Our Stake Summer Extravaganza

Ok, I am not sure if my title is what it really was called.  But it was about 20 minutes north of where we are living.  It was in farm country and I loved it!
(I don't know what it is about this place but I don't think I could go back to big city.  I would be fine in ruralville.)

It was awesome.

They had blow-up slides, popcorn, snowcones, cotton candy, ice cream, drinks, live band, water slide...I just let the kids go and they went nuts.

This is Kate saying "No mom, No picture!"  wah.

This is right after Emma wandered off and we couldn't find her.  I wasn't too worried since I knew we would eventually find her.  But the 1st conseler in our bishopric found us and told us they found her and was with his mother-in-law. 

So as we walked up and got her, Emma was so relieved and started crying.  It was really sweet.  It reminded me of when I got lost in Canada's Wonderland...which was a tad bit bigger than this stake activity.  But I do remember the fear of being alone.  But i also remember the extreme relief and joy I felt when I saw my family.
When I hugged Emma, I kind of started crying too.  She is such a sweetheart.

This picture is weak compared to what it really looked like.  It was RED.  The sunset was wonderful.

The kids hated to leave.  We were there pretty late too.
This further supports my love for WA.

Bumping Lake

This is Bumping Lake.

This is our car heading to Bumping Lake.

As you can tell, we are amateurs when it comes to camping.

This family tradition began only a few years ago and maybe once a year.

Obviously, we have some organization kinks to work out...

we went back in July 22-23.

It took a few hours to get there but it is a beautiful area.

The day we drove in, it was really windy. 

We had to tie the tent to our van...yes, very windy!

We just spent one night and that was long enough with these crazies aka kids.

And do you see Luke? 

What was I to do with that kid?!

He wanted to be on the ground, crawling and cruising around...in the dirt.

Oh well, we're camping right?

fishing on the lake.

our campsite was 10 ft. way from the shore.

Here she is....Where's LUke?

There he is!

Girls had fun exploring the forest.

These girls were so excited to go fishing with DAD...

and he's excited too....

There  they go on the deck!

The deck was non-stop rocking.  I got a little nervous!  I was holding on to Luke for dear life.

Good morning Bumping Lake.

Luke was helping Dad get some firewood.

This was the next morning.  The lake was so still and clear!

Don't mind my panoramic skills...

Ok, check this out.

We could rent a motor boat for $40 for 2 hours.

We totally jumped on that and had the time of our lives.

Everyone of us was so excited.

Joe in his element.

seriously tough, watch out.

"I'm the King of the World"...sorry, I couldn't help myself.

K this little girl was such a crazy on the stick.

She would do the sharpest turns!   I was gripping the boat a little too hard when she was in charge. 

And she just laughed the whole time...

Kate!  She was laughing so hard the whole time steering.

I have permagrin just looking at these pictures.

She is too precious.

hello!

(I may or may not have been nursing luke on the boat)

My turn!  Look, no hands!

Pic from the other side.

Joe pretending to nurse luke.

"give me some food!"

Lake fun.

K on a scale of 1-10, this is by far a #10 on our list for family vacations.

I loved this trip.

Yes, there were some hard times....

like the racoon that tore through our garbage bag during the night and was sniffing around the tent....heart attack anyone?

like the freezing temperatures that made luke restless throughout the night so i snuggled with him all night.

like the wind attacks on the tent.

but those are no biggies compared to the good times.