Go Camping! So Fun!

We've been wanting to go camping for a while now this summer, and with a free weekend popping up this month we decided to take it and run.  So run we did.  We tossed around the idea of trying something on the Mirror Lake Highway, but the forecasts we found made it sound like we'd be meeting up with some wet and/or cold weather.  Instead of risking that, we headed to a favorite spot - the Ashley National Forest near Flaming Gorge.  We camped in the same area we stayed in almost 5 years ago, a little primitive camping area (read: only a few scattered fire rings) called Meadow Park, located a few miles down the road from Red Canyon.  (The place was perfect, too, because it was just a couple miles from a little rest stop area with an outhouse, so when I really needed to use the facilities, it wasn't too much of a trek (driving-wise) to find something somewhat civilized. ;)

Speaking of civilized, Gregg humored his 7-months-pregnant wife by wrapping Cal's bed (a twin-sized mattress) in a couple of tarps and tied it to the roof of the Subaru to bring for me to sleep on.  Unfortunately, about halfway around Pineview Reservoir, only about 10 minutes from home, the mattress was acting as a sail in the wind and the car was wobbling back and forth rather worryingly.  Instead of turning around, dropping the mattress back at home, and heading out again (my idea), Gregg noticed the perfect mattress sized gap in the back of the Sub and shoved 'er right in.  Cal rode the rest of the way with an "umbrella" over her head.  And she was happy as a clam.

Best husband award goes to this guy!

Rather ominous clouds we encountered on our
drive over Trappers Loop.

We pulled into our campsite a little before 8:00 pm, got the tent set up, and tried to get settled in since it was about Callie's bedtime.  Settling was far from what was on her mind, however, and she bounced off the beds in the tent, having a grand time "camping" for the first time that she can really remember.  We finally got to sleep, and the next morning woke up to a beautiful blue-sky day.  Breakfast was French toast (Cal's favorite) and sausage.  Then we headed to Greens Lake at Red Canyon Lodge to splash rocks and feed the fish.  We ended up at the Canyon Rim Visitor's Center and wandered around taking in the views there for a while.  Then it was back to camp for an early nap, lunch (taco salad), and some lounging.  After Callie woke up, we drove down to the dam, where we got a tour of the operation.  Talk about impressive!

What a lovely morning view from the outhouse
at Moose Pond.

Good morning to Callie, the happy camper.
(Don't let appearances fool you - she loved nearly
every minute!)

She thought the tent was just about the coolest
thing ever.

The breakfast crew.

Waiting patiently for her French toast.

Feasting at last.

A little story time in the tent.

Feeding the big fishies at Greens Lake
(thanks to the nice lady on the dock who shared
her bag of food with Callie).

Sigh.  That view just never gets old.

Helping Dad with the blocks at the Canyon Rim
visitor's center.

Cheesy-McCheester.

We are a happy family.

A few shenanigans in the parking lot while mom
took a (one of many, many, unfortunately - I'm
glad my fam was so patient) potty break.

Too cool for school.

Hands in pockets.  Always.

Flaming Gorge Dam.

It's pretty tall.

We had our own private tour, and the tour guide even bought
food for Callie to feed the fish (and marmots) at the bottom
since apparently we're delinquent parents and don't bring quarters
to do such things.

Back at camp again, we had some tent time (Callie's favorite time of the trip) since we had a little afternoon thunderstorm roll through.  Nothing major, but enough to keep us inside for a while.  Callie passed the time playing with finger puppets, reading stories, and dressing up in all kinds of fun combinations of hers and my clothes.  The rain stopped and the skies cleared just in time for dinner - Papa Murphy's pizza cooked on the grill!  That's how to have dinner in the mountains!  Callie begged to "make a fire" with "marshmallows, chocolate and cracker", so we obliged.  Turns out she prefers her s'mores in the raw and separate form.  We wandered around Meadow Park in the lovely golden hour light and then headed to bed.  Cal was worn out!  She didn't fight sleep that night.  (We all slept a lot better on night two, I think.)

All her idea.

Our home away from home.  Practically perfect in every way.

Marshmallows!

Now what do I do with this thing?

That was the only bite she ate.

You know she's tired if she'll sit on your lap.

Still workin' on that marshmallow.

Morning dawned on Saturday and we had some good sleeping bag cuddling going on before breakfast of breakfast burritos and biscuits.  Then we did some more rock splashing at Moose Pond (no moose, unfortunately) and West Greens Lake.  Sleep deprivation was evidently catching up to Cal by then, so back to camp we went for an even earlier nap than the day before.  Gregg and I enjoyed the quiet by reading and exploring and napping in our chairs.  When she woke up, we ate our leftover pizza, broke camp, and headed home.

"So cozy!"

