Surprise, Surprise!

For the second camping trip in our lovely new trailer, the Kodiak, Dad announced on Friday evening that we would be leaving the very next day for an overnight at Willow Creek. After going there two other times (one dreadfully mosquito-filled, the other pleasant), we had no idea what the condition would be. Our new camper, with the pop-outs.

View of Willow Creek Campground, from the road

There weren't no mosquito's, but they weren't thick at all. Being mid-June, I only got one bite on my ankle, and that might have been it between the four of us. I did, however, pick up dozens of flea bites from sitting on the dusty beach.

The surprise previously referred to was a pair of kayaks, which Dad has been talking about buying for years. They were wildly successful, and proved to be the best part of the overnight stay. We each had two turns, one Saturday, one Sunday. They were quite a chore just to haul up the bank to the car; Dad claims they are light, but the rest of us don't agree.

We hauled the kayaks before opening up the boxes, so burning those huge boxes caused this giant fireball.

Even for just a short stay, we saw ospreys, a rattlesnake, and a river otter while kayaking.

Sagehen Reservoir, Day 4

Everyone was a bit tired from the hike yesterday, so everyone sort of lounged around for quite a while. Playing games and drinking hot chocolate, we sort of hung out in the trailer because it was a bit chilly outside. After getting sick of Bananagrams, we decided to take a quick hike up to the waterfall with Mrs. K because she hadn't seen it the last time. Mom and Dad and Megan stayed behind for various reasons, so the rest of us set off.
After arriving at the trail head and only getting about 20 steps into the forest, Benji, who had just had his leash removed, decided that he didn't want to go for a hike. So he ran back to the trailer. But we didn't know that, so Kaitie and I walked all the way back to the trailer. Everyone else waited for us, but by the time we had caught up with him we decided we didn't really want to go all the way back. Because everyone else was waiting for us, we went ahead and started to walk back.
We hadn't gone very far (about halfway to the trail head) when we met up with everyone else, who were walking back. They explained that while waiting for us, they were assaulted by wasps and Mr. K, Mrs. K, and Jo had all gotten several stings. That dampened their spirits, so they headed back. I don't know how Camille wasn't stung.
So we never really went on the hike.
The campground pickup was really quick, as all our stuff was in the trailer, so we made it out of there pretty quickly. It was rather strange, because the other campers around us left really early, so by the time we left it was deserted.

 I love this picture! Mom looks so excited about her word.

 Mr. K on his banana phone

 Jojo on his banana phone

 Dad with his fish that is actually quite small

 Jojo after getting stung (poor guy)

Sagehen Reservoir, Day 3

The third day was the best! Everyone, (well, almost everyone) went on the 4 mile hike around the reservoir. It was really fun, especially the first part where it went up and down, and twisted all around. The second part, after crossing the dam, was quite flat and straight.
Us kids kept pulling ahead. We weren't really trying to, but I think we walked a little faster and when we came to a hill we would run down it. There was a particularly large slope, so we ran all the way down; it took the adults quite a few minutes to pick their way down. So we would go up ahead quite a ways, then wait for the adults to catch up.
About halfway, we came to this really large boulder where we all climbed up and waited for the adults to catch up. It was fun, sitting on the very edge looking out over the water. We even saw a heron fly back and forth over the water, looking quite lost.
When the adults caught up, we all sat on the boulder and had snacks and drinks and licorice.
It rained a little that night, but not enough to keep us away from the fire. We sang hymns and stayed up rather late.

 I don't know why this picture is so cool to me

 Dad being....Dad

 I really like this picture

Sagehen Reservoir, Day 2

On the second day, after having slept well (and slept in), the day started out pretty great. It was really, really cold outside, but it warmed up quick.
We all went for a short hike up to a small waterfall (and I mean really short; like less than a mile there and then back again). It was really pretty; the trees grew a little closer together and it was a little greener.
Sadly, right at the end of the hike, just before turning around, Camille got stung by a wasp.

 A cool rock

 Note: all these pictures were not taken by me!

