Look at Abby's cute little filthy feet... camping at it's finest :)
We were on our annual camping trip the last week of July at Lake Almanor, aka, Heaven on Earth. It was WONDERFUL!!! We had the best time :)
Heading out... sweet dreams, Little Ones... ummm, are you all buckled in???
We left Friday evening, drove up to Santa Nella, slept for a few hours, and continued our trek up to Lake Almanor. We always pray and hope our hardest for a waterfront site, but since we were arriving on Saturday, Matthew (very wise husband that he is...) had prepared me to be unsettled for the first 48 hours (because the weekend campers will not have left yet, and the camp ground will most likely be full and we would not only NOT have an ideal site, we may have to camp off-site down the street a ways away from where we usually camp). Being tent campers, I was ready for the challenge, but not really looking forward to moving sites and cutting into our precious vacation time. Apparently, God was pleased with my heart attitude (?!?) and blessed us (with a little help from Matthew's cousins) with THE BEST SITE EVER!!! We were not only waterfront, we were able to beach the boat right in front of our site!!! On top of that, because this fabulous site was a double site (or "family site"), we were able to share with Rebekah and Bethany + kids when they came up!!! Everyone got to hang out and relax in our site, especially all the cousins (even the Baby Justin and Baby Luke!)... it really was just perfect!
This is what we call "Prime Real Estate"!!!
All throughout the week, we made forts on the beach, water skied, splashed in the water, went on bike rides, read our books, played board games, lay in the hammock, barbecued yummy things, zip lined (thanks, Andrew & Melissa!), caught frogs, got whip around on a Sea Biscuit, played baseball and just enjoyed family and cousins :)
Abby is "teaching" Joy (the bear) how to write his ABC's :)
Ahhh... this is what I'm talking about...
Breakfast at Prattville - hot cocoa is soooo delicious :)
Really didn't plan for Abby's suit to match the umbrella...
The kids were all entertaining themselves in catching these teeny tiny frogs before dinner on the beach. I think the final count was something like 49 for the older cousins and 7 for Abby and Maddie. When it was "release time", after dinner, Andrew asked Daniel if he would be willing to have all the frogs dumped on him, if he got a dollar for it, and this is what followed:
Uncle Norman, thank you for letting us use your Sea Biscuit! We had such a fun time on it! Andrew and Melissa took their kids and my kids out one afternoon, and my kids were hooked :) Matthew and I took them out one more afternoon later in the week:
This sign means that they are "OK" :)
This was Matthew's special sign meaning, "Is that all you've got?!?"
We have 2 new real life skiers this year:
Isaac was skiing last year, but still needed help getting the skies on in the water. But this year, not only was he able to manage getting his own skies on, he was working hard at trying to get up on a single ski! I think if we had one more day, he would be up and skiing all around the lake on one :) Great job, Isaac!
Seth was up and at 'em after the first day :) He skis much like how he lives life -- to the fullest!!! After the first couple times getting up on his own, he was trying to cross the wake... and almost succeeded!!! Good for you, little buddy!!!Abby tried skiing on her own too, but in her own words, "I skiied on my face!" She was so focused on not letting go of the rope, that even when her skis fell off, she was still holding on! Good try, baby! I'm proud of you for being so brave and trying to ski! We'll try again next year :) It was fun skiing on Daddy's feet, wasn't it?!? I will try to drive the boat "not so exciting" next year!!!
ALL 13 PRESENT!!!
I am so blessed to have married into this great tradition :) I know that Isaac, Seth and Abby already LOVE this place and the whole camping experience. I am thankful that they will have great childhood memories of these amazing summers at Almanor!!!
Until next year...
5 comments:
An awesome snap and a cool blog.
Oh, that was fun to read! Thank you so much for:
A.) Letting us share your awesome site with you! That is the BEST site and we loved it too!!
B.) Loving Almanor as much as we do! I am so, so happy my brothers married women who keep up this tradition! It is SUCH a fun time - makes all the work worth it every time! It makes my heart happy that you love Almanor, too.
C.) Having such cute kids! The picture of them waving their fists on the ski biscuit is ADORABLE and so funny! And Seth looks like a little hulk on the zip line! =)
Can't wait until next year!!
Great fun memories. Thanks for sharing the pics. Already counting down for next year.
Wow, you posted this at 1:30 AM! Thank you for giving us all a glimps into your Lake A trip. I loved reading and seeing everything! You truly are blessed with a wonderful husband, family and extended family.
Really enjoyed seeing your pictures from Almanor, and I have to admit, my heart ached a little knowing we could have had a chance to go experience it with you! Someday maybe...you know we would love to. Then all of your kids' cousins could meet eachother. :) Glad you had such a great time!
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