Labor Day Camping

We decided very last minute to go camping over Labor Day weekend. My sister invited us to go, and we figured it would probably be the last camping trip for the summer. Jennifer and her family, along with another family all arrived on Friday. We couldn't head out until after the farmer's market on Saturday. But we finally showed up to the woods outside of Camp Verde Saturday evening. It was a nice spot, away from all the other 752 campers that were camping that weekend too. Good thing the forest is big! :) Our kids were thrilled to have cousins to play with for 3 days, along with some 4-wheeling, a tree swing, baseball, exploring, gun shooting, and an awesome hike!

On Sunday we all headed to the trailhead of West Clear Creek. The trail down to the creek was only about half of a mile, but it was intense! It was super steep, like at least a 60 degree angle. It was like going down steps but only on rock and tree limb steps. It was a very beautiful hike, and all the kids really did awesome! We helped Kosette and Jace, but even they were troopers.

Once we got down to the water, we walked along the creek a little more. There were so great spots to stick your feet in and just wade, but there were also some awesome spots to jump off the rocks and really swim. The water was very cold, so only the truly brave (and stupid) got in. :) The kids who swam and jumped off rocks had a great time. After they stopped screaming like 5 year old girls from being so cold. :)

The hike back up was a real doozy. But everybody made it! Kody (Mr. Superman) carried Kosette on his shoulders and Jace in his arms for a little while, while I carried the backpack. But after a while, he just couldn't do it anymore. So he kept Jace, and between Kamille and I we helped Kosette get up the trail. It was so very beautiful!

We saw lots of cows near our tent site. They seemed a little out of place, but it was cool to see "wild" cows. :)

We're so glad we squeezed one more family camping trip in. We had a great time with cousins, made new friends, had yummy food, and really enjoyed our time outdoors.