Camping 2011

There's just so much that I didn't get to write about that happened toward the end of our summer here. One of the main things we got to do was take a really fun camping trip with Steve's side of the family. We had the perfect campsites. They were free of poison oak, had a huge amount of open space for the boys to run around in, were located right across from the bathrooms and just a short walk to Grandma and Grandpa's campsite.

We were right next to all of the cousins too so the boys all played from sun up to sun down. I think it was the best they've all played together and I really felt that in another year, it'd be even more relaxing for all of us adults. Bring it.

We took a couple of short hikes with all the kids, went to the General Store for ice cream, ate s'mores and got very dirty. By the way, I don't know why I bring multiple sets of clothes camping. I pretty much just end up wearing the same clothes nearly the entire time. Come on...does anyone else feel me? Anyhow...maybe that was too much information. One afternoon all of us girls got out on a really beautiful hike through the redwoods. It's rare that we can do that without children running around so it was a lot of fun and nice to enjoy the relative quiet.

The next afternoon Steve and I got to take a hike up to Pine Mountain which in itself was very fun and memorable for us. Right before we started dating over 11 years ago now, we hiked that very trail in the middle of the night, with the Camp Hammer 2000 staff (we camped very close to Camp Hammer).

When we hiked it eleven years ago, we made it to the top just in time for the sunrise. I remember Steve coming alongside of me, checking in to see if I was "okay". Ha ha. I was just fine thank you very much. A few days later, we finally had our first DTR (Define The Relationship) talk and the rest is history. We'd liked each other for months while attending Cal Poly but didn't officially start dating until that summer.

So not only was it really fun for us to get off by ourselves for two hours or so that afternoon, but it was special for us to remember that hike. We literally hadn't been up there since. God's done so much over these last eleven years. It was so humbling to realize. It made us remember with thankfulness.

I also got to catch up with a running buddy who lives/works up at Camp Hammer. She was such an encouragement to me every single summer I worked up at camp (three total) and God used her tremendously in those formative years. It was fun to reconnect with her. It was truly a blessing.

All in all, it was incredible time playing games, talking around the campfire and being together. And it ended with a much anticipated trip to Foster's Freeze just down the mountain (another one of our "date" spots many years ago) to get the boys their first dipped cones. So fun. We look forward to next year very much!!