Camping Photos Part 2



The kids have so much fun camping each year.

A good part of that reason, along with playing in the mountains and fishing, is riding the

zip line my grandpa sets up each year.

 

A good nap is always welcome after a long day of playing in the creek and running through

the mountains...barefoot.

 Shoes are so overrated. 

 

Daddy and Little Man enjoyed riding up the mountain trails on the ATV.

Little Man tells it as though he was the one driving and Daddy was just "enjoying" the ride.

 

Wild Thing lasted about ten minutes once we made it to camp before he took off fishing!

 He had talked of nothing else for weeks before this trip.

His weekend was quite successful when it came to fishing, he caught nearly 12 fish all on his own.

He was quite proud of himself.

 

Playing in the creek is a favorite past-time.

Though, this year the water was a tad bit cooler than previous years.

So the time spent in the creek was still often, but short and sweet.

 

Little Man decided to test the water before he jumped in again.

And yes, it was still cold, but still so much fun!

 

We were treated to a beautiful rainbow after a short round of rain.

 

The sunsets are such a treat each night.

 

I got up before the rest of the family on the last day at camp and enjoyed

the peaceful woods alone. It was nice to have some time alone to walk through the woods.

God's beautiful creation, is amazing.

 

It was nice to get back to the "natural" cycle of going to bed when the sun goes

down, and waking up with the sun. It just felt, right!

 

This is part of the road to camp. Specifically, the part of the road where the kids

remind me to put the John Denver cd in and start our almost-to-camp song.

Every year, we listen to John Denver's Take Me Home Country Roads, as we make the drive

up the dirt road to camp.

 

The meadow just as we're leaving.

It's the perfect place for my log cabin.

 



 

We would love to live near our camp someday.

The kids and I have already decided we would be quite happy in the little

town just down from camp. Hubby still needs a little a little more convincing.

Camping Photos -Part 1-

      We had a wonderful time camping over the 4th of July. We enjoyed being outdoors for four days, and I truly loved being tech-free for the weekend. I turned off my cell phone and didn't miss it the entire time. It was nice. Now to just work on starting another tech-free week for the family!

I promised I share some camping photos, so here we go...

 

We took a nice hike up the mountain trail and were pleased to enjoy such beautiful sites along the way.

 

I love taking shots from different angles.





 

Each year I take this a picture from this very spot.

And every year it's so different but, absolutely beautiful.

 

 

 



 

Though we didn't enjoy sitting around the campfire in the rain,

we all were treated with a beautiful rainbow afterwards.

If you look closely on the right, it was a double rainbow. 

I love this shot. It was just the perfect setting. 

 

 

The photos never quite do the beauty of this place justice, but I'm sure you can see why we enjoy this place year after year.

 

What did you do for the 4th of July? Do you have a favorite camping place?





Week 6 One Year Nature Study Adventure

Due to a very busy weekend we didn't get to take our nature walk on Friday last week, so we went this Monday. I'm glad we waited because the weather was perfect, it was beautiful, and we walked in the rain for awhile. A short walk in the rain is good for the soul. At least I think so and the kids seemd to think so too!



Week 6 Nature Study adventure
The kids in our first photo each week.

I love that we have kept up on this photo each week. I love having a shot of all my kiddos, and I am excited to see all of these pictures lined up side by side after a full year. I can't imagine how much they will change over this next year.

  

My boys, discussing the pond creatures in depth.
Or maybe just talking about the two turtles sun bathing on the log.

 This week we saw three turtles sun bathing on logs out in the pond. The kids always look for the turtles, but until this week we had not had the pleasure of seeing them.



We found these two hiding among the grass along the creek.
I love the bright green of the duck's head and the green grass in the background.

I love that each week we have seen some wildlife, and that each week it's been a different animal or little creature that we see.



To walk along a gravel path with the swish of the leaves beneath my feet is one of my favorite sounds.

This new path we found a week ago, is quickly becoming my favorite. The overhead covering of trees, the stream along one side, the gravel path and leaves covering the ground, and the way the sun peeks through the trees in just the right places, makes it absolutely beautiful, and perfect. I could walk this path all day.


What is fall with out some falling leaves.
You must take time to toss up an arm full of leaves.

I love this picture. It's not very clear, but the idea comes across and it reminds me how easy it can be to find the joy in each day the way children do. A handful of leaves tossed in the air, and everyone is smiling. The older couple that came up behind us couldn't help but smile and laugh as they watched the kids. 


My little explorers!
They too are really enjoying our weekly nature walks.



Lady Bug and her awesome shadow.



Looking at the changing trees with such a bright blue sky in the background reminded me of how much life changes.
Yet, that no matter what we are facing or struggling with, there is always a big and bright God just above us to help us through. Just like these trees, even though  they are losing their bright and colorful leaves now, they will be renewed and made bright and green and full of life again in the spring.

 

Lady Bug and her baby brother.
Well, 5 year old baby brother that is.

 This picture of Lady Bug and Little Man makes me smile for so many reasons; for the joy it gives me to be so blessed as to watch my children grow, the memories my children make with each other each day, and for many memories like this I wish I could have had with my baby brother. Time is so precious, cherish each moment.

The Grandfather tree.
This is the 100 and some year old tree.

 We love this tree. The kids climb up on Gramps (tree nickname) each week. The picture truly does not do it justice. I could not get the whole tree, which it very large, in the picture no matter where I stood without stepping into the pond. It really reminded me of a grandfather too. The strong center trunk with so many steady and giving branches, many reaching out and covering the smaller trees and walkway as a protective grandfather would do. Even the way the kids are drawn to this great tree and how they are not happy unless they have had their turn sitting in just the right spot...by themself.
Reminds me of my Granddaddy and Grandpa.

