Camping at Fish Lake

We took a little family vacation to Fish Lake, earlier this month, and went camping. We thought this would be a fun place to go because 1) It was camping and there would be a fire. 2) There was a lake to take the new raft out on. 3) Fishing!



My first thought when I got there was "Where are the pine trees?" Fish Lake, much to my surprise seemed mostly like a desert with lots of Aspen trees and bushes. Bushes everywhere. And there were red ants, big ones, right where are tent was suppose to go. And there was no shade. The weather was in the mid to low 70's, but it was so high up, that the sun was hot. So with that being the first few things that I noticed when we got there, I was scepticle that this would be a good trip. But we had a good time.



Jonathan liked playing in the dirt. He was filthy the entire time. But he was so darn cute! Daniel liked playing with the fire. Adding sticks and wood, turning the logs, etc. Tyler liked to play with the rocks and tag along with Daniel.






Taking the raft out on the lake was quite an adventure. We never caught anything because the only times we made it out on the lake were in the middle of the day. The first time we went out, it was windy and we didn't have an anchor, so....lets just say we were lucky to get back to shore at our original departing point. But honestly, I had faith that Nathan would be able to row us back to shore. The second day we went out, we had an anchor but the kids were ready to just go home, so we didn't have much luck catching anything. Both times out, Jonathan fell asleep. The motion of the waves, was just far to relaxing for him to keep his eyes open.
So, sleepy!

We had several storms come through the area, but nothing to big that we got rained out. The boys, one night, did enjoy watching "Evan Almighty" on he portable DVD player in the tent. They thought that watching a movie about Noah, while raining outside was neat. I really, really didn't want them to watch a movie while we were camping, but after much nagging from the kids and some pressure from Nathan, I gave in.



We also had some animals visit us. Some deer come through camp twice. They were so beautiful. And we had a chipmunk that really liked us. He was cute. Tyler on multiple occassions could be heard saying, "Alvin, Simon, Theodore?" To which Daniel would reply "Tyler, they don't live in this world?" That, for me, is probably one of the most memorable parts about the trip.

The chipmunk was looking for shade too.

We went hiking the trail around the lake once. I would have liked to hike more, but there wasn't as much opportunities as I thought there would be. The best part for the kids, was throwing rocks in the lake. Is that just a boy thing? My boys love throwing rocks in rivers/lakes etc.






A few things I learned from our first family camp out (without any extended family) was, too many coals on the dutch oven, will burn your food. Dry ice and eggs are NOT a good combination. (Good thing there was a store at the lodge to save breakfast.) Popcorn that you can cook over the stove is a WONDERFUL invention. Always bring an extra tarp or canopy, you never know when you will need it for shade. Ropes, bring lots of rope! Hand soap is great. Don't bring the port-a-crib next time, Jonathan didn't really use it. Toys to play with in the tent are great, otherwise the kids do get bored. And last of all, tent heater = AWESOME, especially with the kids!

The chicken was so burned, that even the BBQ sauce at the bottom was rock hard.

And some more pictures, that I just loved!

Doesn't he look "done"?

Yum!!! Raisins.

His smile, just makes me smile.

Boys, and yes, they are SO ready to go home.

This is my favorite. :)