Camping, the trip to change perspective

Alright I swear this is my last post on our two week action packed trip to Utah and Idaho...but first a little background info on our limited, married life camping experience.  Tyler's last experience of "family camping" left him with less than "fond memories".  We were with friends in Bodega Bay in May of 2006

 and although it was SO fun to hang out on the beach with our friends (the Davis, Rowen, and Jeppson families) and talk till late at night (after the kids were asleep) around the fire, the camping part of the trip was hard.  We had kids that were 5, barely 3 and the twins were 11 months, meaning they weren't walking yet AND there was two of them.  Meaning we were doing lots of holding WHILE trying to put up a tent, cook and clean up dinner, etc. etc.  (Here's a photo to prove it, ya I know they look innocent enough?)

The wind was CRAZY and I spent the nights asleep with the twins in my arms in the back of our van.  Wah, wah, I know, but it wasn't really a "vacation", right?  AND to make it less appealing, we use Tyler's parents time share quite often...you know pull up and it's clean, warm, carpeted, etc.etc.  SO...all that being said, it's taken some time to talk Tyler into going camping again. 

I was determined to have a GREAT camping experience because Yosemite is on our list for summer 2011.  I love beautiful, central Idaho and my Dad has ALL the camping gear so I thought going in Idaho may be a good solution.  Now my Mom isn't too crazy about camping either (a woman who enjoys her sleep and a hot shower), but we really had a FUN time.

We camped up at beautiful Redfish Lake.  Here is our first morning, I can tell because the kids still look somewhat clean.

 Enjoying the down time.

 The Stanley river just down from our campsite.

Our first stop was at beautiful Stanley Lake where we enjoyed a little swimming (the water was FREEZING!) and a picnic lunch.

It is gorgeous there!

Next, we headed over for some fun at Redfish Lodge.

 We rented a motorboat and had a fun ride out on the lake. 

Of course the kids LOVED it!

 Then we rented a paddle boat for the kids to paddle around on.  Had we known they could do it by themselves we may have rented this one ALL day!!!

Then it was back to the camp for smores and my favorite campfire treat!  It's my friend, Danee's recipe, and oh so yummy (sorry no pic - they were inhaled too quickly!)!  You slice a cake donut in half, spread on butter and brown sugar, and put a pineapple slice in between.  Then you warm it up and melt it in the hot coals and believe me, it's soooo good.  In fact, when I first had them on that above mentioned camping trip, I came home and made them in the oven again!

 After a night without much sleep (it was 36 degrees), we were up to eat,

 clean up, (I couldn't resist this photo, yep the tent is clean - thanks guys!)

pack up, hit the local annual craft fair- Mountain Mamas, and drive home.   Camping was a success.  We had a great time and are scheduling more camping (in between the time share weekends of course) in our future!
One last shot, driving home in Sawtooth National Forest, oh so pretty...