Fishing, Bike Rides and a Wild Wasp

Let me start by warning you, this will probably be a very long post as I recap the last 4 days.
What a great week/weekend we had. It was our annual Anderson Family campout. This year the campout was a little more special as my Grandpa and cousin decided to travel up from Utah to join us. I have decided that since I beat everyone up there last year, Dad has decided that it is now a race to see who gets there first. They left first thing Wednesday morning and I wasn't able to leave until Wednesday night, but that is okay because by the time I got there they had everything all set up. Once we did get there we had a bunch of little boys that wanted to go fishing, they had been waiting all day for someone with a license to get there so they could go fishing. Not much happened the first night we ate and relaxed and that was about it.
Thursday we decided to go up to Table Rock Lookout, we had been there once before, but we didn't go all the way to the top, so the plan this year was to go to the top and actually go on the tower and see what they see. It was so pretty, I just wish it wouldn't have been overcast because I can only imagine how far they can actually see. The kids really enjoyed walking around and looking at the different views, well that is all but Brooke, she was pretty nervous to be up on the tower. Everyone else really enjoyed this drive, the views were pretty and it was fun just going for a drive and seeing the country. As soon as we got back to camp, the kids all grabbed their fishing poles and headed off to try and catch some fish. It was fun to see them scatter trying to find the best place to fish. It has been decided that Kylee was the best fisherman and Chance was the most patient fisherman as he would throw his line in and just sit and wait patiently for the fish to bite and as soon as he would catch one everyone else would try and steal his fishing hole.After a little bit of fishing, they decided to go for some bike rides, it was really nice when they would go bike riding because camp became nice and  quiet!! This night was kind of funny, as the kids were getting ready for bed and starting to get quiet in the tent, all of a sudden there was lots of screaming and Brooke came running out screaming that there was a "wild wasp" in the tent. I had to laugh at her just because she is so dramatic, I didn't know there was a difference between a wasp at home and a wasp in the wild, but apparently there is. Well after a lot of screaming and running, the kids finally took care of the wasp and they were able to settle back down and go to bed.

Had to get the tree out of the road on the way up to the lookout.

Our family at the lookout.

The three amigos AJ, Ben and Brandon.

Grandpa and the grandkids, Travis, Kim, Grandpa, Jen and Carolyn.

Grandparents and Grandkids.

The kids on the tower, look at how Brooke was holding onto Kylee, she was a little scared.

Jaime and I

A view.

Had to find the cache that was just below the lookout.

Another tree in the road on the way back to camp.

Friday started out the same with the kids wanting to fish, so we let them fish. Jaime and Carolyn went off fishing by themselves today. She told us she had a lot of fun and is now wanting some hip waders for Christmas so she can go fishing by herself, hopefully she will learn to catch a fish. Dad, Mom, Grandpa and Kim all went for a drive and discovered some new country that they thought was beautiful, while Roger and I stayed at camp and kept the peace with the kids!! Let me just say how great the kids were, they didn't hardly fight and they all were willing to help each other out with everything. During the afternoon I had set up a geocaching course for the everyone, only this year I made it a little harder for them, instead of putting the coordinates into all gps's I set the course up so that they had to enter the coordinate by themselves. It was so much fun for me to watch them all hunting for the cache, however we have decided that I either need to set up more than one course, or not let everyone leave at the same time because they were all watching the team in front of them to see where they had to go next. I have to give a shout out to Ben and Brandon, they were the only ones that didn't have an adult on their team to help them, and they did really well putting in the coordinates and finding their way around. I always love to watch people follow the gps to find the cache, especially when they are getting close and they start walking in circles!! That evening Jaime and I decided we wanted to go find a different spot to try out the fishing and guess what...we ended up taking all but one kid. Talk about chaos...we found a spot and told the kids to fish there, but it wasn't long before they all seemed to migrate to Jaime and I. Ben and Brandon decided to get in the creek and fish and see if they could catch something, while the others had to stay on the bank because they weren't wearing shoes they could get wet. I was the first one to catch a fish and when I got to Jaime to have him get the hook out, I noticed he was helping Brooke with her fishing, well he had her standing on a log and told her to stay put. Well she was doing a great job, but you know a wet log is kind of slick and she was wearing crocs, so guess what...yep she fell in all the way to her chest. It was pretty funny, but she decided after that she was done fishing for the night. Ben and Brandon somehow found there way down to Jaime and I and soon Brandon had caught a couple of fish and Ben caught one to. They really enjoyed that spot and kept asking us to take them back, but we just didn't have the time, so next year we will have to try and take them back up there.

Carolyn in the waders, watching AJ fish.

Travis and Brooke.

Dad helping get her pole ready.

Ben and Brandon on the hunt for the first cache.

Another team hunting for the cache.

And of course another team.

I know this isn't a great picure, but it is Ben helping Brooke fish and I just thought I'd show Ben's sweet side.

Saturday started as a repeat of the other days, with the kids wanting to fish!! Kim and Roger had to leave after breakfast today and we were sad to see them go because we were all having so much fun. We had to go gather firewood this morning and guess what...yep we had to take ALL the kids with us to get the wood, they sure love to sing in the back of the truck, but they get just a little loud and embarrassing!! After getting firewood it was back to more fishing...or so they thought, Jaime and I took off by ourselves for some fishing, so they couldn't fish because there was no one in camp with a license. We had fun off on our own enjoying some quiet time and catching a few fish. All the kids were excited to see us come back so they could do some more fishing. A little later in the day I had another geocaching activity planned only this time instead of me hiding the caches, we broke up into teams and each team had to hide 2 caches. I can't say for the other teams, but the kids on my team had a blast helping find places to hide the treasure so that the others could find it. This was the first time I had done anything like this and I felt it was a real success, there are a few kinks that need to be worked out for next year, but I think we will be doing it again...unless I get lots of complaints!! After dinner we decided to teach the kids to play kick the can, we learned it on our last camping trip and our kids loved it, so we thought we would see how the rest of the kids would like it. Let's just say they loved it and after playing for about and hour they didn't want to stop, so I stepped up and started make shmacos which pretty much ended the game. We spent the evening around the campfire listening to Dad play the guitar and sing and we also got to hear Kylee sing the song that she wrote, I may be a little biased, but it was a beautiful song, that girl is always amazing me with her many talents, I just love watching her grow and seeing who she is becoming.

Brooke and Travis, these two were inseparable.

All of the kids at camp.

The whole family at camp.

Geocaching teams, this was team Green.

Team Pink

Team Amigos.

Sunday was the worst day of the trip...we had to pack up to come home, none of the kids wanted to come home, they kept asking if we could stay for another week. It is always great to hear the kids say they want to stay because that means they want to come back next year for some more fun. We got home around 1:00 and let me tell you it was so HOT here at home, it is so hard to come home to the heat, but it is nice to be home. Grandpa has given me orders to get maps for the area up there for next year, so that must mean he had a good time and is planning on coming back next year. I know our family had a great time, but we always enjoy going camping and getting out of town. Now time to get ready for the next trip...ANTHONY LAKES!!