Camping Day 2

Camping Day 2 and Night 3

Daddy and Howard got up really early on Thursday morning to look for animals -- they saw a bunch of elk, some deer, marmots... and... A BEAR!  That was a huge highlight for both of them.

After they got back from looking for animals, the came back to bed... if you look closely, you can see four people in our bed -- Hunter, Mama, Lee Lee and Daddy.

The kids actually spent some time just playing in the cabin on Thursday morning... including playing with my phone/camera.

Then, we drove to town for more bug spray and then went to find a good hike.  On the way, we found a great lookout point -- I think its' called Land's End.  There was a lady there with sunflower seeds feeding chipmunks, and she was kind enough to share some with our kiddos.  Feeding chipmunks was such a highlight for our kids.

We could see so far... including rain the distance.

Finally we found a place to hike and the kids were great being quiet so we could try to see some animals... they were quiet about half the hike and then a little noisier on the way back to car.

Tracey has been posing like a vogue model in photos for about a year -- I'm not sure where she got the idea to do this... and now Howard has started to strike a similar pose in pictures.

Lloydey got to drink water from a rock.

I loved this spot with so much open space as far as the eye can see.  I want our kids to grow up knowing this kind of space exists and appreciate the beauty and majesty of the mountains.

Hunter got fussy on the walk back... this is me nursing him as we walk the last half mile or so... can't beat the portable breastmilk.

Lee Lee insisted on walking eventually... when the suburban was in view...

In this picture if Lee Lee and Howard and Lloyd in front of her, and then Caroline and Tracey farther ahead on the path.

Thursday night it was raining a little, so we took the chance to cook dinner in our cabin and get showered and clean without a campfire.

Our cabin got a little chilly at night... nothing major, but down to 65 or so, which means Hunter slept in extra layers including a little night cap.

We ate lunch at the Grand Mesa Lodge before we headed back home on Friday.

Camping Day 1

We spent three nights and two days cabin camping in Grand Mesa National Forest and we had such a great time.

I took a TON of pictures and I will only share some of the best... but there are still so many, I'm going to break it up into two parts.

Camping Night 1 and Day 1

As we were unloading the vehicles, Lee Lee wasted no time making herself at home... and making a mess by the firepit.

First breakfast

Howard peering out the window by his and Caroline's beds

A glimpse of the upstairs -- Tracey and Lee Lee slept closest to the stairs, and then Howard and Caroline slept through the door way.

We found a great fishing spot and the kids waded while we waited for Daddy who was getting day passes for our vehicles.

Fishing time

Can you see here that Caroline is holding a long worm?  She's also showing me her dirty hand and asking where she can wash her hands.  She usually puts her own worm on the hook.

Howard caught several fish and kept fishing longer than the girls.

Hunter and Lloyd were happy to watch.

After Tracey caught two fish, and Caroline had about a dozen fish nibble on her bait but couldn't catch one, the girls wanted a snack in the car and then they changed into swimming gear.

That's me with Lee Lee on my shoulders and Hunter in the stroller.

We ran into one of the kids' favorite baby-sitters who was camping with her family and they had two paddle boards they had on the lake.  The kids were THRILLED that the baby-sitter and her mother offered to take the kids on rides on the lake.

Howard with the stringer of 11 fish -- Hubby tried to take a picture of Howard holding the stringer, but it was too heavy and kept hurting his fingers.

Playing with MagneTiles upstairs before dinner.

Hubby cleaning the fish and teaching Tracey and Caroline about the parts of a fish -- Howard fell asleep after an exciting day fishing and had to be awakened for dinner.

Playing "Headbands"

Hunter's dinner

Fish and asparagus on the grill and watermelon.

The fish were cooked with skin and bones so the kids had the experience of peeling the skin off and pulling the meat away from the bones before eating it -- Caroline did better with that than anyone else.

Chewing on some asparagus

Roasting marshmallows after dinner

Believe it or not, the store had no graham crackers when I shopped for our camping trip... so I decided that striped fudge cookies would work as a substitute.  The kids had the choice of striped fudge cookies or ginger snap cookies to make s'mores.

 

Cozy after a shower.