We all love the changing of the trees, but I love to see the changes in so many of the different shrubs and plants each week. To me, even in their dull browns, they are just as beautiful as the trees with the golds and reds.

The snow capped mountains through the changing cattails.

As much as I have the itch to move right now, I don't think I could live without waking up each morning and seeing my mountains. Being able to step outside and see them off in the distance, reminds me this is home.

Gramps, has a tattoo of sorts.

 After we found this heart carved into the tree, I found myself wondering how long it had been there and if  J &C were still together, and what their story was. If trees could talk...


Our tree.



We end our nature walks with a stop at "our" tree. Though I think Gramps is more our tree than this one. Yet, I still make sure we all stop and notice the changes from week to week.

Another wonderful nature walk.

Six weeks and still enjoying each trip.

This may be the one project in our homeschool that will benefit us the most.

One Year Nature Study Adventure - Week 4



Week 2 Nature Adventure



Week 4 Nature Adventure



Each week we visit the same place first on our nature walk. We have a few spots that we make sure to photograph each time so that we can come home and compare the photos and see just how much everything has changed. The kids are noticing quite a bit of difference each week. I love that they are enjoying this nature adventure as much as I am. 

 The trees and bushes had an amazing rainbow of colors to show off. How many colors do you see?

We did find that our tree had changed but not a great deal. There are some leaves that are beginning to change color and the grass around the tree has begun to change to a dull brown.

Of course, the kids believe that our weekly trips to the nature center is for our nature study, but other moms will understand that it's only a cover for my true reason to get the kids out somewhere beautiful each week. It's the perfect photo op location for busy kids who are tired of mom snapping pictures all the time. 

With large trees and things to climb on the kids are constantly saying, "Mom, take my picture" "Mom, look at me." So it works perfect! And of course as a photographer, I am in heaven with such beautiful surroundings, and kiddos, to photograph each week. 

The wind was quite strong and had blown all the pond moss across to one side. If we had not been aware of where the pond waters began from previous trips, we could have easily mistaken the moss for swampy grass land and walked right into the pond. In fact Lady Bug's friend she brought along just about walked right into the pond not noticing that she was about to step into water and not on land.

The kids all decided to pose as explorers. Again, mom knows that in the right setting, kids want their picture taken. Especially if it shows them doing something cool or dangerous!

After learning about the monarch butterfly and the milk weed that the monarch caterpillar eats on previous trips, Wild Thing has been very interested in the milk weed plant each time we go on our nature walk.
With the wind blowing so much it was fun to watch the cotton like plant blowing around.

We decided to make our way down to the creek this time. We had not been able to get down to the creek or anywhere near it due to the recent flooding. It was simply too full and fast moving to risk getting close at all. So this time the kids had a great time investigating the river bank. Since the flooding is done and the river is back to normal, we will probably add this spot into our nature walks each week.

One the last bit of our nature walk we were please to see four deer off in the woods. The deer were only about maybe 25-30 feet out. They didn't run off but were very watchful of us and each move we made.
The deer were kind enough to stick around for almost 15 minutes before they decided to leave.

My kiddos! We have the explorer (Wild Thing) the curious one (Little Man) and a pre-teen (My Lady Bug).
Lions, and tigers, and bears, oh my!
 

 

We had a nice nature walk, even though the temperature dropped into the low *50's that day. Just last weekend we were camping in *80 degree weather, this weekend it dropped *30 degrees and there was even snow in Denver! This is Colorado and snow is a normal here, but not at the beginning of October! The first snow is usually saved for the end of October.

Another weekly adventure in our year long nature study is complete. I am hoping to get some kind of binder and start printing out pictures from our nature walks and putting together a nature adenture log of sorts. I think it will be a great way to see the changes side by side but to also have a great photo journal for us all of our year in nature.

Weekend camping trip also known as our three day nature study!





Sunset at camp over the lake.

We did not get to our nature center this weekend for our nature study adventure, instead we had a three day nature adventure while camping at the lake.



We did not get to observe our tree or see the changes in our favorite spots but we enjoyed discovering plants and cactus that do not grow near our home or at our nature center. 


I loved this cactus plant, I'm not sure of the name, but it was so interesting.  

The kids were not quite as excited about the different plants and cactus as they were about the lake and time with their cousins. But I was impressed with them, so I made sure to take pictures and we will look them up this week and learn a bit more about these cactus and plants. 

One of my favorites was the sunsets over the lake, they really were beautiful. I enjoy the sunsets over the mountains each night and the sunrises on the plains behind our home each morning, but I have to say that watching the sunset/sunrise over the water is absolutely beautiful.

Much of the plant life and flowers had already begun to wilt and turn, but I did find a few that were still bright and colorful. They were a welcome sight as camping in a very desert like area is very brown and colorless, with the exception of the lake and the few trees that manage to survive the summer heat.

Being out on the water is what I look forward to the most. And as every year, I love the sight of all the boats lined up along the docks. I did not have a chance to walk along the docks to the end and photograph the sail boats but the view from the water was still impressive.



We enjoyed our camping trip, the last one until next spring and summer.  Of course the kids are already asking when we can go back and to be honest, I too am ready for another trip. But since the nights are getting colder, I think I'd want to find a nice little log cabin to rent for a weekend. Actually, one of the things I hope to do within the next few years, is to rent a cozy log cabin up in the mountains and have an old fashioned Christmas with my family.

Do you enjoy camping? What are your favorite camping activities?

Me? Obviously we do enjoy camping, and my favorite part is simply being outdoors for a few days! And watching the kids be free and happy away from the city and the walls of our home.