Canyon Lake Camping Trip

These photos are in reverse order ... they start at the bottom and go to the top. I don't feel good enough to rearrange them, so they will stay backwards. I caught Johnny's flu and thought I'd make my first post since Christmas as a way to distract myself from the extreme discomfort I am in. Ugh!! :(

Good grief! The silliness!

I managed to snap this sweet face between all the goofy ones they were making
Having a great silly time

Getting super ridiculous during our last picnic lunch

Throwing rocks into the lake
Johnny took this one of me
On the lake shoreSammy showing off his muscles and Johnny's bark discovery

Johnny next to a tower of rocks and a cactus
Johnny took this photo on our nature walk
Sammy took this onePlaying in the sand in the chilly morning
Sammy ended up in my sleeping bag which was much warmer than theirs were
Fresh morning face
Sunrise on the last morningSeashells were all over the ground
Shortly before sunrise
I saw only one of these flowers
A view from our campsite
Enjoying campfire roasted turkey sausage
Sunset on our second night
Sammy's eye wound from the night before
Playing in the dirt ... as it should be on a camping adventure
Johnny took this one ... ack! Frizzy hair!
What a loving smile!
Sammy using his fishing hat to pour water on his head
Johnny's driftwood
Now those are some happy faces!
Sweet brothers
Tending the campfire
Fishing on the lake shore by campfire light

I had been reminiscing the joy of camping recently and the boys became obsessed with the idea. Every minute (literally) Johnny wanted to talk about camping. I had planned to take it easy for Spring Break, but ended up getting invited to go fishing at a local lake one day, which led into being invited to go camping at Canyon Lake. It was a major effort to get prepared and get out of here, but as always, it was totally worth it and will be a time to cherish forever. We drove up Wednesday afternoon and camped in a tent in sleeping bags for two nights. The boys loved it and Sammy wasn't even scared to be put to bed in the tent by himself the first night. My one mistake was forgetting to pack earplugs so I got very little sleep the first night. We were right next to the bathrooms with nice flush toilets and warm showers which was super convenient as I could send Johnny to the bathroom by himself and watch the door from our campsite.

We went fishing on the beach the first night and Sammy fell and bonked his eye on a rock. He had his arms pulled in his shirt so when he fell he couldn't put his hands down. Luckily we had plenty of ice on hand and it didn't look that bad the next morning. The next day we drove to a different section of Canyon Lake and the kids played in the water and fished. We ate a picnic lunch and showered after we got back to the camp. The kids proceeded to play in the sand and dirt and literally make "dirt angels." That's half the fun of camping right? Being allowed to get dirty and not worry about it. ;) We roasted dinner and marshmallows on the campfire and curled up together in our tent. It was considerably colder the second night and Sammy ended up in my sleeping bad with me about 6AM. After having a wonderful night's sleep I got up and took photos of the sunrise.

Our friends left after breakfast but we chose to take our time and go on a nature walk and explore the lake and eat a last leisurely picnic lunch. It was such a great time of carefree enjoyment of nature and all of God's creations. We ambled along and discovered the wondrous details of life that we are too busy to notice most of the time.

We had an uneventful drive home and were ecstatic to find that Keith had completely fixed up my car while we were gone with new bearings, a complete tune up and a new set of tires. Way to go baby!!! This is the quietest my car has ever sounded inside (which had been a major complaint). Next time we hope to plan ahead so Keith can take time off work and go with us.

Thanks so much to my dear friend who invited us and took such wonderful care of us while we were there. Yay! :)