Camping Under The Night Sky

We went to Mt. Lassen this past weekend for our annual Very Little Explorers Club. The boys were so excited leading up to it that every morning for a week began with, "Is it Friday yet?!"

When Friday finally arrived, Tizzy tip toed into the kitchen and whispered, "Is this it? Is it Friday?" There was much dancing and Hip-Hip-Hooraying when I announced that yes indeed it was.

It was a five hour drive to the mountains, and we got a late start, but as we were nestling into our sleeping bags, Tizzy looked over at me and said, "Friday was good. Now Friday's dark. I think Saturday's going to be even better!"

It was.

There was balancing on logs, swimming in the lake, the discovery of a water snake, a ride into town to get extra ice and an amazing B-B-Q we happened upon in support of the local volunteer fire department. That night 12 adults and 7 children gathered around the campfire for some classic entertainment and good Ole' burnt marshmallows and chocolate. Because the kids were small, we told them a suspenseful story that ended with a roll of wrapping paper being found in a closet in a cabin in the woods, "Wrap-wrap-wrap"...know that one? We shocked them with slapstick when I sprayed a can of whipped cream all over another mom!!! And then we sang them to sleep with some beautiful whispy guitar music and sent them off to bed under the night sky.

The next day Tizzy spent the morning reprimanding me for making such a mess. "Mom! That was very very bad. You should never ever spray someone with whipped cream! It's VERY VERY messy!"

My poor fastidious child.

Sunday brought more time at the lake. In fact we spent all day there paddling the children around in yellow rafts. There were a few occasions of mutiny in which the kids peeled the fingers of their adult escorts loose from the side of the raft, and paddled madly away to reinact The Lord of the Flies. What they hadn't accounted for was that the adult escorts were fast swimmers and frequently their disorganized paddling resulted in them spinning the raft in circles.

Give them a few more years.

There were several logs in the lake. The one above for balancing, two more that floated about as rafts. Once across the lake there were huge cliffs of lava flow which were enjoyed by children and grown ups alike.

Testing the waters!

I don't want to go home!!!

Photos courtesy of Brad Wise