I'd Rather Be Camping

Warning: This is going to take a while. You might want to grab a snack and some coffee.

Camping as a kid are some of my best childhood memories. From the smells of outdoor breakfast when you first wake up, to curling up in your sleeping bag and listing to the crickets outside your tent. I LOVE it. Matt and I have taken Tobin camping before but this was the first year we were brave enough to take the whole troop. As you can see by our swagger wagon, we prepared for anything.

We drove across our state to the campgrounds that I camped at during my childhood. Wallowa Lake is simply the best place to camp with kids. I couldn't wait to show Matt all my favorite spots. The marina, the stocked lake where you are guaranteed to catch your limit within a few hours. So perfect for first time fisherman. Deer so tame they let you pet them (Matt almost checked me into a hospital with my "Disney deer fantasy"), oh and did I mention the outdoor theater, go carts, mini golf, and ice cream? It is so much fun!

We went with our good friends Troy and Michelle and their girls. And communicated via walkie talkies. I use the word "communicate" loosely because mostly it was used for quoting our favorite movie line or "that's what she said".

We took our time with the drive and keep the trip fun by doing a little geocaching! Think high tech treasure hunting.

When we finally got to our site we made it our home . . . our tent.
Troy and Michelle's love hut . . .
And you have to love outdoor cooking. It always tastes better and we had a good menu!

Kids that NEVER get bored cause they play all day long.

I know how much my four year olds like to go to the bathroom. So I brought one with me. This cut down on lots of walking in the middle of the night in the pitch dark . . .

I also posted this because I want to set some kind of record for the most pictures of my kids on the john in one week. Fingers crossed.
A ton of nature hikes.


Wildflowers in a little girls hair.

Best Friends.




All the outdoor peeing you can handle, bro!


Oh and remember the exaggerated story I told Matt about he tame deer? Well, well, well, who's the rational one now??? Humm???
He got closer . . . .
and closer . . . .
Until . . .
. . . they became best friends and roomed together in college.





Naturally we taught them to gamble . . .
And went creek walking . . .



We enjoyed the most beautiful country.


The twinado's giving each other some love.
We caught our dinner . . .

Went bike riding.

I planned a craft a day. First day these paper sack lanterns.

Second day, nature friends.

Third day, nature journals.

Fourth day, vases made out of water bottles, sticks and twine.

Camping was far beyond what I had hoped for. We all can't wait to do it again.

After camping we continued to drive east to Idaho where we spent a few days at our family cabin in McCall. Because I don't feel like you've seen enough pictures of our family vacation I will leave you with these.