Great Things Happen at the Last Minute

Just realized that title could lead one to believe this is a post about being in great need, and then last second intervention occurs. An inspirational post. However, I came to write about the camping trip we took a couple of weeks ago at the last minute . . . If your whole family is tired and you get to spend some time together and then have a great time, is that inspirational? If so, get out your Kleenex. (If not, sorry. Maybe another time.)

One day in mid-June, while I was away conferencing, my sister Cindy called with a proposition. Would we like to go camping at Bear Lake in a couple of days? I can't believe we hemmed and hawed about all of the things we have to do. Fact is, we will never get them done, so glad we chose Bear Lake!

Packing at the last minute was great, we didn't stress about having everything perfect, we just threw stuff in and went. Between my sister and I, we had everything we needed. We stayed at the KOA camp up there, and it turned out to be tons of fun. A playground, minature golf, and a jumping thingy for the kids, and a nice communal-camping end-of-the-world atmosphere for all. We loved it. At the camp the kids played while I chatted with Cindy and made food. Then we ate lots of yummy food. Both evening and morning. Ah, the simple joys of camping . . . why is it so fun and awesome? It is.

Oh, and as luck would have it, Gary got this for Father's Day:

Doesn't look too different set up in Key West (thank you, Henry, for posting this to Amazon). My kids were sooo excited to set this up, I can't believe I didn't take any pictures of it yet. And we've used it twice. The kids were ecstatic to help Gary both times, and even more ecstatic to run around in it. Perfect for our family, we even set up the port a crib in it. Not that Andrew would sleep in it, but we set it up. Sidenote: The cutest thing ever was waking up to see Gary and Andrew snuggling together while they slept. Yea, Father's Day, so glad Gary got this gift.

Noah on the jumping pillow. They were playing hip music from the 00's, and the kids were thoroughly enjoying it.

Tate, Noah, and a little blur of Josh.

Mr. Beckett loved this rocking horse. This kid makes the most hilarious facials ever, love it.

Andrew loves him some rocking horse action, too.

Noah was proud of this feat.

These babies were being so funny eating their watermelon together. Couldn't snap a picture at the right time, though . . .

Andrew can't resist giving everyone "huggies" all the time.

S'mores time! Guess I didn't get an enthused picture, but I was the S'mores assembler, what can I do?

My nephew Braden is almost 8, so he is the oldest and wisest of the kids. He wanted to tell ghost stories around the campfire, but none of us knew any awesome ones. So, I told the lame ones I knew from 4th grade slumber parties, like "The Hook." I tell you what, they might be lame, but telling them freaked me out! I'm not cut out for ghost stories these days. But it was fun talking with Braden, now that he's big and all that.

Sophie and Noah were hilarious, playing together all morning. They ran around, made little piles of leaves and flowers (something to do with playing house), and I could only capture it once they were still.

We spent quite a while at the lake on Saturday. It was insane how high the water is this year, the beach I remember was mostly eaten up. Didn't stop us from having a great time, once we learned to negotiate it.

Noah, Braden, and Josh, braving the cold water. Noah stayed in the water longer than any of the kids, and was sooo proud of himself. When he saw this picture just now he said, "That's me being a great swimmer!"

I helped the kids make sand creations, although it took a lot of effort on our part to haul the water beyond the reeds and to the sand. It was so nice, though, just to sit in the sand and play.

After the lake, we hit a hamburger stand so that I could get my raspberry shake fix.Yum. We were all exhausted, and my skin was totally fried (I felt like an idiot. Sunscreen on the kids, but not me. Hurt for days.), but we'd had a great time. It felt like we'd had a really action packed weekend, even though we weren't there for very long. We had a great time being with Cindy and fam, and Bear Lake was beautiful. Winning combination!

So, BONUS time . . . I took these pictures the week after Bear Lake, so here they are.

Last time Noah had a chance to pick something at the dollar store, he chose this Knight gear. I told him I needed a picture one day while he was wearing it, and he said I should take a picture while he was doing his moves. Behold, the moves.