A Tradition is Born

We've been talking about it for a long time....and now it has finally happened! Last weekend we took Sierra and Ally on their first official camping trip. It was the real thing, mind you. Pine trees, mountains, lakes, tents, outhouses, a water pump, s'mores, hot dogs, cold nights and LOTS OF MOSQUITO BITES!!!! (Or as Sierra calls them, "Beto skytes.") It was exactly what Patrick McManus describes as a "fine and pleasant misery."

We barged in on Uncle Chuck and Aunt Missy's plans to camp at the Iron Creek campground just outside of Stanley, Idaho. Every July, the town of Stanley holds an Arts and Craft festival that we like to attend. We turned that event into a full weekend of fun. Some of the highlights of the trip were: exploring our campground and setting up our new tent, feeding the fish at the hatchery, eating ice cream and playing on the shores of Big Redfish Lake, meeting the rest of the gang in Stanley for the craft fair, pizza at Sawtooth Luce's, campfires, crossing Iron Creek on the fallen tree "bridges", fishing and swimming at Stanley Lake, and several nature walks. We plan to make these wonderful experiences a regular part of our family tradition. Thank you, Lord, for a beautiful land to enjoy!

The Mouser family in front of the Sawtooth Mountain range.

Sierra at the water pump....real rustic camping!

S'mores anyone?!

Ally enjoys one of her many "nacks." (snacks)

Chuck and Missy playing a evening game of Yahtzee.

Sierra balances her way across one of the many fallen trees in our campsite.

Sierra enjoyed collecting wild flowers for her hair arrangements.

The girls splashing in Big Redfish Lake.

Ally and Uncle Chuck at Stanley Lake.

The girls "helped" with packing up camp.