We have spent our past family camp-outs in the Palomar Mountains near Doane Pond. This year, however, because of an outbreak of bubonic plague among the squirrels in the campground, we decided to try a different spot. We found a place in the Los Angeles Mountains with a small campground right beside a lake. There were only 8 camping spots in the campground, and though we only took up 3 of them, we really had the entire campground to ourselves. No other campers arrived until Wednesday evening, which was our last night. We were very thankful! :-)
We arrived on Monday afternoon, and spent the rest of the day settling in.
Tom and Michael working on putting up the Johnson's tent.
The Johnson family outside their tent, all ready for another adventure! :-)
Bethany and Rebecca roasting hot dogs around the fire that evening.
Daniel and Julie...
...and Ruthie and Bethany. They loved camping! :-)
Chatting the next morning after Jonathan and Ally arrived...
Mrs. Townsend and Mama talking...
The lovely lake!
The Johnson children heading for the lake to go swimming.
Daniel loved every minute of it!
Michael on his "floatie".
A lot of us went hiking that morning. The mountains were so beautiful.
Resting at the end of the hike.
Mr. Townsend took a group picture of us before we headed back down the mountain.
Back row: Paul, Kyle, Andrew, and Philip
Front row: Maddy, Ella, Rebecca, Samantha, and me
Meanwhile, Jonathan and Timmy went fishing in their float tubes.
"Hmm... will this rope really hold me?"
There was a rope swing over the lake, and the guys took advantage of it. :-)
Kyle taking a running start...
Flying through the air...
I love how big Timmy's eyes are in this picture. :-) It was very high above the water.
Letting go...
....and...
...SPLASH!
The guys had a great time on the rope swing, and Maddy took a few turns as well. The rest of us had fun watching. :-)
Ella and Ally playing with the Johnson boys.
Mr. Townsend getting the fire ready for the evening.
This charming little camper had a wonderful time, and was actually very good throughout the whole trip. Maybe the fact that his parents took him camping at the age of 6 weeks had something to do with that. ;-)
Bethany getting some good uncle time. Most likely, Jonathan was teasing her. :-)
Bethany and Jonathan...
Singing around the campfire.
Timmy holding a flashlight for Sami to see while she sketched his face. It actually looked like him, too!
Sitting around the campfire in the evening. We really enjoyed this time to talk and laugh and just be together.
Early the next morning, quite a few from our group went fishing...
Katie and Julie taking a walk across the meadow.
Ruthie with her fish. She was probably thinking what a "koba-shee koba-sha" fish it was. ;-) (That is the little girls' new word for something that they think is cute, and which they love. Don't ask us where in the world they came up with that name!) ;-)
Fishing in the early morning light.
Julie with the fish that Uncle Andrew helped her to catch.
Michael with his fish.
We enjoyed reading through I and II Thessalonians and I Timothy while on the camp-out. Here we are after breakfast one morning, reading together. We would go around in a circle and everyone would read a verse. Afterwards, people shared what they had been blessed by.
The guys made boats out of pieces of bark and paper plates, and then they took them down to the lake for a boat race. Michael absolutely loved it! He took his boat home with him. :-)
Jonathan and Ally looked so cute in their matching straw hats. :-)
There were several "skipping stones" contests, in which it became apparent that the some of the guys were pretty good "skippers". All I could ever get from my throws was a dull thud. :-) Daniel really enjoyed this, as it gave him free vent to his natural boyish tendencies to throw some stones around. :-)
Then it was time for some more fishing...
...and swimming! Whenever Daniel fell, his little life jacket would buoy him up, and he would float on top of the water. One time he even tried doggy paddling--so cute!! :-) He took after his mother in his love for the water.
Bethany enjoying the lake.
We ate lunch by the lake that afternoon.
Sami with her huge fish. ;-)
Rebecca taking pictures... :-)
Ella and Julie with the fish they caught.
Andrew with his trout... Almost all of the fish that we caught were very small. We released most of the small ones back into the water, but saved the tiny ones with the hooks caught in their throats. We fed those to the dogs when we got home (after cutting out the hooks, of course). ;-) They very much enjoyed their treat.
Mama playing "Go Fish" with her granddaughters that afternoon.
Philip and Paul... :-)
Bethany using her toes to support her hot dog stick. ;-)
Little Miss Ruthie...
This picture requires an explanation. It is the paw-print of our midnight visitor on Wednesday evening. The Johnsons and Jonathan and Ally had left that night, and all the rest of us had stayed up very late. Mrs. Townsend and Mama were the last ones to go to bed, and Mrs. Townsend was the first to hear our visitor. She woke up Mr. Townsend, who actually glimpsed the identity of our visitor, (which was, of course, a bear) and the two of them came and got up Mama, Kyle, and Andrew. The five of them (mainly Mama) ;-) made enough banging racket to wake up the entire county, and our poor visitor fled, though he did return later. I do not know how in the world all five of us girls slept through all the noise, but we did, much to our disappointment. ;-) Later, when we heard about the midnight adventure, in which Mama played the drums with two serving spoons and a couple of casserole dishes, we couldn't stop laughing. The whole episode was very funny! :-D
We took pictures on Wednesday evening before the Johnsons left.
Our whole family. :-)
The whole Townsend/Stevens family. :-)
And our whole group. We had a wonderful, refreshing time. The Lord was very good to give us this time to get away and enjoy each other's company and His beautiful creation. It was a blessed time! :-)
(Thank you very much, Maddy and Katie, for all the wonderful pictures!) :-)
"Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!"
~Psalm 46:10~
"Oh, that men would give thanks to the LORD for His goodness,
And for His wonderful works to the children of men!
For He satisfies the longing soul,
And fills the hungry soul with goodness."
~Psalm 107:8-9~
