Tanners Flat

We haven't really camped in the fall in a long time. My dad asked me a few months ago if I'd want to go to Tanners Flat the weekend after Labor Day. It sounded like a great idea at the time so he reserved a couple of sites. I got a little nervous as it got closer because I was afraid it was going to be cold for the kids and also the forecast had a bit of rain in it. But we didn't wimp out and it was SO FUN! We got there Thursday after Harvey finished with school. My parents had gone up the night before so were already there and set up and ready for our party. They helped me get all situated with the tent etc and watching kids.

Harv got his shorts a little wet by the river and ended up taking his shirt off too for some reason, but wasn't being very cooperative letting us take a picture of him up on the rock. Goof.

The weather Thursday was incredible. We ate some lunch after we got there and then wandered around. We walked down by the river over by my parents site as well and played until Laura and Dallin got there.

The whole day was so magical. We got the Dallin and Laura unloaded and set up and the kids just PLAYED. It was an awesome time to be camping. The sites we had were so awesome and the loop we were in was dead. There was maybe one person that was around for one night but for the most part there wasn't anyone there. The kids rode their bikes around and around the loop and explored all the sites and found "secret forts" and "headquarters" and it was so great for them to just explore and have fun and it was so great for me to have that happen too :)

My parents were on dinner for Thursday night. She had some cute little helpers! And the pork chops my dad did were SOOOO good!

The little morsel of color you see in the middle of the picture above is Logan, Greta and Harvey over at their headquarters.

It did NOT get as cold as I expected it was going to. Kids stayed up way too late, as usual. We made popcorn over the stove and had a fire and ate s'mores and it was heaven.

Laura got out the glowsticks and Lottie got ahold of a headlamp and started dancing around chasing after the light on the ground and it was pretty funny.

We got bundled up for bed but really didn't end up needing quite so much. I was so happy we didn't freeze. Kids actually slept pretty good - if I remember right.

Waking up happy :)

We had a bit of rain on Friday. It was forecasted to rain but I hoped that it wouldn't. Raining and camping with kids is kind of hard for me. It sprinkled a bit in the morning and Tanner was going to come down but didn't think it would be that fun to come sit in the rain. It actually started raining pretty hard and long there for a bit. It was a little discouraging not being able to do much and thoughts of wet soppy tent stuff and muddy kids gave me anxiety. Ha.  I kept praying that it would stop soon and we could continue to enjoy the mountains. Ha ha again. I'm so dumb. Not to pray but to feel so wounded about it raining. I guess I really wasn't but I really wanted it to stop raining. It did actually start to clear up in the later afternoon. And I just realized how good God is. And how life is just kind of hard sometimes. Like we get rained on with problems and hard things. And we pray to have it be sunny because it's so much more enjoyable and it gets frustrating when it's not stopping. But then it does. And it's beautiful. And the rain was probably more needed for forest fires anyway - and good came from the rain and from the hard things. And it just re-reminded me that I need to be patient. That God loves me and is aware of me and He  knows that the rain is eventually going to stop and the rest of the day is going to be amazing. Maybe all that sounds kind of cheesy right now but it seemed and felt like a significant awakening for me at the time and a good reminder to trust Him and the timetable and keeping the perspective of eternity and not focus on the few hours of rain.

But anyway - the kids had NO problems with the rain. They still just had a blast.

It did eventually clear up and was a beautiful day. And Tanner decided to come down and hang out for the night. It was so fun! We played some games, roasted hot dogs, sat around the fire and had another pretty decent night in the tent.

The next morning we got up and were going to eat breakfast but then the propane tank ran out. So my dad ran down to a store to get some more. We hung out while we waited. Tanner ended up taking Harvey to his soccer game and I stayed to more leisurely take down camp. (I then went to my parents and then down to Mapleton to a reception with them).



This was such a fun trip. I just love camping so much. I think the fall thing with limited crowds and the same sites we stayed in, needs to happen every year. It was perfect.