Labor Day Camping

 This is probably the first year we have ever gone camping on Labor Day weekend. Growing up we always went to my grandparent's cabin. Ever since they sold the cabin we just haven't gone anywhere. Well, about 6 months ago or so Curtis's siblings got together and decided to plan a Butterfield reunion. We decided to do a family camping trip for the weekend of Labor Day.

One of Curtis's brothers reserved a group site at Cold Springs Campground just North of Council, ID. It was a very beautiful site. The only negative thing was the outhouse we had to use. It smelled so bad during the day and there were lots of flies in one and lots of ants in the other. But we dealt with it.

We took off after school and work on Friday afternoon around 4pm and didn't arrive until 7pm when the sun was starting to set. Fortunately we bought new tents this year that are instant set up so it only took a few minutes to get the tents up and not long after we filled the tents with our gear. Just the weekend before I was able to find 3 used cots w/pads to use for camping. Two of them are nearly new and we got a great deal on them. Curtis and I used those ones and they were comfortable. Nikki used the other one and it was a lot older and wasn't comfortable for her. It was missing a few springs. We learned that we need some better quality sleeping bags to be able to sleep more comfortably. Steve (Curtis's brother) let us borrow a couple of sleeping bags since apparently we lost one on the way up and also the kids sleeping bags weren't the warmest. Our small orange sleeping bag must have fallen out of the trailer at some point because we didn't find it when we returned home either.

Most of the road up there was on the highway but we did have to get off on some side roads that were dirt. At some points it was really difficult to see but this looked so beautiful I had to take a picture. The sun was cutting through what looked like dirt in the air but I think it was actually caused by wildfire smoke.

Once we got camp set up we just spent some time talking with everyone who was there already. The site we got was really nice. We had to walk a little ways from the truck back to the camp site and even cross a little bridge but we were secluded with no one else around us and plenty of room for everyone's tents. They even had several picnic tables for us to use and built in benches by the large fire pit. 

The next morning we were up early to cook breakfast in our dutch oven, something we have rarely used. We ate a breakfast casserole that included hash browns, eggs, cheese, onions, peppers and sausage. It was really good and we thought it would make too much but our family of 7 gobbled it right up! After breakfast we just relaxed around camp. The boys saw their cousins chopping wood and I encouraged them to go do it also. I figured they never get this opportunity and they are old enough to learn how to chop wood. They ended up loving it. Jack picked up on how to do it quicker than Garrett but that's because Garrett is a little more cautious and was afraid to hit too hard. It was fun just watching them.

Alice was making friends with Athena. She's a very good natured lab. She didn't bark, growl, or jump on people and she's still very young. She belongs to my niece Rachel and her husband Carl.

Sitting by the fire Saturday morning. Those are our tents in the background.

Enjoying some hot cocoa and cider.

The fire pit area.

Just got ourselves dressed and ready for the day.

Playing on the small bridge that leads to our camp site.

Their cousin Wyatt is showing his drawings.

Getting the dogs to do tricks.

The girls are coloring with papers and markers provided by grandma.

It was fairly windy out so we had to bring her picture into the tent to get a picture. 

Curtis brought his dart board and hung it on a tree.

Chopping wood.

A bunch of us decided to drive over to Brundage near McCall and take a ride on the ski lift. You can see so much and it's so beautiful! We had to wear a mask while getting on the lift but could take them off while riding. Then put them on again just before getting off.

The look out at the top of the mountain.

When our ride was done we headed back to camp to quickly change into our swim suits and drove back into McCall to swim at the beach there at Ponderosa State Park. We only stayed for about an hour though because we wanted to get back to camp to eat dinner. Not to mention the lake was pretty cold!

Carrying her towel and swim shirt in her new swim bag. Our friend Ashlie gave one to both of the girls since she got them for only $1 on clearance.

Nikki talking with her cousin Ambrey on the beach. It was so great to see her finally talking and connecting with some Butterfield cousins this weekend. Having a job has been so good for her to get out of her shy shell.

After we got back from swimming and changed we got started on dinner and soon after dessert. We decided to try something one of Curtis's friends had done when they were younger by having store bought pizza wrapped in foil as our tin foil dinner. Well, it didn't work out so well for us. We precooked the pizza at home that we bought from Papa Murphy's (it was so hard not to eat it!) and then wrapped each slice in foil so that we could just warm it up over the fire. The pepperoni pizza was put on the fire first and for too long. All of the toppings kept sticking to the foil and we couldn't get hardly any of it off so we basically just ate sauce on breadsticks. Also, some of the crust got a little burned. The chicken garlic wasn't as bad since we learned to take them off the fire sooner. The problem was the slice I ate could have been a little warmer but at least most of the toppings stayed on the pizza. 

A little later we started working on another dutch oven cooking project, this time dessert. It was upside down apple cinnamon rolls. We didn't watch them close enough and the dough around the outside edge and bottom got burned. After we cut the burnt stuff off it was good. Every family brought their own thing to do for dessert that night and Steve brought a projector and set up a white sheet on a canopy so we could watch a movie. We ate our desserts while watching "The Sandlot". It was fun!

Sunday morning was an easier day for food. We brought muffins, fruit (grapes, apples) and drinks (orange juice, milk, cocoa, cider). We slowly started to pack our things and then paused for awhile to have a Come Follow Me lesson and discussion. 

One of Charlotte's favorite things to do at camp was to pull Alice around in a wagon.

Alice was getting pulled around while eating her breakfast. She had to be bundled up because it was pretty chilly in the morning. It was so cold you could see your breath.

Here's our family group sitting around the camp fire for our Come Follow Me lesson/discussion.

Once the sun came up it warmed up fast.

It was a good lesson and discussion even though it went on a little long but we were happy to be there and be a part of it. Immediately after, we finished packing up and headed back home. The original plan was to rush home to meet Cindy, my brother Colby's girl friend, who were going to come up from Utah. Unfortunately because her son was diagnosed with Covid they had to cancel. Stillman's family was planning on coming down from Lewiston so they could meet her also and at first they were going to cancel after Colby cancelled but their kids had other plans. They decided to come anyway. So we rushed home unloaded our truck and the trailer we borrowed from my dad. Then everyone quickly showered and got dressed all in 1 hour before we headed over to my grandma's to have a potluck dinner with some of my family, including my brother Stillman's family. I was too tired however to get pictures while there. We ate food, visited, and played some games. It was good to see them. The next day (on Labor Day) we spent most of the day cleaning up the house and getting laundry done and watched some movies while doing so. Curtis also cooked up some home made applesauce from apples given to us from his sister, Jeanie's, tree. While he did that I took Nikki and her friend Angie to do a bit of shopping. They decided to get a head start on their Halloween costumes. It was so nice to have that extra day to be home after being gone to catch up on sleep and get things cleaned up. However, I'm still trying to recover from the weekend. Sometimes it's just hard to get back into a routine after a vacation, especially when you've pigged out on a bunch of sweets. Oh well, it was worth it!