Camping on the Island

Years ago when the island was actually surrounded by water and the lake was full enough for us to fish and splash in, sometimes on cool nights Stan would load up the big tent & cooler into the boat or onto the floating dock and wade across while dragging or paddle or pole to the island to camp out with the kids.

There are no photos of this because the family photographer stayed at home to sleep in her own bed. :-)

Since the water went down & life got busier, camping on the "island" had virtually ceased.

A few weeks ago some new friends came over & we walked out to the island. She looked around & gushed about what a great spot for camping it was SO after working out some scheduling details they came over for a 2 family campout.

Stan got the firepit ready & cooked some stew for supper. That & Traci's cowboy salsa hit the spot.

My camera was still having low battery troubles so here are my few photos.

Our friends have been blessed with six kids, the oldest being a daughter about Rachel's age & the youngest a two-year-old son. Things were interesting with all the little ones running around!
There were four tents: boys, girls, & two for the adult couples & smallest kids. I wound-up sleeping in the house though. Maybe next time...

Jacob & Maryn came down for awhile. Jacob & Andrew slept in the house since both had to work the next morning.



The girls brought horse coloring books & colored pencils as an in the tent before bed activity.






Molly kept everyone entertained with her fascination with light, chasing flashlight spots & the sparks flying off the fire. I was concerned that she might jump right into that campfire, she was so focused & almost obsessive with it.

The next morning I brought down sausage, egg & potato scrambled together for breakfast tacos. Yum.

A puff adder (aka hog nose) was caught & added to the outdoor experience for several hours. How funny it was puffed up & hissing then playing dead. Stan would roll it onto its stomach & it would roll back onto its back with its mouth wide open & tongue hanging out. Too funny.
>>>Yes, it is now living in the reptile room along with a scarlet snake rescued from the cats & Tangelo, Slick, Rosy & Ziggy.

The humid heat of the day came on so we relocated to A/C & had hotdogs for lunch in the house.

I think this activity will happen again when cooler weather is back in the forecast: probably not for 6 months or so. We may even invite the AHG troop to come.
Next time I plan to have fresh camera batteries (got a bunch for my birthday - yeah!) and I may even sleep in a tent.

I'll keep you posted.