The second day it rained clear into the night. 

Glade bought himself a new toy and spent more than a little while "grunting" over its manly-ness

We had several teenagers and they all played really well together and made the time spent much less boring.

Most of Bo's best friends were there so he never had a dull moment.  There was plenty of exploring and card playing and hacking things up with an axe to keep them busy.

There is a spider peeking out of Glade's back pocket.  It's big and rubber and he had much fun trying to scare people with it.

This is the view from the creek we hiked down to and played in. So beautiful.

Sara, Becca and Brooklyn.  The water was too cold but not too deep so they could mostly walk around in it and actually jump and swim in a few spots.

Dalin taking a dip

There were plenty of crawdads to be found so lots of the boys spent their time collecting them.

Brayden and Bo

This is part of the hike to get to the creek.  It was steep and not that easy.

If you look right in the middle of the picture, you can see the green water, that's how far we hiked down.  The hike was 1.2 miles round trip.

Jono came and stayed a couple of nights with us and we spent a lot of time playing games.

Kylee and Ava keeping dry in the rain.

There was a deserted little home stead that we were able to visit not far from camp.  It was built in the early 1900's.

This was there food storage area.  A separate little hut with shelves.  From all that I've read, I'd guess it was the icehouse.

I just love this picture.  Katy and Tessa