CaMp OuT

We took off and went camping on Saturday for the first time in about 3 years! So it was obviously Gunnar's first time camping and Ashton hasn't been since he was about the age Gunnar is now.
It was so fun!

The boys loved every minute of it and Lars and I realized how much we've missed it. We camped at the Cloverleaf Campground over by the Minnetonka cave (on the Northwest side of Bear Lake). It was a really nice campground and we loved our lucky # 11 campspot :)

About a month ago we got this new family tent, so we were excited to try it out. It worked out great...super easy set up and take down...

(okay at least that's what Lars told me). And we found out that it's definitely waterproof! It rained a little off and on and it never leaked on us.

We left here Saturday about noon and made it over to Bear Lake by 1:00 to eat lunch. We tried out Merlin's Drive-in and it was really good. We usually hit the LaBeau's over there, but now I'm way more of a Merlin's fan!Then we headed up to find our campspot and got there about 2:00. The boys immediately got out of the truck and started getting dirty. This was Gunnar in a matter of minutes. They loved helping Lars collect wood for the fire and there was tons of it all around us. Then Ashton got to help cut it up...oh how he loves stuff like that!

After we got our camp all set up we drove the 2 miles up the road to check out the Minnetonka cave. We'd heard that it's really cold, so we grabbed jackets and got tickets for the 4:30 tour. We had to wait about 20 minutes, so the boys had a blast chasing and feeding tons of little "chipmunts" as Gunnar called them. We had left over tater-tots and the little guys loved them! Ashton thought it was so cool that they would eat out of his hand.

Then we started our tour. 444 steps in and 444 steps back out! And it stays at 40 degrees year round. Chilly! It was pretty neat to see all of the formations and learn the history of the cave. Ashton of course was scared to death that it was going to collapse on us and trap us forever and kept asking if there was a door on the other end, then was panicked to learn that there was only one way in and out. It didn't help when our little tour guide started talking about an earthquake that had happened there about 100 years ago. Poor Ashton...our little worrier. Then they started talking about bats! Let's just say it was a long walk out...

At least for once in his life Gunnar let Lars carry him then entire time! I don't know that I could have done it! So I just held on tight to Ashton going up and down the slippery stairs.

Ashton was so excited to see daylight again when we were heading out...and it was nice to feel warm air again!

We got out about 6:00, so we headed back to camp and got our easy dinner of hotdogs ready. It's crazy to think back about all of the elaborate dutch oven dinners we used to do (pre-kids!)...it's all about simple now.

And what is a camping trip without roasting marshmallows...And having S'mores? Yum!

Gunnar took one bite and realized he'd rather just have the chocolate.

After dinner we walked around our campground for awhile and collected some more wood. Then we sat by our nice fire. Just kidding...no we didn't because we forgot our CAMP CHAIRS! About halfway up Logan Canyon we were kind of going over if we had everything and I asked Lars if he'd thrown our chairs in...well no he didn't! I was a little irritated, but oh well. At least it was only for one night and there was this log in our camp, so I used that. Lars was calling it my

Queen Bee chair...Kind of fitting! ha!

Before long it was almost dark and time for bed. We got all cozy in our beds (Ashton and Lars on one and Gunnar and me on the other), and Gunnar thought it was time to play of course. So he spent the next half our or so bouncing on the air mattress, jumping on me, laughing, singing, you name it...all the while Ashton was trying his hardest not to laugh at him. It was just way too much fun to be in a tent at bedtime!

Finally I grabbed Gunnar and put him back in our bed and held him tight (so he couldn't escape), and he eventually fell asleep. They both slept surprisingly well and I did too. Poor Lars...not so much. We all slept in till after 8:00, then got up and made pancakes in the rain! Ashton was excited he got to flip them...

The rain didn't last long....just a few minutes a few different times, then it would clear out. So we got our fire going again and hung out at camp till about noon, then packed up and headed out.

I love camping!

And I love seeing our boys having SO much fun enjoying the outdoors too!

(oh and I love Ashton's cute litte legs in this picture :)...

We're trying to find another free weekend to go again before summer is over. Ashton and Gunnar would have stayed for a week!