Holiday Campout

We went camping over the 4th of July holiday for 6 days/5 nights with another family at Sparks Lake near Mt. Bachelor, Oregon. On our way, we passed through the small town of Madras, Oregon. I'm sure the people in the town of Madras had PFC Thomas Tucker and his family on their minds this holiday. We passed a memorial with candles, balloons, yellow ribbons, etc. It was very touching and put into perspective the meaning of our nation's birthday.

Billboards and storekeepers expressed their thoughts to the Tucker family. There was hardly a business that did not acknowledge the Tucker family.

Traveling for 4 hours, we encountered such diverse terrain. All of these photos were taken as my husband was driving 55-60 mps and through the window - it really is that gorgeous.

We had a wonderful time roughin' it with another family: 14 people and 6 tents. The nearest outhouse was 1/2 mile a way, so we could either walk around or canoe across the lake. The weather was in the 40s (there were areas with snow near our campsite!) in the evenings and as high as the 80s in the daytime. We had 2 days of thunder/lightning which included downpours and even marble-sized hail. My kids got their yearly quota of hot dogs and smores at this one campout!

One day, the group went hiking on Mt. Bachelor to go "treasure hunting". I stayed at the campsite with the baby and enjoyed several hours of reading - a very rare treat. When they all returned, I was surprised to hear about their treasures. They hiked just beneath the chair lift, looking for items that fell out of people's pockets. Normally you find pocket change and this was no exception; however, this time, they found a cell phone, digital camera (last picture taken was June 2005 and still works), lift pass card, credit card, bracelet, and my 8-yr old found my favorite - an Ipod. How fun!

Enough babble. Here are my favorite pics.

This was our view at our campsite - it was absolutely breathtaking (see the rainbow?).

Dh rigged up a camping shower using a 5-gallon bucket, garden hose, pulley, etc. It worked great! 6 days of camping is a long time without a shower!

Me and my lil' boys

Teens having water fight

16-yr old still making time to snuggle with baby brother

This was the hang-out - water was on both sides. You can see my 19-yr old in the upper part of the photo working on dinner. There was a rock ledge that made a perfect spot to cook and clean pots.

Dh made the little boys bows and arrows. For the arrows, he used a wooden skewer and cut out the "feather" using the lid of a yogurt container. I should have taken a close-up of the bow. Dh was making more arrows every day - they flew really well.

My daughter and her friend watching sunset.

PJ turned 5 months old while we were camping. Here's how he stayed warm at night.

Dh tying son's shoe. Notice the reflection of the mountain in the water behind him. The water was so smooth.

And if I am not mistaken, this is our first family picture with our new baby (taken on the 6th day of camping). We all survived!

Hope you had a wonderful holiday!