Camping by the Selway

Our family jumped right into summer this year with a camping trip up in the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness Area.  We camped right on the banks of the Selway River which was running high and strong that early in the season.  And did I mention that James and Aimee were there too? Of course they were!  This is the fourth year that we have gone camping together and I think it is a tradition we need to continue for about 40 more...(side note:  we would gladly welcome any other family members that want to join us!  hint, hint, wink, wink...).  The weather was beautiful, the company was superb and the food wasn't bad either.  I even managed to pull off a two-layer chocolate cake in the Dutch Ovens for Andrew's birthday!  The only drawbacks - the flat tire we got on the way up and had to take a 4 hour detour to get it fixed, Lida throwing-up on the way to Church (it was a two hour drive) and again on the way back to camp, and TICKS!  Lida was the only one of our children to have ticks, but the poor kid had 3!! and one of them was as big around as a pencil eraser!  Yuck!  The dog also had one little tick, but you can't really expect anything better from a dog...

 Alvin and Spencer spent a great deal of time playing in the gravel pile in camp.  I'm not sure what it is about little boys and rocks, but they had a blast.  Noah occasionally joined them too.

 Did I mention the river was running high and strong?  I tried to capture it with my limited photographic skills, but I'm afraid the picture doesn't do it justice.  Aimee and I were always on the alert for little ones going down to the river unaccompanied.

 When he wasn't playing in the gravel pile, Alvin was down by the river playing in the dirt and throwing rocks into the water.  He had a glorious time getting thoroughly dirty.

 James and Tyler were good enough to play several rounds of Capture the Flag with the older kids. 

 Noah and Alvin down by the river.  We spent a lot of time here...

 The older kids were inclined to gather at the fire pit whether there was a fire or not.

 Katherine and Ellen on the bridge above the river.  They had a grand time choosing big rocks to drop off the bridge into the water - if they managed to splash some of the other kids in the process, so much the better.

 Happy Birthday, Andrew!!  I think the cake turned out rather well, all things considered. 

 It was awfully hard to get pictures of James.  He either pulled his hat over his face, or closed his eyes, or made funny faces.  With Aimee's help I was able to get a couple of descent pictures of him.

 Lida the toothless wonder.