Miss Fashionista.  (My bad for bringing pants that
don't fit properly.  Everything else is all Cal.)

Splashing rocks at Moose Pond.  She "hiked"
around the whole thing all by herself!

Gorgeous view of West Greens Lake.

Time to go home - with the "umbrella" back in place.

Wyoming.  And clouds.  Need I say more?

Callie happened to be sitting next to the paper products,
which kept her very well occupied on the long drive back.

It was the perfect little getaway - no agenda, no rush, just time with my little family in the mountains.  My favorite part was watching Callie enjoy it so much.  She was so excited to go on this adventure, that Thursday afternoon she woke up early from her nap asking to go camping.  She didn't really know what it meant then.  But now she does.  And I think she's hooked.

Photos from Phones - June 2015 Round Up

June - full of birthdays (already posted here) and summer fun.  We started the month off with a quick evening trip to Park City, where Gregg and his dad played some golf on the new (brand new - just opened that day) Canyons Golf Course and Callie, Kim and I played at the park and wandered the city.  (Get it, Park City?)  While Gregg was conferencing it up in Denver for a week, Callie and I played in South Jordan and Logan with the grandmas and grandpas and others.  We had fun visiting with great grandparents, too.  Callie kept saying "another grandma!"  She's so lucky to have so many people who love her.  We attempted a few hikes and were mostly successful on them.  (If you gauge success by being able to splash rocks, then we were wildly successful!)  And of course we had many a daily stroll, complete with cloud and flower observation.  It's true - we really do live in the Garden of Eden!  Callie loves to play with kids, so a playdate with my friend from high school, Christine, and her little boy, Zachary, plus a little trip to the Discovery Gateway Children's Museum with Grandma Blanchard and Cohen and Melia, and finally a family party with all the local Blanchard cousins made her all kinds of happy.  I can't believe June is gone, but I'm sure glad we've got the pics to remind us of the fun we had!

6.1.15
(snacktime in the backyard - "ants off a log")

6.1.15
(greeting Grandpa outside of Cafe Rio - the beginning of our
Park City party)

6.1.15
(golfing his heart out)

6.1.15
(not a bad view for a golf game)

6.1.15
(a little - er, big - friend they met on the course)

6.1.15

6.1.15

6.1.15
(playing at the park with Grandma - she was in
heaven because we stayed here so long)

6.1.15
(visiting with the little cow door stop at the ice cream shop
on main street - it was fun to visit with the Nevilles while
walking up the street and eating a cool, creamy treat!)

6.1.15
(walking back to our car we saw some spectacular
crepuscular rays)

6.1.15
(the golfing boys after a fun evening)

6.1.15
(we are a (mostly) happy family)

6.2.15
(I never could get sleeping pics of her as a baby
because she'd either be sleeping in my arms or
it was way too dark in her room, so I'm taking
advantage of our new place that makes it easy to
do now)

6.2.15
(at Pineview Reservoir)

6.3.15
(my dyer's woad dyed stuff is actually blue when
it comes out of the wash instead of nasty, dirty
green!)

6.3.15
(backyard explorations, now with more sass)

6.3.15
(tromp, tromp, tromp)

6.3.15
(baby dos came along for the ride)

6.3.15
(I can't get enough of the poppies that are blooming across
the street from the park)

6.3.15
(parkin' it)

6.3.15
(our first monday night hike - on a wednesday -
on wheeler creek trail at the mouth of the canyon;
we made it to a bridge and splashed some rocks,
so Cal was actually happier than she looks)

6.3.15

6.4.15
(pinecone picnic at the "church park" - she came up with this all
by herself when I told her I didn't bring any snacks along)

6.5.15
(wild roses seen on our walk around "the loop")

6.5.15
(just growing on the side of the road)

6.5.15
(still in the loop - pretty as a picture)

6.5.15
(that's cottonwood cotton coating the ground -
aaaah-choooo!)

6.5.15
(near the park)

6.5.15
(there are those park poppies again!)

6.5.15
(one of my favorite views)

6.8.15
(picnicing on grandma Blanchard's deck)

6.8.15
(noodles for lunch and eating outside? this girl was in heaven!)

6.8.15
(Oquirrh Lake in Daybreak for, you guessed it, rock splashing)

6.8.15

6.8.15
(posing on a rock)

6.10.15
(Aggie Ice Cream for the win!)

6.10.15
(lemon custard is a family favorite)

6.10.15
(stories before bed with G&G E)

6.11.15
(Morty's lunch date with my mom and sisters and T)

6.11.15
(lunch from a restaurant and eaten outside? this girl was in heaven!)

6.11.15

6.11.15
(my front porch view)

6.11.15
(red sky at night, kimma's delight!)

