Summer 2013 . . . Ralphs Family Camp Out at North Fork, Ogden Valley

We picked a weekend.  Which was very hard.  We picked a campsite.  Which was very easy.  And we all showed up.  Which was very wonderful!  Over the 4th of July weekend, all the Michael and Diana Ralphs Family converged upon the North Fork campground, up by Pineview Dam, a favorite camping spot of our little family.

The boys played and played and played together with very little adult interference.  Imaginations ran wild and they explored the thickets of trees, swung on the hammock, and found an old bb gun that was, I was assured by the men in the group, no longer working.

We spent the second day at the beach at Pineview.  We rented a stand up paddle board and everyone had a go at it.  I fell in love with it and decided that is what I want for my Beginning of Summer gift next year.  What?  You don't celebrate that holiday with gifts?

And then the fun was blown away by a fierce storm.  At least we were warned by texts from several concerned family members that one was headed our way.  So we packed up our things right after dinner on the second evening and everyone converged upon our little house.  We stuffed couples on air mattresses that covered all available floor space and tucked most the boys in one room.  The adults stayed up to watch a movie and the boys, eventually gave up and fell asleep.  Dad cooked a big, camping breakfast out on the back porch the next morning and we headed back up to the beach.  That's what memories are made of!

 Chillin' around the empty fire pit

 Ben and Davis discussing something I assume has to do with the gun and their imaginary world.

 Playing with cousins.

 Darren assuring me the gun couldn't really shoot anything.

 Davis, Ben, and James in the hammock.

Noah and Grandpa playing with trucks

 Max checking to make sure Darren is setting the tent up correctly.

 The "play area"

Noah sitting in the dirt.  A common sight.

Is there anything better than a camping breakfast?

 Chillin' at Pineview Dam

 Jeanette and Max . . . in a puddle. 

 Beautiful Kimberly

 Max and Nic

 Our family patriarch . . . respectfully declining the opportunity to play in the water.

And our family matriarch . . . playing in the water with her fancy hat.

 Marian and Noah . . . Ready, Set, . . .

 Up!

And a whole lotta fun on the paddle board!