Camping at Mt. Rainer

(Click on the collage to make it bigger)

The weekend of August 15-17th, we had the opportunity to go camping at Mt. Rainer with my sister Amber and her family. I started camping at Mt. Rainer's Ohanapecosh Campground when I was only a baby. Although I haven't camped there every year of my life, I have most of them. So Ohanapecosh holds a very special place in my heart, and I do believe it might be the most beautiful place in the world. Sam has come with me to Mt. Rainer two other times, but this is the first time Levi has been there. I love that I can share this tradition that is so special to me with a family of my own.

So, I just got Picasa 3 and I already love it. The new collage feature is so much easier to use! You might have noticed little numbers on each picture... well, here's what I have to say about each one.

1. When we first got to Ohanapecosh, after we set up camp we went for a walk. The campground is filled with streams, so Sam took Levi down to one and was teaching him to skip rocks. Levi's didn't skip, but they did make a splash! Levi thought it was the greatest thing ever, and I loved watching Sam being a fun daddy.
2. If you look closely, you can see Levi is holding a rock. I didn't get any great ones of him actually throwing the rock. The next day, we went down to the river and Levi was content to throw rocks in the river for hours. Such simple amusements.... :)
3. This picture is really for my family (and you'll probably have to click on it to enlarge it). Last year there was severe flooding at Mt. Rainer. Our favorite loop, C, was especially hit hard. Sam got this picture of site C25. While it may just look like a stream running through it, actually just past the sign is a shear cliff maybe 100 feet high (I don't know, I'm not good at estimating... but it was high!) down to the Ohanapecosh River below. Not a campsite I'd like to stay in. :)
4. It is hard to see what is happening in this picture, but I had to put it in so I'd remember to tell the story. While we were on our walk the first day there, we came across a centipede. As any good parents would, we pointed it out to Levi who immediately wanted to touch it. So Sam is holding Levi back from touching it and talking to him about the centipede, about how we don't want to hurt it and should just leave it alone. About two seconds after this picture is taken (keep in mind what Sam is telling Levi), Levi stomped on the poor bug! So much for leaving it alone! Where'd that come from?
5. We had 3 or 4 of the most beautiful blue jays flying around our campsite. Sam captured this great picture of one right by our firepit.
6. Sam and Levi on the bridge spanning the Ohanapecosh River. Aren't my boys cute?
7. Here is Levi, feeling very chipper, one morning. He was so excited to wake up in a tent and to know that he'd be able to play outside ALL day! I just love this picture.
8. A family photo. So, I told Sam that he had to take a least one picture with me in it, because I'm always the one taking the pictures and never in the pictures. My children are going to look back at their childhood photos and wonder why their mom wasn't ever around! So, we were all packed up, ready to go, and actually in the car leaving to go home when I made the comment about how I still wasn't in any of the pictures. So we hopped out and got a family picture taken. At least Levi will now know I was there on his first trip to Mt. Rainer! :D

Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of Amber and her family, although they were there as well. In fact, I didn't get hardly any pictures at all. Our battery was pretty much dead, and we could only get one picture out of it before it would shut off and take forever to power back on. Amber was going to send me some pictures for this post, but they are having some technical difficulties with their camera. But the Puzeys were there, and we had a blast camping with them! Thanks for inviting us to go along!