Almost Over Before It Even Started

Doesn't it feel like summer got a late start this year? It was a very wet winter that continued into the first part of summer and inadvertently ruined our first major planned trip for June: The Subway. The Narrows in Zions were still so flooded so badly that they closed them off for quite a while and then only opened them to teams going in with wet suits, climbing gear, and helmets. No thanks.

But since we all had the time off anyway, we decided we should at least go camping.

We went down to Holden to spend a day/night with Ryan's grandparents, and then drove over to Maple Grove, our favorite fishing spot, the next day. I know I have been there before in the summer, but it has been since I was a little girl with my own family. For at least the last 8 years I have only seen the campground covered in 3-4 feet of snow. I was pleasantly surprised to see how big and how beautiful that campground is. It was so green and so peaceful!

This camping trip wasn't as filled with high adventure as many of our other ones have been, but it was great to just get away and spend time with family.

This is Jess and Cameron's little guy. He is a cute little bug! And look at his blanket... or what you can see of it. It's camping gear!

Dodger was an absolute trooper. In desperate need of a hair cut, Dodger allowed all the little kids to hold onto his leash and drag him around for hours at a time. I am sure after a while he would much rather have found some shade and some rest... but with 3 young girls all clamoring for a turn to walk him, he didn't get much of the latter.

Snake grass. Pretty cool stuff.

A beautiful pavilion tucked up in the trees. We played a few very exciting games of Commando here. Don't worry - it has nothing to do with running around naked. In fact, after I explained the game to Fred, he said, "Oh! That's the 'Dot Dot' game." So it has many different names. The basic gist is to have someone stand at home base, close their eyes, and then call out a number they are going to count to. During the time they are counting, the other players dash from base to base, all decided on before the game, trying to touch as many as possible before the counting stops, at which point everyone hides and the counter opens his/her eyes to look around to see if they can see anyone. They can't move from where they are standing, but they can lean from side to side. If they spot you, they call you out and you have to start over. The goal is to be the first person to touch all the bases and make it back to home base without being caught.

Matt, Jen and Traci.

Ryan and his faithful best buddy.

The gals - Natalie, Chloe, Traci, and Emily.

Dad and Jess cooking. (And Dad sneaking some food.)

Me doing what I do best... enjoying a S'more straight off the roaster.

Something no camping trip is good without.

This awesome shirt was given to me by my mother-in-law (which I have no pictures of during this camping trip and I don't know why.) The obvious part of the shirt says, "I love my husband." But there is fine print there too that really makes it read, "I love it when my husband catches less than me." Typically this doesn't happen... but when it does... AWESOME!

The most adventurous part of the trip was when Ryan, Robert (Ryan's friend) and Dad decided to hike to the top of the mountain pictured at the beginning of this post. I originally planned on joining them, but since I had pulled a muscle the week before this (right before the Dirty Dash) and I was 12 weeks pregnant and not feeling like I could make it all the way, I opted to stay behind with Dodger and read. And I am very grateful for that.

Reports have it that the trail disappeared shortly after it began. And then they reached massive show fields. And the whole going was pretty rigorous. Of course they still had fun, but I am glad I didn't go.

Dad leading the way.

A view from the top.

The trip was wonderful, but ended much too soon. We only stayed the one night and then everyone had to head back to work and their busy lives. Bummer.

In between this and the next big camping trip planned, we had a fantastic family reunion on my mom's side. It was held 7 miles outside of Hatch, Ut on some property my relatives own. They have put a ton of work into it making it into a nice camping spot with several pavilions, electricity, bathrooms with showers and running waters, and even a place called the "Grand Hotel" that has four small bedrooms each with a half bath for the elderly or people with young kid. Or Asa - because he can't exactly camp in a tent.

They have had the reunion there before, but the last time was 4 years ago and I was having back issues and wasn't able to go. I was really impressed with the place. I saw cousins I haven't seen in years. We played games, told stories, and had some great lessons. It was really quite an awesome experience. I really hope to go back again in two years if we are able. Unfortunately I didn't get a single picture of any one or anything. But everyone seemed to have a great time.

The next big camping trip was planned for the following month: The Uintas! This is our annual trip we take with Ryan's family somewhere around the 24th of July.

Of course, one of the first things to happen after we got the tent set up, was Ryan took off to the stream. You can't keep that boy away from water for very long. Originally, Ryan set off for the stream with Robert. They were both in shorts, t-shirts, and regular shoes. When they returned, Robert was wearing a swimming suit and water moccasins and Ryan was dressed like this...

It was pretty funny. Two very different approaches to the same problem. They both knew they were going to get wet - so Robert stripped down and Ryan layered up.

