This past weekend we got the opportunity to escape from the heat and head up to the mountains. We headed up on Friday, around 4pm, to the Mogollon Rim. We didn't have a reservation (which made me a little nervous) and all I could hope for was to find a campsite with at least a toilet. Trying to get the kids to poop in the forest just didn't sound super exciting to me. Luckily, Steven took us to the sane campground that they had been to on their father-son's campout and there were plenty of spots and toilets. Whew! The kids were sooooo excited to go camping that they could hardly stand themselves! For dinner we made potato bowls, which weren't super great. But thankfully we brought s'mores supplies which helped to make things better. We had found red/white/blue star marshmallows which was also very cool.
Happy Kinley! Her first campout.
Waiting patiently for her treat.
Priceless!
Messy.
What a funny looking sandwich.
This little girl LOVES the camera as you can tell.
The next morning we had yummy cinnamon rolls and lucky charms cereal. Oh how they love vacation because they get these fun treats.
Chef Steven (Saturday morning).
The kids made friends with the campsite host's dog, Nemo. Looking forward to someday getting a little dog. Every kid should have the animal experience!
After we had breakfast, the boys took us out to the cool fire tower that they had climbed on their previous campout. It was super neat to get to the top and see forever. We just went to the fire museum a few weeks ago, which has a forest fire section, and it was neat to see one of the fire towers in person after just learning about them. This part of the country is so beautiful and sometimes hard to believe we are still in Arizona. The ranger at the top was super nice and gave the kids smokey bear tattoos (which we promptly put on as soon as we got back down to the car).
After our tower adventure we headed over to Woods Canyon lake. The kids were super excited to go hiking and were all suited up with their camelbacks and hiking poles. The very first thing they wanted to do at the lake was to put their feet in the water (they definitely get this from me).
Poor Kinley. We went to get her out of the car for our hike and this is what we found. She was so exhausted from her very first night camping (ever). She is such a trooper!
Alton hikes down to the water.
Kailyn trying to get on the rock with Steven.
Lunch time. She was glad to have a little freedom from her carrier. She would go around and try to take everyone's food (even though she had her own). So silly!
Alton especially loved the adventurous part of the hike (meaning the hills/rocks/being on the edge of the lake). He brought me a fern and asked what it was. He loved how it was so soft (and not prickly like everything else here in the good ole state of Arizona). We also came upon a horny toad lizard (not sure what it's real name is). He was pretty fast and I got to hold him briefly. Apparently they can spit blood if they feel super threatened. Gross! Glad I didn't have to see that.
We ended up hiking along a fun lake trail and over to a ranger that was set up with telescopes (about 3/4 mile each way). The ranger had his telescope focused on an eagle's nest high up in the tree. There were two 8 week old eagles in the nest and mom and dad were out searching for food. The kids really loved seeing this.
Let's see if we can get up a little closer.
You can just barely see the top of one of the baby's head. The ranger said that they should start trying to take flight in about 4 weeks.
We finished our hike off with some yummy snow ones at the side of the lake. We had hiked hard for these treats.
Burr!
After our lake adventure Steven took us to a super cold mountain creek to put our feet in. The kids had a blast, but boy was it cold!
Kailyn trying to walk across while staying on the bigger rocks.
Um, Alton, do you have a problem?
Little man Alton throwing rocks. Why am I not surprised. Our little sportsman.
We finally headed back to the campsite to have dinner and found this.
Completely exhausted and very dirty. She plays hard and sleeps hard!
After dinner (we introduced the kids to frito pies, which they did pretty good with), the boys wanted to take us to their hideouts/play areas from when they were here on their Father/son's campout. We had fun climbing on big dead trees, playing follow the leader and of course Alton found a way to play baseball with a stick and pine cones.
Walking the beam.
The next morning the kids entertained themselves while Steven and I tried to get things together to head back home. This was a big deal for them to make.
Kinley having her own fun getting dirty while we pack.
It was a great weekend and the kids did awesome. We look forward to a lifetime if adventures with our amazing crew.
Kailyn and Alton are in the same class.
Getting splashed!
They have a great, energetic teacher.
Chasing the lead alligator, Alton.
Hunter is in one of the bigger kid classes (in blue shorts on the right). Hopefully we'll have some pretty good fish soon!
