Big Lake

June 14th 2012

So here is the actual trip to Big Lake...Again an adventure awaits! This time it was quite different than our usual camping experiences. First of all It was only Justin, his two kids. Me, with my three kids and Dad. Mom had caught a really bad flu bug the night before and wasn't able to go. Jenny's allergies were going crazy. Which turned out to be a good thing really. My allergies became so bad I was taking three different meds just to try and keep my nose from running and my throat from itching like crazy. I can only imagine how miserable Jen would have been. The trip up wasn't so bad. The kids did amazing well really. We got there and set up camp. It was a little different as night came around. NO CAMPFIRES, due to all the forest fires and how dry everything is.
It's a little weird just sitting around at night with no fire. We had our flash lights out and the kids played in the dirt. 
 
 
 Of the course the kids absolutely loved the flash lights. Lydia couldn't get enough of it. She kept shinning the thing directly in her eye. It was funny. 

I look over at Eli and he has a mouth full of something...turns out he's eating ROCKS! Wonder what that will do to his teeth!

 

 Stephen finally found my headlamp that we bought when we were first married. He lost his the same week we got them. He left his on top of the car and drove away.  I still don't remember where this turned up but it has turned into Eli's favorite light. He says it's his and asks for it all the time. I like it because you can see him wherever he is (As long as it's on). Comes in handy with three little ones running around.

  Instead of taking the big tent this time, I didn't want to set it up myself, it seemed just too big for just the four of us. So we took our old four man. It's a great tent. I forgot how much I like it. The full fly that keeps out rain (not that we had any). The door that works (our big tent door doesn't work, well one of the three). But just like the poles being broken on the big tent, the poles on this one weren't threaded with any tension string. It was interesting to say the least, trying to keep all the poles stuck to each other before you popped them up. But with the help of my Awesome DAD we got it done. 
It was a lot smaller than I thought. I had my air mattress on the left side length wise with my head at the door. Then each of the kids were in their own sleeping bags (folded in half underneath them with blankets inside) laying horizontally. Adriana at the back Lydia in the middle and Eli at my head. There was just enough room to put my suitcase and their bags and the heater inside. We didn't use the heater the first night, it got cold but I hadn't brought it in. Eli moves around so much that the next night I kept waking up thinking he would hit it.

 Lydia still has this weird sleeping habit of waking up in the middle of the night screaming. Usually between 10pm-12. Sometimes it will happen more than once a night. At home I usually try to just let her work through it and she goes right back to sleep. But if it last longer than a few seconds than I know it's serious and she won't calm down until you go in and hold her. She's always drenched in sweat too like she's been in the shower. I don't know if it's nightmares or what but I worry about her. She did this the first night and was inconsolable. I had to put her into my bag with me. Finally she just screamed herself to sleep. Thankfully the second night she was just to tired to wake up at all. In fact she was the last one to get out of bed in the morning. We would get up and get dressed, eat breakfast before she would even wake up! What a life! Wish I could sleep in! Maybe one day when all the kids have grown! :) ha-ha.

  FISHING??? at Big Lake! If your wondering why we drive all the way up to Big Lake it's for the great fishing! Okay so it USED to be for the fishing....it seems that our luck has run dry. I don't think my Dad or brother have caught anything in a very long time. Me on the other hand, I always manage to catch at least one when everyone else doesn't...I was taught by the Master right DAD? The kids have a great time throwing rocks into the water, eating snacks and playing all kinds of games along the shoreline. As for fishing, it STINKS. All you get is snags, sunburns, and frustration. Being the awesome brother that he is Justin rented a boat for us. We were going to try for the next day but everything was booked so we had to go for later that same afternoon. It was a five man boat so Dad, Justin, Eli, Alex and Joi went out first. They came back with a boasting of "I got a strike on my line" and that was it. Poor Dad. Justin didn't get anything.

 

 Do you see any family resemblance??

 Justin, Joi, Alex, Adriana and Me went back out after lunch. We were trolling since the water was a little choppy and Justin said the anchor didn't even reach the bottom of the lake so their was no point in trying to fish that way. The kids were content to play with the worms, laughing and playing for a while. We were more than halfway across the lake when Joi asked: "when are we going to catch a fish? I want to catch a fish Daddy". Alex followed that up with: "Daddy I'm bored. Where are the fish?". I had to laugh. I said to Joi: "why don't you say a Prayer?" She just looked at me funny and I smiled. I said a quick prayer in my head and guess what? I kid you not...TWO SECONDS LATER, I felt a strike on the line, I set it and guess what? I CAUGHT A FISH! All the kids looked at me with big eyes, I laughed and said "see, prayer works!" The kids took turns reeling in the fish and it was a nice sized one too. While I was baiting my line again I heard Alex saying a prayer "Heavenly Father, let us catch another fish". I laughed and told him to also say thank you for the fish we caught (knowing that may be the only one!) But I did catch another! Heavenly Father was listening to those little children! They had fun reeling it in but before we could get it on the boat it got away. Soon after I lost my pop gear under the boat and the motor got it. Justin lost his and then Alex had to GO! And I mean GO!!!! We raced back to shore and that was the end of Fishing!

Like I said earlier, there were no campfires aloud so we had to improvise on the smores. We also had to improvise on 'sticks' for the roasting. I know how this looks but really it wasn't that dangerous. At least not until Eli tried to eat the marshmallow off the knife. That was the end of that. They ate the rest "raw".  

 The best thing I brought was Stephens hammock. Not only was it something the kids could go do on their own but they absolutely LOVED pushing each other in it. Not to mention holding on either side oh and so much more. I had to try it out myself and they did a great job of swinging me around. So, if you have a hammock remember to take it camping with you! It's worth it!
 

 We ended up leaving a day early due to the weird circumstances of no fire, allergies, and Dad being sick. But despite all that I had a wonderful time. Camping seems to always be memorable for us! Happy Father's Day Dad! This should remind you of all those other times we went camping when I was growing up and you didn't get to fish then either! Someday you'll get the chance again! :) Love you!