It was our first time tent camping at LeBaron (our second time altogether; the first at Boulder Mountain a few weeks earlier), and we weren't quite prepared for the cooler-than-normal temperatures. It was cold at night (high 40's/low 50's) and chilly due to cloud cover and rainstorms that rolled in every afternoon. There were hardly any bugs this year and no dust to deal with at all, thanks to the rain, but it wasn't muddy either. Just perfect!
The girls really enjoyed camping next to their cousins, Hayden and Paisley, in a camp just inside the entrance to Woodcutters Road. To make up for not camping next to the lake we took a daily walk there, once to fish with "Uncle Kory" and another day to fish with the Hooks. Kory's son was friendly to the kids and helped them learn to cast and watch for a fish.
Of course they had a treasure hunt organized by Grandma. She had them take turns at finding the pieces of paper at each stop.
Jocelyn and Hayden spent quite a bit of time making paper bag puppets and rehearsing "shows" to perform for everyone. They called each show "Stage 1" and then "Stage 2" for a second show, all the way up to "Stage 4" for the last show. It was really cute and they were proud of their performances, even assigning 'seats' and making a welcome sign. Jocelyn crafted a bird mask and baby bird for one of the performances. She is so creative.
One afternoon they found blue glitter which ended up leading them to ..... a cookie tree! They were beyond excited about that.
They spent the rest of their time playing with Hayden's stomp rocket, picking wildflowers, throwing balls to the dogs to fetch, and talking about the deer leg they found behind a pine tree and how it must have gotten there and what must have killed it.
Jocelyn made her own slingshot out of a y-shaped stick and her rubber bands. She practiced shooting rocks with it but it was pretty tough to master!
Millie and Paisley really enjoyed playing with each other. They blew bubbles and chased each other in their own little game.
Since we were tent camping we had no toilet. They hadn't quite mastered the art of the squat so Dad built them a "forest toilet" out of an old stump that was soft in the middle. He used his axe to finish hollowing it out, made a toilet seat out of smooth round branches, and a nice stone step to get up to it. It sure made life easier!
Our tent was really too small for the 5 of us so we were on a sort of sleep rotation in the tent. The first night, Mom slept in the hammock, Dad outside on the cot, and the three girls in the tent.
The second night Mom slept in the tent with Millie and Ivy, Dad on the cot, and Jocelyn in with Grandma. And the third night, Ivy was in with Grandma, Dad on the cot, and Mom, Millie, and Jocelyn in the tent.
The girls enjoyed each having a night with Grandma, I think, individually.
Dad took them on four-wheeler rides and was a burro for Millie on walks.
I almost decided against camping at Lebaron this year, just to change routine, but I'm really glad that we kept tradition and went this year. It was enjoyable!
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