Camping, Biking and Backpacking for the 4th of July

Over the Fourth of July weekend we took a family camping and backpacking trip.  For the first night, we camped near Pi Pi.  It was dark by the time we got there and found somewhere flat to sleep.  We just stayed long enough to skip a few stones in the morning because we had to head over to the church for the Fourth of July breakfast.

 The kids were sad they didn't get to swim (and Caleb was itching to go fishing), but they were excited to participate in the bike parade at the church.

Caleb has (and knows how to ride) a 2-wheeler, but he opted to decorate this itty ibtty bike with training wheels.

Eliza loves the thrill of going fast around the church parking lot.  It was hard to get a good picture of her zooming by.

If I remember right, Josh got his neck pinched in his bike helmet strap (after warning me to be careful not to pinch him... mom fail), so he was crying instead of riding during the parade.

After the breakfast, we headed out for our second night of camping.  Our friends the Murdocks were going on a day hike with their extended family and invited us to come along.  We loaded up our packs and hiked about a mile to our destination.  

The first order of business was to find logs to lash together to make a raft.  The kids had seen the one we made years ago with our friends the Knoebels and wanted to make another. It was a big hit with all of the kids!

 After some practice, these two were able to learn to steer the raft.

 

Josh and I weren't big fans of the freezing, snow-melt water, but we dipped our toes in every now and then.

We had fun playing in the water with friends, then when they left, we set up our tent in a beautiful spot right by the river.  We cooked some dinner on the camp stove (thanks for the fire ban).

Caleb has been wanting to go fishing forever.  We brought along a pole (from the thrift store) and a little tackle box that Mike had as a kid.

  I didn't ever see a single fish in the water, but that didn't deter Caleb. 

 Mike was patient to accompany the budding fisherman when his presence was requested, though Caleb did lots of fishing on his own as well.

 Every spare minute, this kid had his pole in the water.  He woke up at the crack of dawn so he could start fishing again.  He wasn't even disappointed that he didn't catch anything.  He had fun just trying.  I think that makes him a real fisherman.

 We dragged Caleb away from fishing so we could take a little day hike the next morning.  We found another spot to swim, then hiked back.

Some of us even hiked in our life jackets to be ready to jump right in!

We left in time to make it home by bedtime.  Hiking out wasn't as much fun as hiking in, but we all made it.