Camping...

We have had a couple of opportunities to go camping this summer. One in the mountains and one at a baseball tourney. Both turned out to be very fun adventures breaking Esther into the habit of sleeping away from home and knowing it was still OK. I chose to share pics from the mountain camping since they were prettier than camping at the Fair Grounds. Both adventures had blessings that were sweet hugs from the Lord with details He arranged to make it just perfect for our family...thank you Lord!

This pic has nothing to do with camping...but I was excited to find matching dresses for the girls on the return of one of our camping trips. The girls vary in sizes from very big girl to finally entering toddler...so here they are modeling their new outfits.


This is on one of our hikes exiting a cast of a fallen tree in lava. It was pretty cool in that the print of the bark was still intact and you could crawl through it like a cave. It was slightly claustrophobic...but I could see the light at the end of the tunnel!


This is on another of our day hikes exploring a famous volcanic peak and the regrowth that has occurred. I am thinking on taking my students on a field trip here in the fall since we are studying volcanoes. It sure was a beautiful day to visit!


So, our camping spot turned out to be one of God's blessings for us. We arrived too late for the camp grounds and ended up on Forest Service lands on an old clear cut that was partially regrown. Because of the clear cut...we had the most beautiful view of the volcanic peak right in front of us...it was amazing! The girls enjoyed this mound immensely and played in this silty, ashlike, debris until I had to bag their clothes at the end of each play session as it covered everything. As you can see, Esther doesn't quite get the knack of roasting her marshmallow over the fire...she just holds it on her stick and then eats it after it has bounced around on enough debris to add a little fiber;o) You gotta love camping!!


This would be Esther in a somewhat fresh outfit enjoying the feel of what Ruthie called "cake mix". The sediments were so fine grain...it really did feel like powder! I'm glad they didn't try tasting any of it:O)