Roughin' It

We had a wonderful time of camping last week! Our van was packed from top to bottom with tent, sleeping bags, blankets and pillows, fishing and camping gear, coolers of ice, drinks and snacks and 5 days' worth of clothing. My dad would be proud of me, I had all the kids' clothes in one large duffle bag, mine in a single bag and Dennis' in a single bag!

As you'll see by the pictures that follow, the kids had a blast fishing, boating, playing on the playground and just hanging out:

Setting up camp

Uh Oh! Where's Faith?

Here she comes!

Can we go play on the playground??

Andrew sliding down, next comes Faith!

C'mon, Matthew!

Andrew's so brave!

You go, Charis!

"Run and gather some sticks for firewood, we need it to cook so we can eat." Charis and Matthew are the ones you see off in the distance.

After a long day of travel, setting up camp and playing, the kids were all tuckered out! But a good night's rest found them wide awake and ready for anothe day of excitement come morning.

It was a bit chilly again on Thursday, but that didn't stop us from having fun. Charis and Matthew went with Dennis to try out some "off shore" fishing. The bluegill were smart; they'd nibble on the worms till they were loosened from the hooks and swim away.

Andrew's interest in fishing was minimal, he found other entertainment:

What is he looking at so intently?

Deer tracks! Run, Andrew, run!!!

No, we didn't see any deer, but we did have a visitor near our campsite

Hello, Mr. Crane!

You'll enjoy the video of this guy trying

to steal an easy meal at the end of this

posting.

Friday was beautiful, with mid-80's temperatures. Dennis rented a boat to see if fishing would be any better out in the lake. Dennis caught a bluegill, but the kids still had no luck. Still, they enjoyed the thrill of being out on a boat.

Faith and I stayed at the campsite. She decided she wanted to play some football before taking a nap while the others were gone fishin'.

"And God made... the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also." (Genesis 1:16)

On the last day, Dennis' cousin, Big Al and his wife Terri, joined us. He's better known by the kids as "Big Owl." We all had a great time of fun and fellowship.

This crane went from foraging in the waters catching his meals to finding an "easy" catch. The only problem was, the bluegill was tied to Dennis' boat. Mr. Crane had a bigger fight on his hands, er... wings than had he kept on fishing. He would pull and tug, then step back and contemplate th situation. Quite the baffled bird, he was for a bit, but he did finally figure out how to get that fish off the string and enjoy his meal.



Look at the colors on his wings. It was a lovely blue color!

And here's a sight! As we were driving out of the campgrounds heading toward home, the raccoon was sitting in the middle of the road. I just love how he glared at us as we passed by, almost as if he were daring us to run him over! But I think someone beat us to it, he limped off into the woods as we moved on. Poor fellow!