Camp life

 We did a lot of just hanging around the camp site.  Here the two older girls are playing "school bus."  Since Gideon is finished with school, and with Hope learning that the next time he gets on the school bus she will be with him, she is teaching Esther what it's like to ride the school bus.  The hat is since she just finished riding her bike, not because they all have to wear helmets on the bus now!

 After the kids were in bed, Kathee and I sat and read.  On my semester/summer of CS Lewis, I grabbed The Four Loves and read most of it.  I'm a bit bummed that since it rained our first night (either that or my kids' water bottles that I had in my hiking bag leaked) my book got soaked and is now double the size it was when it had dry pages!  What a great book by the way...

 So good in fact, that I like to think this moth wanted to read some Lewis as well.  At least that's my theory.

 Eve chilled a whole bunch and did great.

 Hope loves her chocolate!

 And Esther had a blast having more freedom riding her balance bike.

 Eve was supposed to take naps in the tent, though that didn't happen as often as we'd have liked.

 We went hiking to see the Shut ins.  This is the east fork of the Black River.  It really reminded me of the time I got to go fly fishing with Kathee's uncle Mark on the Flathead River in Montana.  Wow!

 This is honestly a candid picture when we returned from seeing the shut ins.

 The shut ins where so cool.  We read that during the summer, the parking lot of 100 spots is normally filled by 10AM, which means these shut ins are packed with people.  From some of the youtube clips and the parks website, there are people everywhere in the summer.  It was good to be there before high tourist season.

 We got a bit worked up when Kathee pointed out the dog and the hat.  It turned out to be a photographer had climbed over the side to get what I think would be fantastic pictures of the shut ins.

 Esther loved being down by the water with me listening and watching the rapids.

 In a lot of ways, it reminded me of Big Falls, a place about 45 minutes from Camp Forest Springs that I loved going to on days off when I was a counselor.

 Although we were in bear country, and a sign was posted by the trail that bear frequently are nearby, it didn't seem as such.  There were no bear boxes like in Wisconsin and northern Minnesota.  The trash cans weren't bear proof etc.  I wonder as more bear keep coming north from Arkansas (can you really blame them?) if things will change?

 I took the two older kids fishing on the Black River.  The current was moving so fast, and I couldn't really find a place where it was calm, that we didn't get so much as a nibble.  But the kids had fun fishing, and we'll do it more this summer for sure.

 And within about 20-30 minutes they were more interested in playing in the sand than fishing, so we just hung out and played.  I think they had more fun doing that than feeding fish hot dogs anyway.

 A few years ago, when we were in Branson, MO, with the Terwilleger family vacation, Kathee and I bought a new tent and a new cook stove at a Coleman Outlet Store.  They are both awesome!  We used the tent once before this trip, when I slept in the back yard with Gideon.  I have made corn on the cob on the stove when we lived in Moline.  So it felt great to actually use them for their intended purposes!  The kids (all four) fit and slept great.  Kathee and I had air mattresses.  It was great for everyone!

 Our reader will read to anyone in the family at the drop of a hat.  This morning we caught him reading to Eve.

I couldn't help but think, "sooner than I think those flowers will be her wedding flowers," instead of the boquet she picked for Kathee this morning as we were packing up the van.  She is such a character.  

Camping Eats

 Kathee absolutely loves tinfoil dinners.  We ate them almost every summer on either the cook out or camp out at youth camp at Camp Forest Springs.  By the time I became the senior counselor there, I grew to hate them.  Kathee, on the other hand, not growing up attending CFS, and counseling only one summer there, LOVES them!  LOVES them!  To the point that one time we made them in our oven.  If I wanted that much ketchup (to kill the taste) I'd fill up a glass and drink it.  However, that being said, "we" were delighted to enjoy them with the kids... who ate supper and responded with mixed reviews!

 But when it came to having S'Mores after supper, Esther bellied right up to help Kathee get everything situated!

 Kathee is a master S'more maker, and with the smoke getting in Gideon's eyes, and Hope's relaxed state of leg-crossing impeding progress, Kathee and I ended up making most of the marshmellows for the kids (although the second night they jumped right in and gave it a shot.  I think the first night was the learner's curve.  We may have set the bar too high?).

 Esther, not wanting to go through all the fuss of actually cooking the marshmellows, not wanting to dilute the scrumptous taste of them with chocolate and graham crackers, opted to bypass all that and just eat the marshmellows, uncooked, and all by themselves.

 Here Gideon is showing off his "road rash" band-aid from crashing his bicycle.  With all the tears and crying I opted not to tell him that the road rash he had on his shoulder was way cooler than his elbow.  But why wake a sleeping dog, right?

 Here's his "Big Kahuna Burger" Smore.  Me?  I never had me a Big Kahuna Burger before, just a Royale with cheese smore.  (Okay, mashing smores with Pulp Fiction movie lines is too esoteric... and not funny).

 Friday morning we ate breakfast burritos.  I had these each year on our rock climbing trips I did as a youth pastor (with Camp Forest Springs as our guides) at Devil's Lake State Park in Wisconsin.  Kathee loves these, too, and the kids?  Yeah, they had sausage and scrambled eggs.

 But Kathee and I did the full-on burrito.  They were sooooo good!

 And nothing says hardcore camping like making sure you bring your milk frother for your morning London Fog.  It's half Earl Grey tea, half frothed milk, and some sugar.  Just another proof God loves us!

 Friday night we had Kathee's fantastic sishkabob's.  Pieces of steak marinaded in Coke and some other good stuff.  In the foil are the potatos, onions, and cheddar cheese we learned from our friends Clint and Leah Kuipers (from Bethel days).

 Although our children turned up their noses at soupy bananas, we also had banana boats (cut a "V" in a banana, fill it with peanut butter, marshmellows, and chocolate chips, wrap it in foil, melt it all in the coals for about 8-10 minutes and you have liquid gold).

 As you can see, we may have overlooked packing chocolate chips so in a pinch used Hershey's chocolate bars.

 This morning I made sausage links and pancakes.  There is nothing better than sausage on a cast iron griddle while camping.  Seriously.  

Kathee and I love coming up with our camping menu.  We love to eat while camping, and we eat well.  Whether it's cooking for 25 like I did at time while a youth pastor, or just my family, going camping and cooking while doing so brings me tons of joy!

Camping at Johnsons Shut Ins State Park in the Ozarks

Here is the latest picture of the family, taken at the site of Missouri's highest elevation (more information on that coming above in the blog).

New Family Photo