eli's art

Eli is very serious about his art.  He is often imaginig images and colors in his head that he wants to get out on paper.   Sometime she copies a picture that he's seen.

Eli was so thoughtful and gave his best piece to our new neighbor and then was overjoyed when he saw it displayed in the window.

first campout

The picture below lets my heart know we are almost there.  The trees, the air, the dirt, the fragrance the freedom, and the squeals of joy and laughter from the kids is the essence of camping for me.  This trip was just the Chenoweths and us.  The dynamic between the kiddos was great.  There was absolutely no fighting.  I don't know if we will be that lucky for the rest of the summer.

Men talking man talk.

Left to Right:  Ally(3), Ruby(2), Corinne(5), Eli(7), and Autumn (6)

If we had a theme for this campout it would be caterpillars and butterflies.  Here they are all catching, or trying to catch, a buttefly.  Later they would find hundreds of tiny caterpillers to play with in which they wanted to take home as pets.

Ruby asked for thirds and put away more pasta then the adults. 
I think she only stopped because we said the word s'mores.

Does my face have sauce on it?

My 3 s'mores kids.

Somebody's tired and I don't think it's the baby.

Another best thing about camping is when you wake up, it's play time again.

Our bathroom-- a true outhouse.

We found out our family would be hiking the Metolius River trail, so we met them for a picnic at the Wizard Falls Fish Hatchery.  It was great to get everyone together.  I just wish I would have taken a picture of Grandpa and Grandma with all the grandkids.  This is the closest I got.  For sure next time though.

Left to Right:  Brooklynn, Ruby, Corinne, Hayden
Derrick, Eli, and Ella.

Our shelter from the rain.  It didn't rain too much though
'til it was time to pack up.

At the fish hatchery again.  Below are the 2 must take photos and the rest are just ones that kept leaping onto my camera.

Another gimme is that we are going to go to the Camp Sherman store and get icecream.  The kids now have it programmed into their repitoire.  I guess a little indulgence (even if it is before lunch) for the sake of tradition is okay.  Branden let Ruby pick out her own and what did she choose?  The biggest one a Drumstick*!  She has now graduated from cone school.  She is a pro and enjoyed her treat to the last dribble.

My R & R by the creek.