Labor Day Camping Trip

We went camping over Labor Day weekend. We took the kids out of school the Friday before and drove up to Courtright Reservoir Thursday night after work. We enjoyed it so much over July 4th weekend that we wanted to go back again one more time before summer was over. 

It's amazing how much stuff we managed to pack in our Suburban. One of the last minute items was the hammock, which was really fun to have. 

It wasn't crowded at all, especially compared to our last trip there in July when it was fish-without-a-license day in California. 

The kids really wanted to go fishing this time, but they didn't catch anything. It's hard for some people to be quiet and hold still long enough to catch fish. But we talked to some actual fishermen, and they didn't catch anything either. 

We found a great little day-use area to park and walk over to the lake. It was packed last time, but there was no one there this time. The place was covered in huckleberries, and they loved picking/eating them!

It was pretty chilly! I think the highest it got was low-mid 60's. 

We hung out at the lake all morning and ate lunch. One problem was that there were a ton of yellow jackets this time. They were all over our food, although they never stung us. I ended up making lunch in the car because they were driving me nuts. Which was too bad, because the day use area had lots of great trees and picnic tables.

After lunch, Dave took Levi and Chloe back to the campsite while I took these four over to the dam to hike down to the bottom.

It was steep but short, and it looked really cool.

We didn't go past the danger sign, and even this made some people nervous.

We grilled hamburgers the first night.

Our campsite wasn't quite as private as our last one, but it was very nice. There were tons of great climbing rocks all around us. 

This is just up the hill behind our campsite, right after sunset. So pretty!

Brennan was excited to put huckleberries in his pancakes for breakfast.

We happened to pack mosquito nets, which Levi wore to keep the yellow jackets away.

Relaxing after breakfast.

For our last camping trip, they went rock climbing. This time they packed all the bikes. They loved biking down all the long, steep, windy roads! 

It's a little blurry (because he was rushing past me), but this is such a classic silly Levi face!

What a fun group!!

Spencer set up his slackline again. That's always a hit.

The second day was pretty chilly, so after they got back from their long bike ride, we played a couple rounds of Bang inside the nice warm tent.

The kids climbed up several rocky mountains near the campground while Dave and I hung out at the campsite. They took one of the walkie talkies with them so they could chat with us while they were away. They loved the hikes so much they really wanted us to do it too. So we did, and I just about died! Turns out I'm afraid of heights, especially when I'm scaling a slick rock with non-traction shoes and sheer cliffs and nothing to hold onto. I just about had a panic attack! Here's the view from the highest point I got to....I refused to go any further. And I couldn't believe they had taken Levi and Chloe up there!! And they said the other mountain they climbed was even sketchier than this one. I'm glad it wasn't anyone's time to die that day.

I would have taken more pictures from up there (it really was gorgeous), but my heart was racing and my hands were shaking. I did manage to get this great picture of Dave. Isn't he cute?!

I discovered their secret huckleberry picking site! They spent a lot of time here.

Tyler's marshmallow art.

Sunday was a low-key day. We went to church (which was 1 1/2 hours away!), and that took most of the day. Then we came home and made a huge, delicious dinner. 

Mmmm, tritrip.

Best corn ever, roasted in the fire.

Our favorite dutch oven chocolate cherry cake. 

I love taking pictures of fire and playing with all the different shutter speeds to get cool effects.

Cool green flames from the charcoal bag - I hope it's not toxic.

Brrr, mornings were cold!

Someone took my camera and snapped a bunch of pictures. I love how green Tyler's eyes are in this picture. None of the pictures of me turned out. My face is in half sun/half shade and the angle is all wrong. Oh well.

All packed up and ready to go home.

Dave ordered this cool 5-bike bike rack that hooks onto our tow thingy. Then he got a double tow thing so he can also attach our metal platform. They came just hours before we left! What a fun camping trip!