A labor of love

We went camping for labor day weekend. How very original, I know.
We had quite a time.
David and our buddy Frank searched the atlas for weeks to find the perfect place.
The site was beautiful.
There was a river running right next to the campsite.
The trees were amazing.
The stars were breathtaking...overall, good spot.
Plus, it was free.
Free never hurts.
Toilet...none. Lucky for us we had our trusty port-a-potty. Not cool when the dang thing was full. Not cool at all. I will save you from any further details on that.
You owe me, though, because I have a sensational ability to laugh at potty jokes (being a mother of four boys and all...).

We hiked, picked huckleberries, swam in the freezing river, fished, built a teepee, and checked out a few historical sites about the lumberjack camps from long ago. The kids declared it one of their favorite trips. We went with some good, old friends and enjoyed catching up with them as well.


Here is a list of things I didn't love about our camping trip:

*David was feeling sick before we even left
*I had a nasty headache every day we were there
*The nights were extremely cold
*I was cranky from day one
*The boys kept on walking or falling into the river and getting their only tennis shoes wet
*We divided the meal responsibilities and my children refused to eat basically every meal
*The toilet thingy...
*There was a tree that had these boils on it and when the kids poked it with a stick, sap popped out. While they loved it, they came home with some very hard to removed sap spots all over their faces
*David had to drive 2 1/2 hours home and then back during the weekend-lame
*I did this really intense workout the Thursday before and waddled for the majority of the time we were there.
* Our heater in our camper died, but we managed to stay warm enough-with our portable heater and a billion tanks of propane. Some things should not be done without. I chapped my face from sleeping too close to it. My lips look like sandpaper. Not attractive.
* I go to kiss my children and they run away. Nothing new, I guess. "No kissy mommy!" is a phrase I am familiar with. That, and " x comes in handy if your name is knixy knox".
* I'm having a hard time focusing.
* Did I mention that I have a nasty cold and the decongestant I take makes me loopy?

On the plus side, the pictures came out pretty well.

David's practicing for the circus. All he needs now is a pretty tutu.

The water was fa-ree-zing. Of course, kids don't care about that stuff.

Jackson caught his first fish with a fly.

Historical site of some sort...This monster was filled with logs and burnt in order to power a heavery metal cable that would drag the trees down to the river for transportation. There's your history lesson for the day. I wanted to get in the incinerator part, but chickened out. Upon later inspection, it was probably good because there was a beehive in there. That would have only added to my winning personality on this occasion.

Corbin thought this rock looked like a piece of cheese. I encouraged him to try a bite, but he declined with vigor.

I must have hid my misery well, because, like I said, the kids said it was the best ever!
Call me Debbie Downer...

And the laundry....