I just wanted to share a few images from our family camping trip in Colorado. I loved getting back up into the mountains (and away from the heat) and spending time exploring and fishing with the kids.
Our faithful steed "Mona" (our Toyota 4-runner with 306,000 miles on the odometer) loaded with camping and photography gear
Our "Cozy" 3-man backpacking tent
(That's "blue potty" in the vestibule of the tent. When McKenzie had to go in the middle of the night, we just plopped her onto blue potty instead of having to get dressed and find a bathroom.)
The first night with four of us in the tent was a little rough, but by the 2nd night the kids were so exhausted that they slept through the night. Evan, McKenzie and Rebecca weathered a couple of very severe thunderstorms in the tent while I was down in town trying to get a tire replaced on the 4-runner. We're talking multiple lightning strikes slamming down into the nearby terrain one right after another, and torrential rain pummeling the tent. The kids (and the tent) did just fine.
Diner under Shelter
The storm cooled things down quite a bit, and it was still a bit rainy, so we moved down under a sheltered picnic pavilion for dinner. Evan said the chicken noodle soup we had was "the best chicken noodle soup he had ever tasted in his entire life." (It was from a can, but I'll have to agree with Evan that everything tastes better when you're camping.)
Evan the fisherman
We had fishing poles (McKenzie had a pink pole she had just received for her birthday), but Evan was most proud of the small perch he caught using a setup he had rigged from a spool of spare fishing line and an extra hook and bobber.
It was a wonderful camping trip (thank you Rebecca, Evan and McKenzie) and I'm looking forward to more.