Camping

On Friday, we packed up our camping gear and headed to the mountains. We usually spend our days hiking and exploring, gathering firewood, and generally having a good time outside. The mosquitos and deer flies were so bad that we had to go sit in the tent to get away from them. It was insane. Honostly, I can't even begin to explain the number of bites we came home with. I've never had to think about it before, but I guess packing a deck of cards might be a good idea, because being stuck in the tent staring at each other was not the highlight of the trip. After using an entire can of repellent, we did manage to escape the tent and have some fun. Izzy found a hill nearby that she used as a slippery slide, which officially made her the dirtiest camper. We made tinfoil dinners with hamburger and fresh potatoes, carrots, and sweet onions from my mom and dad's garden. Pretty much the best meal ever. Even Dylan, the world's pickiest eater, ate everything on his plate.
As we were falling asleep, we listened to thunder, which is one of my favorite things. I love how it echos in the mountains.
The morning brought more mosquitos and deer flies, so we ended up packing up our stuff and heading out to find a spot to kayak. It was perfect timing, because while we were out on the lake, a storm started to roll in. It was so beautiful--this photo doesn't really do it justice. I think it was the way the air changed around us more than the way the sky looked. Kind of eerie and cool. It looks like I changed this photo to black and white, but I didn't. The color of everything just changed right in front of us. Here's a short video of Izzy taking me for a ride. I was impressed at her ability to get the kayak straightened out and move forward at a good pace. She loves it as much as I do, which is written all over her face at the end of the video. All in all, a good weekend. Itchy, but good.