In Which Greta Turns Eight and Betsy Goes Backpacking

 I went to Girls Camp with the young women in our church congregation.  It was wonderful.  I'll share more about that later.  This post, however, is not about Girls Camp.  This post is about one of the most enjoyable and memorable adventures I've ever had with my family.

I got home on Thursday from Girls Camp.  Then after one glorious night's sleep in my own bed, I left again on Friday at 1:00pm. We did an overnight backpacking trip to Abe's beloved Long Lake in the High Uintas.  That's right-- we hiked two miles in, set up camp, slept in the wilderness, jumped off a few cliffs, and then hiked back out the next day.  Abe has been coming here with scouts and/or our kids for twenty years.  But this was  Ben and Bethany's and my first time going.  We were sad Elinor wasn't with us.  WE HAD A BLAST!!!!  

This was the vanguard group.  Ben and Bethany hiked in a little later in the afternoon/evening, and then Clark and Brianna hiked in the next morning.

Wow! Backpacks for all those people?  That must have cost a fortune!

 Well, since you asked-- George and I scoured several local DI stores and had very little trouble and spent very little money outfitting the family.  George is the BEST thrifting partner.  He finds the BEST stuff.  For example, today, he bought a fully functioning pressure washer for $15.00!  He's been wanting one for a couple months.  

I like hiking with people who don't complain and these kiddos did not complain.  I'll just say, that after four days of camping with teenage girls, I had had my fill of listening to complaints.

Faith and Cannon are definitely allies in the family these days.  You don't want to be on the side opposing either of them.  YIKES!

Greta was a little sad not to have a frame backpack like everyone else.  But don't worry, when George found the power washer, I found a kid-sized frame backpack for her:)

Abe found it was very helpful to find, in Cannon, a strapping young man along to help carry the load of supplies.

Peter was awesome!

Having had this taste of hardcore camping, I'd really love to go backpacking just with Abe.  That sounds like such a fun date.  Maybe for our anniversary next year.  Or maybe sooner:)

Was I proud of myself?  

YES, I WAS!  I loved this whole adventure so much more than I was expecting to.

I know I am not alone in this idea-- but our family is at its best when we're adventuring in the great outdoors.  Everyone is happy.  Everyone gets along.  A vacation to a National Park?  Sign us up!  

Let's talk about Grover on this trip.  I am so far and away Grover's favorite person in the world.  And I had just left him all week for Girls Camp.  He was not emotionally well when I got home and think if all of us had left him for another two days, he would have absolutely melted down.  Perhaps I've already mentioned Grover's overly attached, nervous, and neurotic tendencies.  We just had to bring him.  

The lake is in sight.

We found our campsite and the first order of business was setting up our tents.  Greta, Grover, and I were to be tent mates.  Greta was so excited to get settled.

The second item of business-- jumping off cliffs!  Abe, Cannon, and Faith had no hesitations and immediately did a triple jump.

Faith had excellent form for all of her jumps.

Abe is fearless when it comes to cliff jumping, but he does flail about on the way down.

Greta chose not to jump off the higher cliffs, but she had marvelous dives off the low rocks.

Then back to camp for snacks and resting.  AND MOSQUITOS!!!! Holy Hannah!  The worst mosquitos I have ever experienced.  We had a whole can of bug spray, and we realized we'd need to conserve it to last the whole trip.  We all put on long sleeves and long pants.  The pesky little mosquitos bit us right through our clothes!!!!!! RUDE!

Did Grover have a good time?  It's very hard to say.  

He seemed happy, except for the times I had to excuse myself to the privacy of the forest to take care of business.  He yelped and cried as I walked away and the whole time I was gone.  Basically, if he wasn't right by my side, he was crying.  The family is more concerned than ever about Grover's emotional health.

Our beautiful little campsite-- we named it "Camp Eight" because the very next day we would celebrate Greta's eighth birthday.

Greta and I cooking our hotdog dinner and trying (unsuccessfully), to avoid the mosquitos.

And then Ben and Bethany arrived and there was much cheering and celebrating!

