Payson Lakes 2012

We had such a wonderful time camping this year!  I was pretty nervous since I was taking the kids alone for part of the time, but it was a great experience, and I am so glad we were brave and did it!

  

We decided to go to the beautiful Payson Lakes area, a long-loved destination of Bryan's family.  I went up on a Monday with the kids, and then Bryan came up a day later.  The kids all slept great, and so did the dogs (bonus!).  I was pretty worn out each night, so I was sound asleep usually by the time my head hit the pillow.   It was such a fun, relaxing, wonderful time together.

But what would camping be without a few adventures, so here are a few for your reading pleasure...

The first big adventure was this bad boy:

Bryan was driving through Utah County in a construction zone - with no shoulder - in rush hour - with a trailer - and the dogs in the back of the truck... when this happened.  Through nothing short of a miracle, two highway patrolmen were right in front of and right behind him when it happened, along with a big rig tow truck driver who had a power jack.  

They were able to get the tire changed and get him going within 20 minutes.

The 2nd adventure was this bad boy:

I took the kids swimming at the lake a few hours before Bryan got to camp, and on our way back to our campsite, all of the sudden the kids one by one, started screaming.  The worst one was Zerin.  I mean full-on, total screaming/wailing/thrashing.  If I hadn't been so freaked out because at the time I had no clue about what was happening, it would have been pretty funny.  

6 kids screaming at the top of their lungs (4 affected kids + 2 kids who are screaming because they are scared by the other 4 kids screaming) 

+

1 completely clueless mom

+

2 dogs who aren't sure what to think of the 6 screaming kids

=

quite a sight.  :)

{For obvious reasons, I did not get a picture of this event}

I didn't remember running into any poison oak or ivy, so I was just at a loss.  Now I know :)  Calamine, hydrocortisone, aloe vera...nothing was helping.  I didn't realize it pretty much has to run it's course...good to know.  I ran to the nearest campsite to ask a mom there if she had any ideas, and she identified it right away and told me how to help them.  After two hours, they all calmed down, minutes before Bryan pulled up.  Looking back now, it's pretty funny, but in the moment, it was... wow. :)

And the 3rd big adventure was this funny site...if you can't tell, it's a cow not a bear :)

There was a section of fence around the campground that was in need of prepare, so every morning, we awoke to very loud moo-ing, and crashing sounds coming from right behind our tent.  The first morning was a bit scary because the camp host had gone to great lengths to warn us that there were bears in the area, so when I was lying in bed half-dreaming and I heard those sounds behind the tent, my semi-consciousness ran away with me a little :)  The rest of the mornings it was actually pretty fun for the kids to be so close to them.  Our last day there, they had sent a cowhand to come round them up.  The kids were so excited because he was fully-decked out in his full chaps and spurs.  Asher especially couldn't stop jumping up and down, he was way more excited about seeing a real cowboy than see the actual cows :)  

Anyways, so one of the mornings, the cows came right next to us, but Alex didn't see them (he could hear them though) until they were right on top of him.  He had a staring contest with this cute brown one for what felt like the longest time, and then I guess the cow got tired of the game because she charged Alex.  So scary!  She backed down, and then this picture is Alex getting brave again and barking his little head off.  It was pretty funny, once all of our adrenaline wore off ;)

Here are some more pictures of our other adventures...

We rented a canoe to bring, and I am SOOOO glad!  It was a blast, the kids all loved it.  Bryan was able to go out once with the kids which was a big happy thought!  Do you like Zerin's homemade fishing line?  You can't see it from the picture, but I told him about fly fisherman and how flies are fashioned after bugs that the fish like to eat.  Next thing I know he had made a fly out of rocks, rope, twigs, and a jelly toy ;)

I made the mistake of telling him if he caught a fish using that fly we would eat them for lunch.  Well, the kids went down to the lake first thing, and within minutes, they came riding their bikes back to camp with HUGE smiles on their faces.  According to Zerin, he caught the fish with his amazing fly.  According to Liah, these lovely, obviously dead for days fish, had washed up on the beach and Zerin made LIAH pick them up and put them in her bike basket.  Got to work on the chivalry a bit, but still funny.  

Needless to say, we didn't eat the fish :)

{doesn't Bryan take the most beautiful pictures?!}