Camping at Lake Koocanusa July 27-30, 2010

What a great camping trip!!  First of all, we only decided about a week before that we wanted to go camping and we had decided on Surveyors Lake at one of the first come, first serve spots.  Brad was told that this was a great spot to camp and that the lake was warm and there were turtles there.  It sounded great. We were to arrive on a weekday so we thought we would have a better chance of getting in.  When we got there, I was very saddened to find out that all the campsites were taken at Surveyors Lake with a waiting list of nine - no chance.  But we were told there were a few open down the road at what was called the Ponderosa Campground.  We went and checked it out and we ended up finding a really great campsite overlooking lake Koocanusa.  We were only about 100 yards away from the lake so we were able to watch the kids as they played.  We really enjoyed ourselves and had a fantastic time.  And best of all, there were no mosquitoes!!

Roasting hot dogs

Amy was really funny.  She started doing this thing she called making a filling.  She would first make a hole in the ground with her stick and then she would fill it up again and she probably make 12 -15 of these all though out our camp.  Here she is making one of them.

We did go and spend a day at Surveyors lake and Adam had himself a great time finding and catching crayfish with a buddy that he meet at the lake.

Jenny was absolutely hilarious.  As we were leaving the lake one day, she had picked up a rock and she started to have a conversation with someone on the "other end of the line".  It went on for a good 5-6 minutes. She was so funny and expressive, I couldn't help but laugh and take a few pictures.

And then there was Billy.  I had to tell you it was Billy cause the next few pictures, he's camouflaged.

Here's just a few more random pictures.

We went for a walk around the lake looking for turtles.  I was determined to find them so after not finding any the first night we went for a walk the next night and we did finally end up spotting some turtles.  I was so excited!

On our way home from our wonderful camping trip, we stopped in at Frank Slide to take a look around.  While we were there, there was a Mad Science show put on by Mad Scientist Steve.  He was pretty cool and the kids loved the show.

I can't believe we are already halfway through July. Summer has been great so far, just going a little too fast. It started out with girls camp which was a lot of fun. I was the camp director which was a lot of work but I had great help and I think the girls had a good time. While I was at camp, Brad had taken Billy and Adam camping with BP and Amy and Jenny were with Grandma in Raymond. Thanks Mom!! Then it was off to Raymond for the rest of us for the First of July celebrations. We did the parade, the pancake breakfast, the road race (I ran a personal best in the 5k), picnic at great grandma Mae's along with a toonie to all who did well in school and passed their grade, a family fun fair on main street and of course the fireworks. It was a great time in Raymond. And the boys got a haircut. Don't they look handsome! We also took Billy to the temple for the first time to do baptisms for the dead. That was a great experience, one that I hope he will always remember.