Camping and Egin Lakes

Weekend 1: Camping with Family

The first weekend up in Idaho, my sister and brother-in-law invited us to go camping with them. They also invited my younger brothers, sister, and my cousin who was up helping with the apartments. Grig and I had brought our tent, so we were prepared to go. We went to an area near Warm River. The first night, we got there a bit late because we had been working, so by the time we got set up, it was nearly dark.

The boys cut up some firewood, and that was pretty exciting.

We enjoyed cooking hotdogs and s'mores and sitting around the campfire talking. Kevin really enjoyed the camping chairs.

 We went to bed pretty early. It took Kevin a while to fall asleep, but we all got plenty of rest eventually.

The next day, I woke up super early because I was cold and people in the campsites around us were talking really loudly. I thought it was my siblings, and so I decided to get up and help make a fire. However, when I got up everyone else was still asleep. I snuck into my sister's tent to steal a match and then I built a fire.

Most of the group that was there.

We had a fantastic breakfast, and then the kids got their swimming suits on so that they could swim in "Warm River." A very deceptive name, I might add. The river was freezing!

A butterfly that we saw on a canopy.

 Despite the fact that it was freezing, we decided to wade in it. After a few minutes, you couldn't feel your legs anymore and it became tolerable. I had a good time, and the kids were laying down in the water. My little brother offered them 25 cents if they would do it. They're tough little kids! We had to leave our site by 11:00 a.m., so we packed up quickly.

This is a woolly caterpillar we found. My niece LOVED it. She had a really hard time putting it down. 

 Once we finished packing up, we drove up the road a bit and went huckleberry picking. Huckleberries are delicious, and Kevin fell asleep on the way. For the first little while, I held him while he slept and everyone else picked berries. He woke up after a little while and we joined in.

 At first, Kevin wanted nothing to do with the berries. We tried to give him one, but he spit it out. However, once he got a taste, he became addicted. He started picking his own and popping them in his mouth. We took turns picking the berries with him and taking pictures of everyone. It was a fun trip, and I'm excited to eat our now-frozen huckleberries.

 We'll probably make huckleberry pancakes. Those are the best.

Weekend Two: Egin Lakes

Grig and I had been meaning to go to Egin Lakes all summer, so we invited a family-friend and her family to come with us. She and I have been friends online for a while, but it was nice to spend time with her and get to know her better. Kevin and her son instantly became friends.

 After a while, we began building sand castles. This is the one Grig and I built. The hole in the middle goes quite deep. We didn't quite get to the end of it before we had to leave, but we rather liked the end result.

 We didn't catch any salamanders or tadpoles, but we still had a really good time. I love that place.  The weekends really helped the work week go quickly and gave me something to look forward to.

I love these guys!