We love Camping! We had several camping trips this summer and had lots of fun.
We started early over Memorial Day and went to City of Rocks in Idaho. We went with my parents. I took very very few pictures and already regret that. It was perfect weather and perfect company. Only bad part, a falling rock requiring my mom to get many stitches:(
Jackson posing in front of "Jackson's Thumb."
My two favorite boys!
Jackson hitching a ride after a long hike. Too bad for Carter that he's too big for these kinds of rides. He would have really loved one.
A tradition after camping is for the boys to take a bath in our bath tub. For some reason that is a real treat.
And with our favorite snow cone shop opening while we were away, we had to make sure and visit as soon as we got home.
Carter ends up with more on the table than in his mouth but can put away a good sized one:)
Our next camping trip was to Tony Grove.
The first night up there the boys wasted no time roasting marshmallows. I'm not sure Jackson even eats roasted marshmallows, I think he prefers plain marshmallows.
This was Carter's first time trying a real smore with graham crackers and chocolate. Usually we take the easy way and get the chocolate striped cookies.
Proof that I do come on these camping trips:)
Another favorite on this trip was fishing. Both boys wanted very badly to catch and eat a fish. No such luck.
Jax was content to just throw rocks for hours and hours.
Carter took his job as assistant fisherman very seriously. He helped pick out the bait and to get the line all ready to cast.
Carter has the patience to fish and would sit with Neil for as long as Neil wanted. Never did get a bite unfortunately.
The boys enjoyed a freezing cold dip in the lake. I passed on this event. I do not enjoy freezing cold water much. We had to drag a shaking and half blue Jackson out of the water after a few minutes to keep him alive.
Our next adventure was to RedFish Lake in Stanley, Idaho. What a beautiful place. We have since decided to go back every year. We only stayed for 3 days but could have stayed a week.
We went with some friends who have 2 little boys so it was a car full of loud little boys having a lot of fun. Jackson and Charlie had a lot of fun together.
Our first day we went to the lodge at RedFish and enjoyed the scene there. It was still too early to get in the water(I was freezing), so we stayed dry.
Beautiful scenery with the lake going on forever.
We honored Carter's request and rented a peddle boat and peddled around the lake.
Carter insisted on being one of the peddlers so Jax and I sat in the back and enjoyed the view.
He could have stayed on this forever if we let him.
Next we came back to our campsite which wasn't in Red Fish but rather a lake called Alturus. It was almost as beautiful but less crowded. There was a nice sandy beach and plenty of water.
Both boys loved wearing their life jackets and playing in the cold water.
Our friends had brought a canoe and a paddle board. We quickly fell in love with both and spent lots of time between the two.
Carter and Neil
Neil, Me and Jax. Carter was kind enough to give us a push.
Our true love is paddle boarding though. This was all our first times and we all loved it. Carter and Jackson especially. It was hard only having one to share between the 6 of us.
Jax getting his first lesson on the board.
He had great balance and was content to stay on that board forever. Sometimes he would ride it by himself and other times, he sat on the front and let us paddle him around.
Neil wishing he had better balance. Getting use to it by staying close to shore.
The next day we headed back to Red Fish and enjoyed the lake up there. Again taking the canoe and paddle board.
Me and my trusty paddle partner. We would paddle out to the floating docks and then jump into the water. It was a great 3 days up there and we were sad to leave.
Because we fell in love with our friend's paddleboard, we came home and promptly bought our own:) We weren't planning on buying one right away but we found one 65% off and couldn't pass up a great deal.
So of course the next weekend we had to take it out. Friday night we stuck close to home and took it to First Dam for a quick run.
Carter has become pretty good at paddling himself around. And less and less excited to share.
During all the fun a wasp flew into Jackson's life jacket and stung the poor boy 4 times before we could get it off. He got 4 big welts but really recovered quickly and it didn't traumatize him at all.
The very next day we took the paddle board out again and headed to Bear Lake. I am sad to say I've never been to Bear Lake to play in the water. I have been missing out. The temperature wasn't super hot but the water was very nice.
The boys wasted no time getting in the water and playing with sand.
We took turns again and had a small boat again to play in.
The best part of the trip is that we got Jax to try guacamole and he loved it! Great calories for him.
And a cute, sandy bum to end the pictures.
