camping

i've been wanting to go camping this summer since the beginning of the year, but about a week and a half ago, i got a bee in my bonnet and decided that this weekend was going to be the weekend. of course, i chose a holiday weekend (utah's pioneer day) to go, so it was hard to find campsites that were close to home and open (i didn't want to go that far since i knew it was going to be a short camping trip). we finally found a spot at little mill campground up american fork canyon on the alpine loop and i talked beth and bruce into joining us. so, thursday afternoon, randy somehow managed to fit everything into the corolla and we headed out.

this was the view from our campsite. of course, it is a blurry picture that doesn't do it justice, but i am posting it anyway. i am always surprised at how beautiful and green the canyons still are when the rest of utah is looking pretty desert-ish.

beth and bruce were smart and brought along bubbles, which madeleine loved.

both kids did really well the whole time, but rachel seemed especially happy to be in the great outdoors.

we set up the port-a-crib for rachel to play in and of course, madeleine wanted to get in with her. madeleine dumped her waterbottle all over rachel and then wanted to get out within a couple minutes, but rachel seemed perfectly content to play in the water that madeleine had left for her. it probably felt nice and cool (the campground hadn't quite cooled down at this point).

randy manning the grill and the tin-foil dinners. they did not go according to plan. i will not be doing those again.

madeleine showing me the dirt on her hands that she had been playing with.

despite the heat and the tin-foil dinner issues, we had a great time hanging out in the canyon with beth and bruce and randy and i stayed up by the fire for a while, just enjoying the fact that madeleine was quietly asleep in the tent. camping was surprisingly enjoyable with an eighteen-month old and who knows, maybe we'll head out again in august.