Dodger can never be kept far from Ryan when fishing in involved. In fact, it's hard to decide who loves to fish more!

A few hours later we decided to head down to the dam and try our luck fishing there. It was extremely slow going. No matter what kind of bate we used, no matter what weights or other tricks, there just wasn't a bite. I eventually just took to casting it out, leaving it there, and putting my attention into reading. Ryan eventually came over to join me and took to casting my line for me once or twice. Eventually he exclaimed, "Diana! You're line!" I looked up to see my bobber being dragged away. I put the book down, gave the line a little tug, and began reeling it in.

Tada! Behold my mighty fish! I tried to give Ryan the credit for it since technically he cast it out there, but he maintained that I did the work by hooking it and reeling it back it.

We stayed there for maybe another hour before everyone (including Cameron and Robert) gave up and we decided to head back to camp. Just in time too because a huge storm came rolling in that had us all holed up for the rest of the night. My little fishy there was the only fish anyone caught.

The next day I joined Ryan, Dodger, Cameron, and Rue (their dog they adopted from our abandoned lot) and hiked up to Joan Lake. In theory it's only about a mile hike, but it's mostly vertical. Quite a challenge, but it's very beautiful. We always have fantastic luck up there - probably because it's so much harder to access than the other lakes and therefore less fished, but this year was a total bust. Not a thing. I think we all saw just a single fish swim by. Nice sized, but no one could land it. This did not make for a very happy boys. Especially because that meant the score was still Diana: 1 Boys: Nothing. Remember that shirt my mother-in-law gave me? Hehehehe.

We tried that same lake the following day because we ran into two elderly gentlemen accompanied by a Sportsman's Warehouse fishing guide that said that after we left, we were able to catch a handful of really nice fish up there. The guide even gave us some of the lures he used. How could Ryan resist? I made the hike up with him again - admittedly not very happy about it because it's a tough hike. But my attitude changed up there. It's too beautiful to stay frustrated for long. That is... unless you still don't catch anything... in which case I giggle (in a very non-supportive wife sort of way) and Ryan pouts as we leave the lake empty handed.

So what happened, you may ask? The guide said there are 70% less fish in the Uintas than there was even last year. It was a really really hard year with all the winter kill and unfortunately, Joan Lake hasn't been stocked in years! So the fact that we have done so well in the past is pretty impressive.

Thankfully back at camp we still had plenty to do including...

Ping pong.

Bean bag toss. (We played this game at my family reunion and decided to duplicate it. The boards aren't quite done, but they served their purpose.) Regulations say the boards are placed 27 feet apart. You cannot step in front of the board to toss your bags. You toss 4 bags to the other side. If it lands on the board (without hitting the ground first) you get one point. If it goes in the hole you get 3 points. Sounds easy enough but it is hard! And instead of just getting the amount of points you added up, you only get the number of points you earned minus what your opponent got. So if Ryan got 6 points and I got 4, he would only get 2. First one to 21 wins. It's really fun.

Enjoying time with family.

Reading.

And of course more fishing. Ryan is a stud and took the girls out fishing on the stream. Here he caught several tiny little fish, but he says it doesn't count because "the girls caught them." He is going to be an amazing dad!

This picture is priceless. I could not get Madi to look at the camera for the life of me. She loved fishing, but would not smile with that thing near. The fact that she is grimacing and pulling away is hilarious!

Natalie and Madi with Uncle Ryan.

Natalie - very proud of her catch. Ryan also took Traci fishing during this time, but I took the two little girls back to camp with me and didn't get any pictures. Sorry Traci!

Swinging is also a favorite past time. Emily and Madi spun the swing up and would let it unwind and spin them around and around.

This face of Madi's is pretty priceless too.

And here is little Zach. Poor kid got eaten alive by mosquitoes. I wish I had a better close up of it. It was awesome to have Jodi here with her kids. Her Ryan is working and going to school in Colorado and couldn't make it. But we sure enjoyed having her here!

Even without the fish - the trip was still a lot of fun. I know camping with young kids can be quite a challenge, but I am really looking forward to having camping as part of our own family traditions.

It's hard to believe that school starts for the kiddos in a few weeks and before you know it the heat will be gone and the leaves will be changing. It goes by so fast! But at least we had some great trips in there!

And to end this long post... two pictures of what we saw on our drive back down the canyon.

Moose! I jumped out of the car and took several pictures before they got too close. The rest were taken from the car. Just as we were getting ready to hit the road again, a third one popped up out of no where. We think it must have been mom just laying down in the bushes. It was a beautiful sight. What a perfect way to end a trip!