We Didn't Start the Fire

Since I know that my loyal readers (all 2 of you) never, ever tire of seeing endless pictures of our camping trips, I thought I would post a few more for your viewing pleasure. Earlier in the week, we loaded everyone up & went out again. We found a perfect spot along the creek, with a swimming hole. The water was the perfect temperature to cool a body off on a hot day, without freezing the bones. The boys & I pretty much stayed in that water the whole campout. The older boys spent much of their time floating down the creek (it was more like a small river) with their bodies, then pulling themselves back up the stream, against the currant, and against the big rocks, just to float back down again, all the while shouting, "WEEE!!!! OWWW!!! WEEEE!!! WOOO-HOOO!!" and, "OUCH!!! WEEEEEE!!!!" This painful entertainment went on for hours and hours. Even Seth, who claimed that he would rather have been somewhere else, hanging out with his friends, had himself a jolly good time....in the stream, playing with (gasp!) his brothers....not that he would ever admit it to anyone. They invited me to join them but I declined. I had just as much fun watching them from my nice, calm, swimming hole, with the little boys....and I sustained fewer bruises. I know, every party has one.

Floating downstream...

Under the bridge....

Trying to drown Mommy

Fun with Daddy

Dousing big brother

Slap jack break...

Potty break....

Daddy & the big boys got a little target practice in.

During our campout, we saw several helicopters, with buckets of water, on the way to some distant forest fire.. so we assumed. On the last day of our campout, however, in the afternoon, we saw lots of smoke starting to come down the hills towards us from every direction. No rangers had come by to tell campers to evacuate, but we figured we had better start packing up anyway....just to be safe. We left and, after we had driven a few miles, we saw this:

It turns out that there had been three separate fires burning in the forest, for a couple of days, and that they all came together, on that last day, to create one 250-300 acre forest fire. Some homes in the national forest were threatened, but I think the fire was contained fairly quickly with no harm done to them. When we got home, a fire fighter friend of ours noted how it was a little too coincidental that there had been a forest fire, at the same time (& general area) that we were out camping. I can see how that would look a little suspicious, but it wasn't our boys who started it! This time....