Sagehen Reservoir, Day 1

Our friends and us all have been planning this camping trip for quite a while, and this time we both had enough time to borrow trailers from our friends.
The ride up was interesting....miles and miles of sagebrush for a really  long time, until all of a sudden you enter the woods.
The first thing that surprised us (well, it didn't surprise Dad, but I wasn't expecting it) was that fact that the reservoir was really low, and I mean really low! So low that it left this huge plain of mud where the bottom of the reservoir usually is.
The second thing that threw us totally off guard was that the reservoir was surrounded by cattle! Not penned in or anything...that's just Idaho for you! Camille and Kaitie got a chance to chase them off; they seemed quite bothered by us and avoided us the entire time.
After getting set up, Kaitie, Camille, Mr. K, Jojo, Seth, and Dad all went down to the reservoir. Dad and Jo tried to fish, but Dad commented that he thought the reservoir was pretty much empty and that whoever caught a fish should call in and win a prize.
While Jo and Dad fished, Kaitie, Seth, and I all threw a frisbee around in the mud. The mud was so deep that if you stand in it too long, you'll sink! Running in it was no easy task, but it was quite fun, and it turned into a mud fight. I wish we had saved it for the last day, when we were already dirty!
That night we roasted marshmallows and just sat around.
Sleeping in a trailer was so nice! Everyone kept saying they didn't sleep, but I slept well every night.

 The mud pit

 Trying to rinse off all the mud

 Here is a good picture that shows how deep the mud was

 Throwing the frisbee around in the mud (or trying to)

 One thing that was weird about Sagehen was that down by the creek, there were literally thousands of puny little frogs about the size of your pinky nail. Here is Mrs. K with a little bit larger one.

Kuna Caves

On the 4th of July, my family and I took a trip out to the Kuna caves, just because. Dad has always wanted to go; honestly, I could have cared less.
But they were actually pretty cool. Driving out to the middle of someone's field only to find a huge black hole in the ground was more fun than I thought. The hole was really big, and you can't help but wonder who tested the ladder that goes down to the bottom!
It was pretty creepy descending that ladder; when you look down from the top, it sort of bends so that you go just a little more than straight down.
At the bottom, this huge cave had a really high ceiling, and went far back into blackness. Sadly, the walls were covered with graffiti, broken beer bottles littered the ground, and a fire pit long burned out sat right in the middle.
We ventured into the back of the cave, using Dad's phone as a flashlight, until we couldn't because the ceiling was so low.
Even though it was 100 degrees, it was really cool in the cave, and strangely a breeze seemed to come from nowhere.

June in Seattle

I know our trip to Seattle was a long time ago, but I really wanted to get some of the good pictures labeled.

 Camille and I in our new hats from Celeste that she brought back from South America

 This is the best picture ever!

 Because Grandma and Grandpa were moving, we had to take down all the pictures from their 6,000 square foot house and wrap all the big ones. We wrapped 70 pictures all together, with 100 in all!

Here are all the wrapped pictures in the front entryway

A silly picture by the gum wall

Down on the waterfront

 Some good pictures of the Tickle Monster, Mary and Frubert and I. Of course, Camille is the one squished in the upper picture

 A really awesome picture of my friends and I; and just to end on a weird note, here is a picture of my Grandma's empty fridge, which my parents thought was hilarious!

Bunco Party!

My birthday party (which was quite a while ago) was so awesome! Bunco is a super fun thing to do for a birthday. I would totally do it again! Everyone had a good time. We made root beer floats and Daddy made hamburgers.
Mom bought black plates and white stickers, and I spent quite a lot of time sticking the stickers on the plates so that they looked like dice. It took a lot of time, but they were really cute. 
It was rather hot, so the Kalouseks lent us their shade structure. Sadly, as we were putting it together, we realized that in several places it had broken. As we assembled it, it started to break in more than 3 places. It held for the party, but was thrown away afterwords.
A good thing to keep in mind for outdoor parties: cover the food! After everyone was done eating, the flies were swarming and everything left over had to be thrown out.

Willow Creek

So, remember several years ago when we took that camping trip to a place called Willow Creek with the Kalouseks? My arm was broken, and we all had at least a hundred mosquito bites at the end of the trip.
Yes, it was very memorable; I was a bit nervous when Mom and Dad decided to go up for a day to fish. Pack the bug spray!
As soon as we got there, however, there weren't any blood-sucking mosquito's waiting with dinner napkins tied around their tiny, tiny necks. In fact, there weren't really any bugs at all. It was very shady, and a really nice breeze picked up.
I really enjoyed the trip; however, I decided I don't have the patience or the desire to fish. Besides, Dad, who had his line in the entire time, didn't even get a bite. He did see a Pacific Lampray, though, and apparently those are pretty rare.
The best part of the trip was when Camille dragged me into the river, despite it's freezing coldness, and we floated down to our fishing  spot. Then climbed out and did it again. The water was so deep in parts that it went down a good several feet below my toes!
The only glitch in the trip was that Mom had only packed one towel for Benji, in case he got wet. Thankfully, it was long enough that we could spread it out across the seats on the way back.
We also saw a vulture and a couple ospreys on our way there!