Labor Day 2012

Our 2012 Labor Day camping trip renewed my life-long love of nature.  I've been away from the mountains for a while because of pregnancies and illness, but I decided to suck it up for the weekend and go along with my family to 11 Mile Canyon.  It...was...heavenly!  Everywhere I stood I felt like I was nestled in a Thomas Kinkaid painting.  And three whole days and nights with their cousins...Emma and Ben had died and gone to heaven. Ben had fun, but he's a bucket full of fears. Unfortunately, wind freaks him out to the point of panic, which made camping with the little guy a tad tricky (and completely frustrating for me and Trenton.) We did our best to keep him busy hiking and playing in the water, and when he did forget himself for a while, he had a blast.  I'm pretty sure he picked up the "anxiety-bug" from me.

We spent our days hiking, eating yummy camp food, and playing games.  On one of the afternoons, as I was walking the girls back to camp from a hike, we noticed that Doug, Stephen, and Trenton were floating down the river on Steve's air mattress.  I felt so bad for the people who were out fly fishing that day.  I'm guessing our giant mattress didn't make for good fishing.  Obviously I didn't feel badly enough though, because I took my happy butt on down the river too.  Then it was the kids' turn.  After Ben got over his initial anxiety attack, he even enjoyed floating with us too!

My parents came up the second night to have supper with us.  All the kids were excited to see their Grandparents. The weather was perfection that evening.  I was about ready to beg Trenton to sell all our assets and build a cabin right where we were camping. I felt so bad for Christy because she had a nasty cold that left her with zero energy and feeling miserable.  But she never contemplated heading home.  Well- maybe she thought about it, but she never complained to any of us.  She even fed us delicious haystacks and cobbler for dinner.  Lyla was a happy little camper, as long as she was fed and warm.  I loved bundling her up in the same bunny suit that Emma and Ben wore.  Sweet baby.

We were all so excited that Cathy and Hannah were able to join us for the final night.  They had tried to come up the first night, but she got lost and had a flat tire.  By the time she got help, it was too late and she was too exhausted to set up camp and decided to head home.  Steve and Shannon made the most incredible dinner our last night.  They fed us homemade green chili and potatoes with bacon, mushrooms, parsley, and cheese.  Oh my.

Once their little tummies were full, the kids dropped like flies and we enjoyed the last couple hours of our trip by the fire.  I love you family!