Friday May 13-Sat May 14

We have had our first camping trip planned for a while now.

The kids were excited to get out in the new trailer.

We seem to always make our first trip to Bruneau Sand Dunes.

A pretty fun tradition, I think.

I had a photo session in the morning, then we went and got the kids from school and headed out by 3:00.

It was about an hour and a half drive, not too bad.

We got there and decided to make dinner before we headed to the sand dunes.

But we ran in to a few problems.

Apparently SOME things didn't make it into the new trailer when we took them out of the old trailer.

We had NO hose to hook up for water.

We borrowed a neighbors hose to fill up our tank.

Then we found that we had NO untisels or plates, or cups.

No big deal....we made do.

We had plenty of pans and lids.

And by the way, they work great.

Brent went to see if the rangers and any plastic ware for us to buy from them.....and they were so sweet and had 2 forks and 2 spoons for us to borrow.

And they worked out just great.

The kids thought it was pretty fun.

And it sure was a yummy dinner.

After cleanup...we headed to the sand dunes.

It was a little windy at first.

Wind and sand don't mix well....but luckily the wind calmed down for us.

This mountain of sand is so cool!

It is the finest and softest sand.

Here is some info about the Dunes:
Reportedly the tallest single-structured sand dune in North America rises to 470 feet (140 m) high above small lakes. The dunes at Bruneau Dunes State Park are unique in the Western Hemisphere. Other dunes in the Americas form at the edge of a natural basin. The Bruneau dunes form near the center. The basin has acted as a natural trap for over 12,000 years. The dunes may have started with sands from the Bonneville Flood about 15,000 years ago. The prevailing winds blow from the southeast 28 percent of the time and from the northwest 32 percent of the time, keeping the dunes fairly stable. Unlike most dunes, these do not drift far.

Madi made several trips up the side of the dunes.

Like 7 or 8.

I went up about 4 times....man that is a major work out!!!

Elsie had the time of her life crawling up as far as she could and then sliding back down.

We had a lot of fun running down once we reached the top.

We also dug as far as we could into the sand.

And the buried each other.

Cassi and Porter had fun rolling down the hill.

Not from the top.....but still pretty far up there.

Daddy gave some great rides to the kids.

He carried them up a bit, then sat them down and pushed them down the hill...

Elsie LOVED this!

Look at those happy faces!

Isn't that great!!!

We had sand EVERYWHERE!!!!!

And I do mean EVERYWHERE!!!!

Porter spent most of his time picking up 'cool' rocks and sticking them in his pocket.

When his pocket got full, he would take the rocks out and ask me to hold them, and then he would refill the pocket.

He was loving it, and very well entertained!!!

So much sand!!!

And we brought a lot back with us!!!

****

Luckily the sand dunes had some showers so we could get MOST of the sand off.

I gave Elsie a bath in the trailer and that worked out nice.

Oh, and when we got back, we had some awesome neighbors who had left an extra hose on our step.

There was a big group of campers hanging out, and the one we borrowed his hose from must have told one of his friends, and they ran theirs over to us.

So nice!

Brent went over to say Thank you, and they sent him home with utensils, paper plates and napkins.

Man I just love nice people!!!

Then it was time for our campfire.

And roasting marshmallows...

But guess what we forgot???
Yep....we forgot our roasters!

LUCKILY we had some wire hangers, wood chips, and duct tape....and an ingenious dad.

And it worked out perfectly!!!

And they were yummy s'mores!!!

Porter probably ate about 10 marshmellows.

But he was a good boy.

We had a fun time hanging out with each other, watching the fire.

Sweet little Elsie was having such a great time.

And we brought Cassi's guitar, of course.

And she played for us.

I have to say....that sure was great.

I look forward to many years of Cass playing the guitar by the campfire.

******************

Saturday we decided to make the drive to Shoshone Falls.

It rained all night, and the morning was pretty yucky.

So the kids stayed in and watched a movie on the Car DVD player.

Elsie spent some time coloring on the page that we wrote down ALL the things we need to remember to put in the trailer before next time we take it out.

Man....look at that hair.

Isn't that just great!

We were all excited to head out...too bad the kids didn't know it was going to be another 1 1/2 drive.

But the drive was so worth it!

The water is flowing really high right now, and that is why we wanted to go see it.

Isn't that just amazing!

Beautiful double rainbow.

Our happy little family.

 Just beautiful!!!

The kids had a fun time.

We stopped at the gift shop and the kids smashed some pennies to make an imprint of Shoshone falls....we are pretty sure it doesn't actually smash your penny that you put in....but it is still cool anyway.

Then we drove back to Bruneau, picked up the trailer and headed for home.

We were gone for a whopping 24 hours....but when we got home, Brent and I felt like we had been gone for a whole week!!!!

It was exhaustingly FUN!!!