Camping AND Hiking

We spent the longest days of the year out camping. Thursday we headed up Big Cottonwood Canyon to a great campground and had some fun.

Everyone had tons of fun helping build the fire.

Finn loved being able to get away with a lot in the great outdoors... including playing with the lighter.

The first night we made some tasty foil dinners and had a great little meal. Wyatt was already covered with dirt and loving life.

Gavin loved the foil dinners. He was a bit hesitant at first, but then quickly realized how normal boring food tastes so much better when cooked over the fire. He just kept saying how much he loved it.

Henry wasn't as big of a fan of the foil dinners, but he is the marshmallow roasting pro. He would slowly toast some marshmallows for everyone and then say, "Perfecto!" and bring them over to be turned into tasty smores. He is very impressive. He also had the same luck with hot dog roasting.

Gavin's best creepy face.

Everyone was very excited to try their hand at using the hatchet. The older boys got pretty good at it, and followed the rules about not standing anywhere near someone swinging a hatchet. Henry is good example of why that is a good rule.

Who better to show you how to use a hatchet than a true mountain man.

The campground had lots of great streams and the creek running through it, so there were plenty of log bridges to walk over, and lots of time spent throwing rocks into the water.

Finn got his first shoulder ride, and enjoyed it, especially the part where he pulls more of my hair out.

 We did a lot of wandering.

 Gavin and Henry spent some time coloring.

 Before we left on Saturday, we went on a hike to Doughnut Falls. The trail from the Spruces Campground to join up with the Doughnut Falls trail was probably the best part. It was a nice shaded and quiet walk. And of course, the boys loved getting to the water and throwing more rocks and sticks in.

 They were all great hikers considering they had slept outside for two nights and were awakened very early by Finn, who did not love sleeping in a tent. Wyatt did an excessive amount of whining on the way to the falls, but still managed to walk the entire way.

 This is not the expression that Finn had most of the night, but he was pretty happy riding along for the hike and snacking.

 Finally near the falls.

One of the best parts about this camping weekend is that we were so close to home that we came back for a few hours on Friday morning to go to swimming lessons and to load up more food and clothes for the day. It made the whole planning and packing much more manageable, and Finn even got a nap in his own bed. I would highly recommend camping that way.