We went camping!

The first official Brown Family campout is officially recorded in the official record of Brown Family outings. We left after work on Friday and drove up to the Navajo Lake campgrounds. We snagged a pretty good location located comfortably close to both the bathroom and the lake. I used to be really uncomfortable with the idea of camping near water with kids, but for some reason that anxiety has lifted. Thankfully the water was too cold to be much of a temptation haha. We did play in it a little, but the cold temps combined with the wind soon became more than we could handle. And by "we" I mean, the kids and I. Darren is apparently impervious to the cold. He loves cold water.

Darren brought the kayak along and gave the kids each a ride on the water. Lillie loved it the most. She was so relaxed in his lap and super angry to lose her turn.

For dinner we attempted tortilla pizzas (pizza sauce, pepperoni, and cheese folded into tortilla and warmed up over fire). We let them cook too long though, so most were burnt and nasty. Thank goodness for dessert!

The temperature cooled down pretty quickly, so we got settled in for the night and played with flashlights for a little while. Lillie settled in with Darren for the first part of the night, and the other two settled down to me reading "The Witch of Blackbird Pond" aloud. They fell asleep within about 10 minutes.

I barely slept. The ground was so hard. It was cold (but I overpacked, so we were warm enough!). Lillie was restless, which did nothing for me. I was so happy to see the sunshine in the morning. My phone had no reception of course, but it was a useful camera. I spent my awake times looking at the pictures I had taken and also making a list of camping lessons learned in my notepad app.

We ate a breakfast of french toast sausage roll thingies and then packed up our camp. We drove over to the beginning of the trail for the hike to Cascade Falls and made the trek (about a half mile one way). We hoped it was be a water fall we could splash around in, but it definitely is NOT. After that, we headed back to town and went to the local swimming hole for some actual swimming. Yes, the water was still too cold for me. I forced myself into it for a while, but eventually joined Lillie on the shore. She's not interested in cold water either. She just sat in a camp chair and watched us. Darren took Emma out on the kayak for a long time so that she could paddle around. She thinks she's stronger than the wind. One day she will be. ;)

Navajo Lake

Cascade Falls

The lake in town

My Three

Emma is starting Kindergarten this fall! How and when did this happen?!? She's more and more beautiful every time I look at her, and it has been so fun to watch her personality develop and mature. Sometimes I am stunned by her wisdom. Other times I wonder if she's actually 5 and not, say, 2... She is always singing and always dancing. When she shares her creative insights, I am blown away. She excels at applying personification to even the most boring inanimate object, and she likes to do silly voices. I adore my little sidekick!

Milton is adventurous, clueless, curious, industrious, and whiny. He's a sweetheart with a strong sensitivity streak, but he's also super bullheaded and ruthless. He makes me laugh and scream with incredible consistency. His speech has improved so much this year, and conversations with him are hilarious. I've always wondered what goes on in his head!

Lillie is beauty in every sense of the word. She's affectionate, cuddly, and smart as a whip. So smart. She figures things out very quickly. She is also a stubborn one though, and is so obnoxious about it. She won't say "Mama" on command at all---instead, she closes her eyes, smiles really big, and shakes her head "no" like she's embarrassed. Other times, when she doesn't want to be obedient about something, she stares us down and dares us to stop her. Then she's offended that we dared to get her in trouble. She has recently started experimenting with new little words and her sign language is improving. She melts Darren's heart every five seconds with her incessant, "Dada!" babbles and cuddle demands. He can't resist her for anything. We are so happy she joined our family when she did!