The Last Great Adventure of the Summer

The happy campers: Andy and Rosie, Cindy and Nick, Crystal, Jason and Seth on the bridge over the creek. (I was of course taking the picture, as usual.)

Fall is here (as of today in fact) and our last great adventure of the summer was worth every bit of time and effort. We spent the weekend with friends (all grads or spouses from Northwestern College in St. Paul) at St. Croix State Park. I will let the pictures help tell the story...

First, our friend Crystal came to our house (her husband Keith graduated with Jason and I, but he is in Iraq and was unable to join us). Seth and Crystal hit it off right away and if they weren't chasing they were reading a story. She drove all the way from Omaha to spend time with our family and go camping with the gang!


Everyone packed the gear they would need for the two night stay in the wilderness, even Seth. (He got a new backpack from Grandma just for the event. It was hilarious to see him struggle to carry something so heavy but he loves to help!) The great part about group camping was that everyone took a turn at meals so there was less stress and more time for fun!


Some of the fun included a climb up the fire tower. It was quite the climb but believe it or not, Seth was the one who lead the way to the top! He was totally fearless while we were all hanging on tight to the side rails and praying for safety. The view from the top was worth it though. We could see for miles and there were plenty of trees already changing colors too. Beautiful!


We also did some hiking as a group and individuals. Seth was a bit on the tired side so they were slow hikes or we took turns carrying him. (Hopefully next year there will be more families and he will have some small friends to run with!)


We of course cannot camp without the canoe so we brought it for everyone to take turns. There was a small but long lake and everyone got a chance to paddle. Here is Jason helping Nick and Cindy back into the beach.


I think one of my favorite parts of the weekend was just getting to spend time with good friends. We spent a lot of time talking and catching up around the fire pit, telling stories about the old days, and dreaming of the days to come. Thanks to everyone for such a great weekend. Our memories will last a lifetime! I can't wait until next year to do it all over again!


Just a funny side note: There was horseback riding at the campground where we stayed. When hiking I told Seth not to step in horse poop. He asked me, "What like?" I told him, "It was big and stinky!" He responded, "Like Buddy." We had a great laugh at the expense of our fat and smelly cat!