6.12.15
(before we went to get Gregg at the airport after
his conference in Denver, Cal and I decorated her
ladybug cake for the next day's festivities)

6.12.15
(top view - I think he/she looks a bit like cookie
monster from this angle)

6.14.15
(first things first on a sunny sunday morning - gotta
eat breakfast in jammies and new shoes on her
new birthday picnic table)

6.12.15
(check out that bedhead)

6.15.15
(a happy yard surprise bloomed at my house)

6.15.15
(splashing rocks for fhe in northfork park)

6.15.15

6.15.15
(I love her little squat)

6.15.15
(she's getting to be a pretty good throw)

6.15.15
(post-storm clouds)

6.15.15
(the extent of our monday night hike - a stroll
with hands in pockets along the campground road)

6.15.15

6.15.15

6.15.15
(and then we decided to try making fortune cookies for our fhe
treat. #nailedit)

6.16.15
(another happy yard surprise!  I was just telling Gregg the day
before that someday I want peonies in my garden; lo and behold -
I have them now!)

6.17.15
(90 degree days call for some pool time)

6.17.15
(it's her new favorite pastime)

6.17.15

bonus video!

"row, row, row your boat"

(looks like that birthday broom was a hit!)

6.19.15

6.20.15
(playing with Auntie Ky while mom and dad went on a date to
see a local production of Mary Poppins)

6.20.15
(lunchtime clouds from Mack Park before we
went to the play)

6.20.15

6.21.15
(a lovely way to end Father's Day, if you ask me ;)

6.22.15
(fhe at the lake, splashing rocks, of course)

6.23.15
(good morning, smiley!)

6.23.15
(evening play-doh sculpting, al fresco)

6.24.15
(more play-doh - and trucks and muffins -
with Zachy, my friend Christine's little boy)

6.24.15
(explaining the ropes of the "microwave")

6.24.15
(playdate success!)

6.24.15
(that's one way to watch soccer)

6.24.15
(r.i.p. poor, sad zucchini)

6.24.15
(I think it was ants)

6.25.15
(just goin' for a little stroller hike - hands behind
back of course)

6.25.15
(pretty scenery along the pineview trail)

6.25.15
("up a steep, steep hill")

6.25.15
(I call this one "A Girl and Her Rocks")

6.25.15
(love her kicking feet)

6.25.15

6.25.15
(love this view of pineview from the bench along
the trail)

6.26.15
(morning cuddles and story reading - my favorite way to start
the day)

6.26.15
(Grandma Blanchard invited us to the children's
museum in Salt Lake with Melia and Cohen -
Callie LOVED it!  The kitchen was definitely
toward the top of her list of favorite things.)

6.26.15
(doing some shopping)

6.26.15
(a little bit of a meltdown because sharing is so hard sometimes)

6.26.15

6.26.15
(in the "pretend" helicopter while we waited for the "real" one
to open up)

6.26.15

6.26.15
(she thought she was really flying it)

6.26.15

6.26.15

6.26.15
(riding with mom)

6.26.15
(the whole crew - what a fun outing with Grandma and cousins!)

6.27.15
(hiking in Brighton)

6.27.15
(the hat's a little big - but she did remarkably well
with keeping it on so her little blond head didn't
burn to a crisp in the sunshine)

6.27.15
(lovely silver lake, which we hiked around to get to the "real" hike
up a pretty steep slope to twin lakes reservoir)

6.27.15
(more silver lake and brighton)

6.27.15
(I love the mountains, have I mentioned that before?)

6.27.15
(our destination at last!)

6.27.15
(time to splash some rocks!)

6.27.15
(twin lakes reservoir)

6.27.15
(pizza and kisses for lunch)

6.27.15
(don't mind my red face - it's genetic, and it was
hot)

6.27.15
(fun pool time with the cuzzies after spectacular father's day
bbq with the Blanchards)

6.27.15

6.27.15
(learnin' some golf techniques from dad)

6.27.15
(oh boy how she loves those cousins of hers!)

6.29.15
(dippin' toes in water buckets)

6.29.15
("messy baby!" - when I showed her this pic she just stared for a
while in bewilderment, then said, "crumbs!")

6.30.15
(once again on the pineview trail - she's a great
little hiker!)

6.30.15
(stopping to smell the roses - actually the utah
sweetvetch - thanks to Heather for the plant ID!)

6.30.15
(hiking is hard work and the middle of the trail
is as good a place as any to take a little break

6.30.15

6.30.15
(a new resident in these parts - we've seen a couple
almost every day this week!)

6.30.15
(I'm fine with them hanging out in our yard - just
stay away from my tomatoes!!)

All the round ups here: 
2015: May | Apr | Mar | Feb | Jan
2014: Dec | Nov | Oct | Sept | Aug | July | June | May | Apr | Mar | Feb | Jan
2013: Dec | Nov | Oct | Sept | Aug | July | June