For a little background, I have been a huge fan of camping since I was a little girl... in fact I can't remember a summer, well one when Jaran and I were sealed, that I have missed an Ames camp. When I was younger we would go for two weeks every summer. We went one year on the big horns, but for the most part, we have been loyal to the Beartooths, and the Sunlight Basin. I love it so much that I talked Jaran into naming his business Sunlight Homes. It has nothing to do with the actual light of the sun, but for the beautiful place I love. In 1988 the fires of Yellowstone did a number to the region, but the places that were once charred blackness are now green and growing. It's a beautiful place. We were lucky to get a great camper for super cheap and fix it up (see previous post) and we had a great time up there! We went up on Saturday afternoon, only to find that we hadn't put the kids' clothes basket into our camper, and realized we'd have to make a trip down the mountain in the morning to get them... but here are some pics to demonstrate how great it is up there!
So the first morning we woke up and made breakfast, the works, pancakes, hashbrowns, eggs, bacon and didn't end up eating until around lunch time. Then Jaran went down the mountain with Ryan and Rozman to get the kids clothes, ice, a different bed for Cam cause the one in the trailer they were using was super uncomfortable and a few other miscellaneous items. We pretty much wasted time around the fire, the kids went and caught crawdads by the lake, and we enjoyed the peace and quiet. When Jaran and the boys got back, we started the secret agent hunt for the kids provided by Steph. Right before that, Brensyn got a mosquito bit above his eye... this was the result:
It only got worse, but those pics will come later. So the hunt was on, and the kids had a blast! They got 4 clues taking them to different places and they were awarded a bag of goodies, also provided by Steph! It was great!
Calli and Matt came up on Suday afternoon and stayed until late Monday morning. It was Matt's birthday on Monday, so Brensyn made him a card with his one good eye.... poor baby... looked worse the second day!
We did a lot of s'mores by the fire, the kids got dirty, and had a blast.
Ryan and Rozman cut down a couple trees so we got some great wood for the fire, and a play zone for the kids.
Monday we had our white elephant game and also did an auction of items to raise some money for John and Amee's gravesite to engrave and try and get a permanent vase beside them. Ryan served as auctioneer and did a great job! There were some great things!
Camp of 1977
Aunt Deana laughing at camp of 1977
"A great item here, let's start at $5 do I hear $5?"
We won this gem
My cousin Lance brought his kids with him and their mom, Laura, was joining them later in the week, so when Kealey wanted her hair to look like Cam's, this is what happened:
We took some group pics before Steph left on Monday evening, and had a lot of fun.
Ans and Me
The cousins
The girls and Aunt Deana
Us
Cam and her girls
Shanda hasn't been to many Ames camps and decided to come with my Aunt Deana, her GMA. So she came, had a blast, and I hope will keep coming. We had some fun, and she loved fishing, even though she fell in the water and ran head first into a tree!
And now for a few of the reasons we go to the Lily Lake campground
1. The Lake itself
2. The Crawdad fishing
3. The super awesome Outhouse
4. Because you can look like this
5. And then look like this all in the same day without anyone caring
6. This is the view you get all the time
And 7. You get to spend time with your family getting bug bites,
cutting down trees, being pinched by crawdads and getting back and them by eating them, have a wonderful time fishing, falling in rivers, running into trees, winning prizes,
smell campfire all day long,
and not have to worry about showering and putting on makeup and doing your hair. We had a blast, and we all made great memories!
That's all for now folks. Take Care!