George brought his fishing pole, but forgot his lures.  Oops.

No problem, for George-- of course, he just found one someone had left, and next thing we knew he had caught a beautiful rainbow trout.  Actually, he caught three.  

He loves fishing and he just figures out how to do things.

Time for an evening cliff jump.  This was the funniest moment of the whole trip.  It may not look it from the pictures-- and I know there are much higher cliffs to hurl one's body from-- but it's kind of high.  And if, like Ben, you've never jumped off a cliff into a lake before, you might need a minute to take it in and ponder your life choices before you take the leap.  

Understandably, there were some nerves.  The two newlyweds decided they would jump together on the count of three.  

One... two... three.....  Well, you can see for yourself how it went.  

In Ben's defense, he did end up jumping and jumping many times after.  It was just a really funny moment.

They are so fun to have around.  Life is just more fun with them.

Awww... cutie little lovebirds!

Abe has a few traditional food pictures he always takes.  "The S'more" picture is one of them.

A few new campfire confessions and a few retellings of classic campfire confessions.

Greta was all tuckered out.

Good morning, gentlemen.

Good morning, Peter!

Another traditional Abe food picture-- cooking his sausage, egg, and cheese Mcmuffins. 

So yummy!

Bethany in her Russian Babushka Era.

Cannon and Ben have a fun relationship and it's pretty fun to watch them interact.  There is much quoting of The Office and much laughter.

Good morning, George!

Happy, happy 8th birthday to Greta!!!!!! She is JOY!  She is SUNSHINE!  She is SO LOVED!!!!

She is STRONG-- she is SPUNKY-- she is CREATIVE--she is a BLESSING to our family!

Who's up for some morning cliff jumping?

Nice air!

Double sister jump

Once again, Faith's beautiful form.

Peter was King of the Cliff!  He was a jumping maniac!  He jumped over and over again.  It was cute because he would always count himself off... three, two, one... run and leap off.

Guess what?  Yours Truly jumped as well.  I can confirm-- it was very high.  Not kind of high.  VERY high.  

I mean, it felt really high to me.

The height of family fun.

Back at camp

Abe is not always a big fan of Grover.  I think it is mostly because Grover loves me so much and I love Grover so much.  Jealous, much?  But look how CUTE this picture is.  He does love Grover.

Hammocks for Faith and Cannon.  They are teens and needed some alone time, Papa Elf.

It was funny to me that George was very hesitant about jumping off the cliffs, but perfectly fine to scale the cliff from down below.  That seems way more scary to me.

Triple brothers jump for Ben, Cannon, and Peter.

How about a little synchronized swimming?

Ha ha ha-- work it, gentlemen!

And then, JOY of JOYS! Clark and Brianna hiked in and joined us.  YIPPEE!!!!!

More synchronized swimming-- this time they meant business.  

There was choreography--

There was music that the swimmers themselves sang.

Oh, the synchronicity!!!!!

Perfection!

Please take me back

There were so many amazing moments of the trip, but this picture captures my favorite one.  In this picture we are all singing "Happy Birthday" and right near the end of the song, she looks at Clark with this expression.  She and Clark have a very special connection and as we were walking back from the cliff to our campsite, she said to Abe, "I'm so glad Clark is here.  It wouldn't be my birthday without Clark." 

As per tradition, on someone's birthday, we go around and take turns saying what we love about the birthday person.  Remember how I said how loved Greta was?  Sometimes the sharing time turns a little bit "roasty".  But not this time.  Everyone has such genuinely wonderful things they love about Greta.  By the time it got almost all the way around to Clark, Greta had tears in her eyes-- so touched by all the love. It was so tender and beautiful.

And then it was time to hike out.  Dude, it was kind of a hard hike out.  We were TIRED.  But still, they didn't complain.  What good little hiker children they are.

Clark was so patient and kind hiking with Gret and listening to her prattle on.  This girl can TALK!

George and Peter

My love

MY LOVES!  

Oh, it was so fun and so satisfying and everything I hoped it would be and much, much more!