Bayly Campout: Episode One

This past weekend the Bayly's decided to try for a new camping spot and headed up to Lodgepole, above Heber. Lot's of really tall pine trees for shade, good temperatures, and clear skies; you couldn't have asked for a nicer weekend. With Rory being more mobile than in years past, we decided we better have plenty of activities on hand to keep her occupied. We packed the stroller, and she would sucker anyone she could into taking her for a turn around the campground. We also brought Play-doh and bubbles, two of our kid staples.

Rory liked my bunny eating a carrot. Dany and her cousin Avery were especially happy about the Play-doh and constantly asked when they could play with it again.

Treg and Carolyn also brought a lot of good kid-crafts like molding clay and sun-catchers. The kids had a blast with them. We also took advantage of nearby Strawberry Reservoir for a little fishing action. My kids have never been fishing, and we own zero equipment, so at first they played around near the lake.

Then some of their cousins decided to help them learn the ins and outs of the sport. Turns out Maisie has quite a good cast!

Even Rory got a turn, though you'd think it was mud-fishing watching her technique.

When no one seemed to be having any luck with actual fish, they spent some timing fishing for a couple of these guys instead.

Gross. Our nephew Kolby celebrated his birthday that weekend, and one night we had cake and homemade ice cream to mark the occasion. This is Rory's attempt to help churn said ice cream by pumping the bucket handle up and down.

Thankfully her cousin Jordan is very patient :). That kid always manages to be at the heart of whatever is going on.

And of course there were campfires and s'mores. Dany and all her little friends managed to squeeze themselves together on our little kid bench.

The only major problem we experienced were the bugs. They were EVERYWHERE! And there were these nasty biting flies that seemed to love my kids, and would bite them half a dozen times around their neck and ears before anyone even realized what was going on. We're set to head back to the same place later this summer, and I seriously hope the bugs have died down by then. And speaking of bugs, check out these unrelated pics:

This is a moth Teag spotted on the outside of our garage the other day. And yes, that's a quarter! Check out the size of that thing! I've never seen such a big moth. the kids were fascinated with it, but I have to say, it gives me the heebs. It's a little too Hitchcockian for my taste. Anyone heard of any moth's attacking humans? ;)