For Labor Day weekend this year, we stuck with our new family tradition and went on a camping trip. For those of you who didn't know, last year's Labor Day weekend was a torrential downpour and Jeremy was just 3 months old... But we toughed it out and had a good time with Mom and Dad Olsen. This year, the weather was MUCH better! In fact, the weather couldn't have been better! We left after church on Sunday and were planning on going to Mirror Lake. That however turned out all but impossible because Mirror Lake was PACKED! As were most of the campgrounds on the way up and even past Mirror Lake. We were a little discouraged for a while, but we noticed a little dirt road off the main highway and decided to take a look and lo and behold... a perfect campsite! It was covered up by trees from the highway and there was nobody there so we had it all to ourselves! There was even a neat fire pit set up for us already. So we decided to set up camp there for the night.
Jeremy takes the wheel! "Are we ready to go yet, Dad?"
And all that excitement and anticipation finally takes its toll on
the little guy... Don't worry, he wakes up later recharged for fun!
Amber roasting dinner over a no-match fire.
Now that's a woman! Love you, baby!
Dad and Jeremy putting the finishing touches on the tent.
Jeremy went to sleep right on schedule that night. Amber and I made smores by the fire and a great game of Monopoly which she dominated me in. It was fun. We put Jeremy in my sleeping bag for the night and it was really good to be able to have him snuggle up to me again. He seems to have really grown out of that lately... already growing up too fast. We had a great night's sleep and even slept in until 9 a.m. the next morning! Thanks to the JetBoil we had hard boiled eggs for breakfast with dried fruit. Delish! We decided to go for a morning hike and climbed the ridge behind camp and found a cool little meadow that was completely hidden from the highway. We followed it back through the trees and found two more meadows as well. In the last, we saw a doe and three fawns and even a moose! The moose moved off quickly through the trees, but the deer stopped and watched us for a while. As we started to head back, we stumbled across an old ATV trail and as we followed it, we saw another clearing through the trees. When we decided to investigate, we found an isolated lake waiting just for us! We later found a sign reading "Tadpole Lake" and it was really cool. We had it all to ourselves and we stayed there enjoying the rest of the morning. Jeremy had a particularly good time climbing rocks and playing. Our deer friends even followed us to the lake and grazed in the nearby clearing while we played. And just when it couldn't get any better, we found huge patches of perfect huckleberries on the way back to our camp! We were eating them by the handfuls and even Jeremy couldn't get enough of them. What a great day. We ate lunch and packed up camp. We had planned on stopping at Mirror Lake on the way for another hike, but it was so full that we couldn't even find a place to park. So we "settled" for delicious ice cream in Kamas instead. I don't think any of us wanted to come home. We all had a great time. Can't wait for the next camping trip!
Morning 2! What a great campsite!
Dad and Jeremy camping it up.
Mom and Jeremy, post-lunch.
We discover a meadow! What else will we find...?
We found a deer!
Dad and Jeremy walk on Tadpole Lake's magic waters.
My camping princess. Words can't even begin to describe...
Group shot at Tadpole Lake.
One of those moments where it's amazing to be a dad.
Jeremy playing with rocks on the shore of Tadpole Lake.
They don't come any cuter than this little guy!
And of course, theBRIGADE representin'! The End.
Wow! WOOOOOW! Two years have come and gone and my little brother is home from California! I still almost can't believe it even though it's already been a whole week! Just so crazy. So last Tuesday, Tim came home. He had a very convenient lay-over in Salt Lake City before heading up north to Montana to see Mom and Dad. Amber, Jeremy, Jeff, and I went do to the airport to see him and keep him company for a few hours. Despite some car trouble (see "I Hate Cars Right Now" post), we made it just in time. In fact, we only waited about the grand total of 5 minutes for him to come down the escalator. Not bad at all. Gotta admit, he looked pretty darn good and it was great to see him again. Even though I think we all were a little worried that he'd hate us because he's such an amazing guy and so much the better now even than he was before, everything seemed just about normal. It was really really great to see him and hug him and have my little brother back home. As you can see from the picture above, he hasn't changed a bit in two years! Hahaha. And this was the first time that he saw and met Jeremy in person. Jeremy was a little scared at first and had that look like: "Dad, who is this guy holding me?!" but after a few minutes they were best of friends! (Probably due to the fact that Tim was holding the Goldfish as much as anything else. Jk.) So it was great. Here's some pics:
So Tim actually met up with the missionaries going to take
