Family Campout

At the beginning of August we had our annual Maher campout at Heber Valley. The weather threatened storms but it turned out to be perfect up there. The campers before us forgot their hammock and the kids loved it!

We had three cabins (each sleeps 16) for our 14-15 member family! The kids took one, the women took one, and the men (loud snorers- yes, that's you Randy) took another.

Ashley in La Mode de Camp

We all brought our own dinners that night so it was an assortment of cuisines including: Cafe Rio, KFC, hoagies, and tin foil dinners.

The scenery is just gorgeous and it's so peaceful up there. I really wish we could stay longer than one night! Unfortunately, it's a Girls Camp for the church the rest of the week, so they only allow families to reserve Friday-Saturday stays.

Olivia and Meg are best cousin friends

Relaxing by the campfire after we got spooked by a huge badger. The camp host was right there when it came into camp and had just said, "Now we have some critters around..." and on cue the badger strolled right into our camp. She immediately grabbed her walkie-talkie and her husband came barreling in on the 4 wheeler a second later. By then it was gone, of course. She then warned us not to get close because it will attack. Good to know.

Later Landon got to open his birthday gifts by the fireside- he just turned 12! 

Lori chillin' by the fire- can't believe we actually needed blankets

The next morning Jill and Randy cooked us up an amazing breakfast of perfect pancakes, bacon, and eggs (to Jill's dismay- she can't even stand the smell of eggs). It was delicious! 

After that we played games and the kids ran around like crazy- good times

Here's Bella with her new glasses- she was so cute as I tried to take a photo she kept making silly faces so I had to post this one cause it cracked me up

Before lunch we went down to the lake and went canoeing with huge puffy lifejackets on. It wasn't stinking hot like last year so we really enjoyed the scenery a lot more. The kids loved the HUGE sandpit.

We went back and had some Chili, Chips & Cheese and/or taco salad. Mom brought tons of fruit so we had pineapple, melon, strawberries and grapes too.

We tried to go for a little hike after lunch but we had no maps, there aren't alot of markers, and we're not supposed to walk on the road so... we could pretty much hike to our bathrooms and back. If you're a Maher this falls perfectly in line with your concept of "hiking". As does camping with bathrooms, an ice machine, sink, fridge, and cookstoves.

Jared and Ashley

Landon carried Olivia on his shoulders, which made him seem like such a man-boy... when did he get so big? I was about to say "She is probably too big" when he popped her right up there and took off. 

We played the Oreo game- you start with the cookie on your forehead and you have to get it in your mouth without using hands. Some people are incredibly good at this! I think Whitney was the only one who succeeded. 

We packed up and left later in the afternoon since it looked like rain. Overall, we had a fun time with family, cousins, and nature. We'll be there again next year- maybe we can do the Challenge Course!