Sabbatical Camping Trip

The last time I went camping was seven years ago.  Jerel and I weren't married yet and his family invited me to join them on a Memorial Day camping trip (or was it Labor Day?)  Anyway, since we were still dating I had to pretend to like camping so I went along.  Oh the pre-marriage days--pretending to like camping one time was okay, but I pretended to enjoy so many board games back in those days!  Now I just sit with the other wives and watch the kids while the Atkinson boys play their too-much-thinking-required board games.

Isaiah and the other kids had a great time throwing rocks into the "river."  The little kids threw them for hours, and sometimes the big kids or a cool uncle would come throw in a huge one, which caused all sorts of delight!  

Here we have Eliza relaxing in the camp chair.

Next we have one of my all-time favorite pictures of her.  I love how she makes her face all scrunchy when she smiles!  This picture made sleeping in a tent worth it!

 At one point while the kids were throwing rocks in the river, Isaiah was right behind Eliza and ready to toss his rock right at her head.  I stopped him and explained you can't throw one when someone's in front of you.  (Repeat this exchange numerous times.)  Then later, no sooner had I said, broken-record style, "don't throw that rock when she's in front of you" he threw the orange-sized rock, which hit her in the head, which knocked her into the freezing cold water....It wasn't on purpose (his aim isn't good enough for that yet) but she was sure an unhappy girl--cold and wet and probably with a big headache!

 Did I mention the kids spent a lot of time throwing rocks in the river?  Ryan & Amy were our camping companions (and the ones who did all the work.  ALL the work).  Jerel's mom came too, and then Jake, Mandy, & Co. came up for S'mores in the evening.

 Don't Eliza and Emmaree look so happy here?  I propped Eliza up on the rock next to Emmy, which prompted Jerel to freak out thinking she was sure to plunge to her death from the 2-foot precipice.  While I was mocking him for being paranoid, she fell.  Luckily I caught her and catastrophe was avoided.  We have this ongoing battle where I think Jerel's too paranoid about the kids getting hurt, and he thinks I'm not careful enough with them.  They're both alive and relatively unharmed, so I think I'm winning.

The horse was another main attraction at the campground.  Horse?  Oh wait, what I meant to say was the LOG that Isaiah pretended was a horse was a big attraction.  Everybody wanted their turn at the end of the horse, and of course little Liza didn't get a turn until almost everyone had gone on to another activity.

 Here's Jerel playing with Eliza on the horse.  He's a good dad and always (well, most of the time) willing to go play with them when I'm too lazy (and by lazy I actually mean exhausted from countless hours of mothering while Jerel relaxes at work).

 Zay's first bite of S'more!  He wasn't sure about the whole thing, and I was happily surprised when he agreed to try it (he's not a fan of new foods, even if they are full of sugar).  He ended up not liking it and just wanting to eat the graham cracker and chocolate.  If Isaiah took the marshmallow test he'd pass with flying colors!  (The marshmallow test is summarized here  if you're interested.  Basically kids were offered one marshmallow right now, or they could have two if they waited a few minutes.  The ones who waited were more successful later in life.  It was also referenced in our church's general conference recently, which you can read here. (oh, and Zay wouldn't pass because he's so patient; he'd pass because he wouldn't eat the first marshmallow if you left him alone with it for years)

 I don't think little Liza even really took a bite.  She touched it, then tried to wipe the sticky off, and then just sort of gave up.  See, sticky.

This, my friends, is what we call The Scowl.  This is actually a pretty mild version of it.  Usually the eyebrows go down so far you can just see the shadows where her eyes are.  It started a couple of months ago and I find it pretty entertaining.  We'll be at the grocery store and she'll be in the cart smiling away.  A cute little old lady will come say hello to her and the face immediately turns to this.  It's like she has a switch or something. And most of the time it's left in the "on" position.  I'm not making this up.  In fact, today at library story time (we go almost every week) afterwards the librarian was so excited because, she said, Eliza hadn't scowled at her for the full 20 minute session.  I can understand why she felt so proud--not many people make it through an encounter with our sweetie without facing The Scowl!  (The picture at the right here is just to prove that she is actually capable of smiling)

 Brigham caught a fish in the creek.  He made the pole himself; he and Sadie both tried catching fish for a while and Brigham was the lucky winner this time.