The Woods

We spent this past week together with our little family camping. It's our favorite thing to do. There isn't anything that compares to spending time together in the woods. At least for us anyway. We weren't sure if we were going to get to go due to my dad's recent hospitalization, but he wanted us to go. For those of you who have been wondering he has made it home. He has a long road in front of him with some undetermined course of direction, but we appreciate your prayers and concern for our family more than you know. Although I was a little apprehensive about leaving, I don't think there is a place that brings me more peace than this. It was just so beautiful.

I think the only drawback in going here was the pesky little mosquitos. They were determined little suckers, and we went through at least 5 cans of Off. I don't think they meet up with people too often at this lake, and therefore they are extremely welcoming.

But, the fish are also strangers to people and therefore they take the bait pretty easily. There were so many fish. In fact, I think it only took Lou about 20 minutes to catch this keeper. She tossed 5 back before this one came along.

Doop didn't do so bad either. He doesn't last long out on the boat, but then he didn't need to. This was his 3rd fish of the day in only a matter of minutes as well. I was hoping for a better picture, but he was pretty excited to throw it back in. Seej caught the most, but then she also has the most stamina for staying out on the water. She caught 18 fish in 45 minutes. Not bad for my girly girl.

Another one of our favorite past times while in the woods is playing in the stream. We found this fun little spot not far from the lake, and the kids wanted to wade in it. It started out with me rolling their pants above their ankles. That led to rolling them above their knees so they could dangle their feet in the water while sitting on the log, and eventually they stripped down to their underwear and had a water fight. These are my very favorite times together. There is nothing better than creating these kind of memories.

And while they played in the water, JM caught more fish. He ties his own flies, and he was very successful. The fish were small and fast, but they were so beautiful.

It rained one whole day that we were there, and so we busted out the games. I was the champion of Chutes and Ladders. I completely kicked Seej's can at this game. See the blue girl below. That's mine. The red girl is hers. Yep, I beat her a lot. This is why she didn't want her picture taken. She might of beat me a few times the next day, but I have to gloat while I can!

Lou, Doop and I walked down to the dock while Seej and JM were fishing. Doop wasn't too happy that we passed by another stream that he desperately wanted to play in, but passing it by ended up being worth it.

Because this was the view from the dock.

We also hiked in the rain to another lake one day. We let Doop take the lead since he seems to be able to walk a whole lot farther when he is the leader. Again, another fun memory that I won't forget anytime soon. There were so many beautiful things to see in the woods. The lake, the sky, the flowers, the fish, and best of all my kids laughing, which is my most favorite thing about the woods.