Aspen Grove

Setting up the play tent
We headed to the mountains for our final camping trip of the year this past weekend with our friends the Elliotts. We stayed at Aspen Grove on the South East corner of Strawberry Reservoir. We had a great weekend full of campfires, dutch oven cooking, and an attempt at fishing in the cold wind with five kids! We didn't expect it to get as cold as it did. The temperatures at night dropped to 27 degrees. The first night we stayed nice and cozy with the heater in our trailer working like a charm. The camp was covered in thick frost in next morning. The second night was a different story! We purchased a new battery for the trailer the week before we left and it died at about 1:00 a.m.! I don't mean drained dead. I mean defective dead. Luckily, the Elliotts' brought a generator (which was surprisingly quiet) and we were warm and toasty again in no time. (Note to self: bring extra battery when camping from now on!)

Three cold little boys huddled by the campfire!

The little boys were in heaven. There was a hill behind our camp that the kids could climb through the trees and play the day away. Staci brought a little Survival Kit for each of the boys containing a plastic pocket knife, gun, compass, canteen and flashlight. As soon as the package were opened, their adventure began. They "hunted" for their dinner. They "scared away the bad guys." They hiked until they crashed. Even Sam got in on the action. He decided the hills were dirt slides and spent any time he wasn't chasing the big boys around, sliding down the hill with a huge smile saying "whee!" After the kids were in bed, we spent the nights laughing around the camp fire until we were too cold to sit there any longer. It reminded me of all the times we stayed up laughing with Brad and Staci when we were all newlyweds. Nearly 8 years and five kids later, we still laugh like no time has past at all.

We came home smelling like camp fire and dirt. A sure sign of a successful camping trip!