Back at the end of August we went camping (in tents) at Great Basin with some great friends of ours. We left on a Friday night and after a rocky start (blown tire, followed by a blown spare- pulled into the tire station on the rim 5 mins before they closed-delaying us several hours) We finally pulled into camp around 11:00pm. We were only able to stay through Sunday so it was a quick trip, but so much fun!! I was worried- I love to camp, but I have only been tent camping a few times in my life - never with kids. I shouldn't have worried- it was a blast. (will be nicer when we get a better mattress we don't have to pump up in the middle of the night :) The kids thought it was awesome!
On Saturday morning we went for a fun hike the the Bristle cone pines, which are super cool, old trees. They say they can be up to 5000 years old. Weird to think these very trees were here when Christ was on the earth. If only they could talk, I'm sure they would have some stories to tell! The hike was a good little hike for the kids, but they were troopers and had so much fun. The girls loved every step!
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| Kaylee, Arlee, Aspen, Dewie, Corby, Caden and Briggs a bridge at the beginning of the trail |
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| Aspen and Dewie so cute holding hands while hiking. |
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| Briggs had it made!! |
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| They found this hollowed out tree they had to get pictures in. |
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| Now those are some poses by Aspen and Dewie!! |
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| All the kidos |
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| Silly faces :) |
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| Arlee and Kaylee eating lunch on the trail |
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| Corby, Aspen and Dewie |
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| And the boys! |
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| This was cool, with the sap dripping off the cone. |
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| Our awesome family! I love these guys! |
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| These girls are in-separable!! |
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| BFF's!! I love it! |
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| And Briggs is done! he has it so rough! |
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| We got a kick out of this car that had these stuffed animals tied all over it. |
Later Saturday afternoon we went down the canyon from where we were camping and went to the visitor center and had a tour of Lehmans Cave. It was super fun. I think all the kids were a little nervous when we first went in and they shut the door behind us. Aspen especially :)
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| At the visitor center waiting for our turn in the cave |
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| Patiently waiting. Being so good! |
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| Kaylee and Arlee holding hands walking through the cave |
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| A cool mineral formation |
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| Kaylee, Arlee, Dewie, and Caden. |
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| Aspen had to have the flashlight and stay right with her dad. Briggs didn't like that he couldn't get down to run and play because we couldn't touch anything. |
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| In on of the most open parts of the cave, where people would have social meetings. Pretty cool. |
The next day- Sunday we hung out in the morning and slowly cleaned up camp then headed out for one last hike to a little lake.
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| Caden in a little chair carved out of a tree |
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| Aspen and Dewie trying out the chair. |
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| I loved watching them holding hands. :) It made me happy. |
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| On the bridge again. |
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| Everyone with their sad faces.. We weren't very well prepared for this hiking trip. We brought no jackets, and not much food and it started raining on us, so we had to take shelter under this tree for a little bit for the rain to pass :) It didn't take too long then cleared up pretty nice. |
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| And we made it. It was so pretty- A lake in the middle of nowhere surrounded by beautiful mountains. I loved it. Soo peaceful. Makes me think about how much we have to be grateful for!! |
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| Best of palls- Arlee and Kaylee. Best friends for the past 5 years probably! So lucky to have such good friends! |
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| Best buddies here too. I can see trouble from these two! :) look out kindergarten. JK |
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| Aspen and Dewie! I wish they were in the same grade! Aspen just made the deadline to go to kindergarten and Dewie just missed it. |
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| All 6 Best of Friends!! just missing Creedin and Briggs - They were sleeping |
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| My sweet family |
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| We had fun skipping and throwing rocks into the lake |
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| He looks so innocent.. If only :) |
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| Love this picture. This face matches his personality! |
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| Caden found this hollowed tree stump by the lake and thought it would be a good umbrella in case it rained again. Good thinking! |
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| Caden found this walking stick and Dave carved his name into it for him. He loves it! |
We seriously had so much fun and cant wait to do it again- hopefully we will be able to stay a little longer next time. Loved our company!! Its so fun that our friends have kids the same age and gender as our kids- made to be best friends. The kids thought it was the best ever to camp with your best friend- playing from sun up until long after sun down!! THANKS COLLARDS!!
