First Time Campers

Sweet Cheeks and Scooter's first view of the creek

We have big plans of taking all of our grandchildren camping, but we are not so brave as to attempt taking them all at one time.  A couple of years ago we took the oldest and this weekend we took two more.  It was their first camping trip and the anticipation was great!  Sweet Cheeks backed out the day before the trip.  She got homesick just thinking about being away from her parents and other siblings, but when the day arrived she braved up and decided to go.  They both had a blast and the homesickness did not show up again until we were fifteen minutes from home on the return trip.

The ride was a very long one, but we arrived a little before dark, so they got to scope out the site.  Of course, they wanted to see the creek first.

Scooter is a budding naturalist.  She loves learning about plants, insects, and animals, and her current favorite book is Dr. Doolittle.  

Sweet Cheeks resting after a swim.

They wanted to spend every waking moment in the creek!

"Whatever it was, she did it!"

"Can we get back in the water now???"

We cooked a little in the Dutch ovens, and did a little exploring.  A huge fuzzy red and black ant entertained us for a while.  He moved too fast to get a good picture.

Dragonflies kept drinking water off our skin when we were in the creek, and butterflies were plentiful.  The sweetest lavendar one seemed to follow us everywhere.

We marveled over plants and various flowers while the birds sang to us from overhead.  We tried desperately to escape the mosquitos, but they always managed to out manuver us, so we brought a few bites home with our souvenirs.

They girls wanted to climb every tree they passed.

Gran had lots of help building the fire.

It was too hot to really enjoy the fire, but what is camping without a fire, so we did build one.  We didn't sit around it though.

It was a wonderful trip.  When we asked if they wanted to come back again they replied quickly, "Yeah, tomorrow!!!"

Simple Joys

All you have to do is open your eyes around here and you can't help but think happy thoughts.

There is so much beauty everywhere you look.

Whether it is evening or morning the sky is amazing.

There is no way to capture in a photo the feeling that rolls in with the fog each morning. It's almost like the morning is going to be so great that God doesn't want to reveal it all at once so he covers it in a blanket and slowly pulls the cover back a little at a time.

Even though summer has pasted there are still some reminders hanging around.

A new season's produce is planted, and will soon be producing. You should have seen the kids running up and down the rows yesterday evening. They love the garden. I think they all have a little farming blood, and hopefully green thumbs.

Don't you just love new beginnings?

An Early Afternoon Sky, and an Late Afternoon Stroll

The clouds are always changing. These were massive, building and beautiful! Of course a storm followed.

These are so beautiful, but word to the wise, don't pick them if they've eaten. The smell is, well, it smells of death. I guess digesting bugs don't put off the aroma of flowers.