Pine Lake State Park

On the agenda for this weekend-Camping, Fishing, Dutch oven cooking and Hiking.

We moved the tent (put up) across the camp ground. It reminded me of the shows where they move a house from one spot to another. We got the canopy net set up, a fire going to smoke any bees away, the tent stakes down and then Johann and the kids headed for the lake while Rebecca and I organized the inside of the tent.

We love to cook in a dutch oven but don't get the chance all that often.
Dinner Friday night-Kielbasa, potatoes red & green peppers, carrots & onions.
Dinner Sat night-Chicken enchiladas and Mississippi Mud Cake. Both were 1st time tries and they were completely delicious!!


Rebecca stayed snugly warm during the cold nights. The 2nd night was so cold I covered her car seat (where she was sleeping) with a blanket to keep the draft out. She was such a good camper. She enjoyed looking at the trees and the clouds. She would watch whatever was going on and she hardly cried. On Thursday Rebecca woke up with her right eye goopy. All weekend both her eyes would fill with moisture and goopiness, but she never seemed bothered by it.
This is the 1st Bluegill that Simeon caught. Honestly he wasn't trying to take a bite out of it. He caught another Bluegill this afternoon then just got nibbles, but no catches.
The kids were kind and helpful with each other. They enjoyed playing with each other the whole trip.
Johann found out that Corrine is really good at casting her line. I was trying it out one time and just couldn't get it out very far. She said "Mom let me cast it for you!" Corrine got lots of bites and her worms would be considerably smaller after it was in the water, but she never got a fish on her line.
Instead of baiting the hooks with the worms, Ammon plays with the worms and refused to give any to Johann to fish with. This afternoon he found more worms in the dirt to add into his worm so it wouldn't be lonely.
Simeon was so excited to be fishing. He was good at casting his line, and was pretty patient waiting for a bite. He likes all the different baits to use, and would switch between them.
Johann and Simeon had a great bonding time fishing. Johann caught one Bluegill on his birthday!
On Saturday Corrine, Ammon, Rebecca and mom walked around the bend to find the beach. Well it wasn't around the bend or the next, and it wasn't even on the same lake we were camping on, but the next one over. After a good 20 minute walk we found what we were looking for and it was worth the walk! Corrine & Ammon played in the sand and water. Ammon got his pants so wet that he took them off. It was such a beautiful setting to play in the sand with the forest and Canadian Geese in the water behind them.
Behind our campsite was a small valley filled with trees. There was a tree that had fallen over a small stream area. The kids were playing "Bridge to Terabithia." They were taking fallen branchs and laying them under the fallen tree to make a bridge that they could walk on. They spent hours playing in the forest. They showed me around-which stopped some of their fun when I realized how far (the other forest area over the hill) they were going. They made friends with our neighbors Max and Sophia (both 4 years old) and played with them from sun up to sun down.

The morning we were packing up to come home. A lady who was camping across from us came over and told us that we did such a good job with our kids. It was such a nice compliment to receive because it had been alot of work, but totally worth it. We are already looking forward to camping next summer.