Mon May 27, 2024
IG:
Escaped for a couple days to McCall. Trees + 60* = 🥰
Our first hike consisted of us running away from mosquitoes and slapping each other for 4 miles. Poor Grant, who is highly allergic, got bit a few times now looks more like a character from star trek with his swollen forehead.
My favorite hike was later that day: Bab Bear Trail (if I’m remembering correctly): about 4 miles, absolutely beautiful, lots of variety, and relatively easy.
I have come to accept that camping with my children at this stage just isn’t as carefree as I thought it would be. I brought books to read, sock to mend, journal entries to write… but stayed pretty busy keeping everyone safe, fed, and emotionally “ok.” (Admittedly though, it’s waaay less stressful than when the were really young 🙃).
Pat is the master fire-guy, so I was very proud of Chase & myself when we managed to keep it thriving while the boys were gone 🔥
The kids had a lot of fun feeding the fire this time around camping at Ponderosa. Our site was covered in piles of pine needles, which are very flammable. They burn fast and hot, which was a lot of fun for the kids (They had a whole monk game I think going into the night that involved burning LOADS of pine needles). We also spent a fair amount of time scavenging for wood, since it was chilly. There was a fallen tree behind our campsite that Grant liked to hack at with the hatchet.
Smore time! Look at those tanned beauties that Heidi made!
Chase and I stayed behind at camp while Pat & the kids went and checked out the lake. They ended up taking quite a while, so I took turn feeding the fire. It actually turned out to be a strange melding of mediating and do a puzzle: both relaxing yet mentally engaging.
Chase wanted a picture on top of this big rock. He’s always ready to do some awesome poses :)
Pat loves small wooden bridges over creeks. Whenever we find one of a hike, you can bet we’ll take a picture on it.
Heidi and Grant managed to find snow on one of the hikes. I couldn’t believe it since it was so darn hot!
The hikes are so beautiful up in McCall (as opposed to Treasure Valley), so Pat and I decided to do 2 in one day. Now that it’s bee some time, I’m not sure which pictures belong to which hike. If I’m correct, I don’t think we took very many photos on our morning hike by the lake because there were SO MANY MOSQUITOES! If we stopped for even a second, we would be swarmed and eaten alive. As it was, I spent nearly the whole time just following behind Grant slapping at any mosquito that I saw on him. Despite my efforts, he still got bit a few times and swelled up. (If Grant’s face looks swollen in the picture, then it’s definitely from our afternoon hike!)
The kids are always happy to have a chance to whittle. We usually only let them use the swiss army knives on camping trips, so it’s an anticipated treat.
Here I thought it would be too cold to spend time at the lake, but I guess I was wrong. The kids found some docks by the shore and had a lot of fun playing around. Especially Lydia. She seems to come alive whenever she’s around water.
It also happened to be Lydia’s 16th Birthday. She commemorated it with a Polar Plunge in the shallow lake water :)
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