I'm sorry it took me so long to get you these camping pics...I guess that's what happens when you go to get your camera because you REALLY want to get this shot...and you realize....the battery had died. Not even enough life to power on.

If I had a lot of time...I might spend some of it arranging these pictures so they made more sense...and then maybe rearrange some more. But, I don't have a whole lot these days...
I see it all so different in my little brain, but...I just never can present it in such a way...
Miss Donna Lee insisted that this would be the most horrible picture ever because of this and that but I think it's pretty darn cute of her...Not too bad of Patsy either. Although, she may just kill me when she see's that I've posted this. I really hope that doesn't happen. I don't think she'd be able to live with herself.
We would have loved to have had some orange juice...but this being our only pitcher....didn't happen. It seems this here 'outdoor kitchen' puts off some mean heat.
This would be the mean outdoor kitchen in it's entirety. I have to say, cooking and cleaning was actually fun. I really enjoyed our outdoor kitchen. And when I say "our", I mean Jason and Donna's.
Although there were no 'hook-ups'....we were hooked up
He just gets cuter and cuter....and more and more ornery. I never knew that THAT was how you spelled 'ornery'. Seriously, doesn't it just look weird?
Just the three of us...
Triple trouble...the littlest monster, Caden is missing. We're really in for it when he's big enough to wander about with 'the boys'.
Theresa, Pat, myself and Donna....The brute in the back?? Oh no you di'int
Mmmmm....smores. Seriously, I had NEVER seen so much dirt in my life. This campground was covered in like silt. Not normal dirt, not normal at all.
Aubrey Rose
See! My feet looked like this the entire weekend. Is that disgusting or what? I really had to just let it all go about 5 minutes after we arrived. You know, after I had just cleaned our tent (yes, tent) and Dawson (looking like this here foot) came in and rolled all over our beds...I had to just let it go...
This REALLY could have been a nice lil' family picture.
Oh my. I can't even begin to express myself with this one.
He was very proud of his tatoo AND his owie. He was having a hard time doing the muscle pose. Keith and I tried and tried to show him how to pose the correct way for me...but this was all he could give us. Good enough.


This really could have been a nice lil' family picture too. What's wrong with me? Oh yeah, it's called getting old. Hag, dirty, no makeup, and in dire need of a hot shower.
Remember when you didn't care about getting dirty? About totally sticky hands and smeared faces. When you could totally devour a smore in like 26.8 seconds and lick every finger in under a minute? I can't either.

Is she not the cutest thing?

A widdling woe...That would be Jason's leg


At this particular camping spot, we had our own little inlet of the creek. It was really cool. We were able to set our chairs right here in the middle of the chickens and watch them play. It was SO cool, in fact....that the snakes even decided to join us.

Yes, yes....It was right under that there umbrella.....I sat looking downstream and dangled my feet in the water as it ran through my toes...moving them back and forth as I watched my spawn fighting, arguing, splashing, crying...and then there in the back of my mind I was thinking "eeeew, seaweed. Must. Get. It. Off. My. Foot." Only it wasn't getting off. And then I looked down and realized it
wasn't seaweed. No, if only it could have been. It was indeed a snake and for some reason, it decided to linger right there around my foot for much longer than I would have liked. So, needless to say, I screamed. Really loud. Keith, who wasn't far from me, tried to grab it by the tail...but it quickly escaped into the bushes. Definitely not a highlight for me. Maybe for some of the others, but not me.

These boys thought they were SO cool to be 'balancing' on these intertubes for like 867 (of their) seconds. I just couldn't burst their bubble by telling them that the tubes weren't really floating, that they were actually standing on the ground. I wouldn't do that. That would just be mean.

We drove up to Idaho City on the evening of the fourth to watch the firework show. Well, more so to have some ice cream probably...but to watch the show too ;o)

We had no idea what we would find...

Now this town was very old and extremely small. Picture Tombstone, the movie. That's what this place looked like, no joke.

So we just followed a few cars, thinking "they must be going to see the show right? Where else would they be going?" Indeed, they were. We ended up on a football/track field with many others who were ALL lighting their own fireworks. It was like a war zone. Kids holding bottle rockets as they lit them.....many with the totally illegal ones. You know, like those you see at Disneyland. Right behind us. And in front of us...and on the side. It was craziness. "Why did you stay?" you ask. I. Don't. Know. Really, I wonder now. Some of our kids crying because of all the smoke in their eyes...us ducking every few seconds. Let's just say that a few of us were VERY eager to leave. Us Nervous Nelly's.

What would camping be without a guitar?

This is his passion....his joy....his escape

The girly pose? There it is.

Dylan decided to do a cartwheel over a chair....not realizing the chair might collapse. That's just what it did. That's where the shiner came from.

Sometimes when I tell Dawson to "smile", he looks at me like this.

Peek-a-boo

How cute are they?

Dawson and Lexi.
Other then being covered in dirt and being visited by the devil, I mean, the snake, we did pretty good. Laughed, ate, made some memories, ate some more...that's what camping is all about.