6th Annual Dads and Kids Camping

We just got back from our 6th annual Dads and Kids Camping Trip.  It’s hard to believe we’ve been doing the trip that long, but it’s true.  We did a similar routine this year to what we’ve done before: a three day trip, going up on Friday to Rasar State Park near Sedro-Woolley, WA, and returning on Sunday.  But every year brings new twists and turns, and lots of pictures.

We started at the Shadow of Sentinels hike:

The hike features a 680-year old Douglas Fir, which is pretty amazing in both age and size:

Our brother-in-law Mark joined us this year.  We had to twist his arm a little, as you can see:

But I think he had a nice time anyway.  How could he not?  We were camping along the Skagit River, and the scenery was just gorgeous:

After a nice hike and setting up tents, we had time for a quick trip to the Skagit River.  There’s a bit of a beach, which the kids put to good use:

A sand angel, by Simeon:

We had pasta for dinner, made a campfire, and cooked s’mores.  Simeon was all about the s’mores.  We had five families there, including our friend Andy and his sons and our friend Jeff and his sons, so there were plenty of singers for folk songs around the campfire. 

On Saturday, we did our big hike.  We drove across the top of Upper Baker Dam, which is very cool and hard to capture properly in pictures.  For example, don’t you wish you could see what these guys are seeing?

When we started with Dads and Kids Camping, we just had two children campers:

But this year, we had twelve!

The hike was great – we went about a mile in and a mile back.  There were creeks, waterfalls, and beautiful sights.  But for whatever reason, this year’s hike became a hiking-stick gathering expedition.  The kids seemed to hike much better once they had a dangerous implement in hand:

Me, too:

Saturday afternoon featured another trip to the river, complete with swimming.  Those swimming lessons sure paid off: Hannah and Naomi were part fish from what I could tell, despite the river being snow runoff!  Simeon contented himself with getting really, extremely sandy.  We had a big hot-dog cookout Saturday night, and more s’mores and campfire songs. I was introduced to the Shark Attack song, (video not performed by us), which was very funny.  On Sunday morning, we had toaster pastries (a.k.a. Pop Tarts) – a big treat for the kids! – and then went to Mass in Sedro Woolley at a beautiful 1910 church:

After Mass, we broke camp, had a picnic lunch and a trip to the background, and then headed home.  Now, all three kids have given up their naps, although Sim naps from time to time when he’s really tired.  But this time, we scored a hat trick:

Clearly, a good time was had by all.

- Michael