Family Reunion (part 2)

We woke up to a beautiful, calm morning. The boys woke up about 6:30 am since it was light outside. I'll have to admit, that was earlier than I would have liked to wake up. So I laid there a bit longer and told the boys to be quiet (since Aleky and Michael were still sleeping). But you can't keep excited kids in bed so they were quickly dressed and off to explore their camp site.

The lake was the biggest draw of the camping trip. If we didn't have a specific activity planned you could find the boys near, on or in the lake! But with such a beautiful lake can you really hold it against them?

A fire was quickly started using some of the wet wood from yesterday and it took a long time to get a sustainable fire burning. But the kids were real troopers and did there best to help fan the flames (or blow on the coals to get flames). Before long we were ready for breakfast.

Devin decided he had enough of the wet wood and decided to go get some wood of his own. David and Donovan thought that was a fabulous idea and decided to go too. But collecting wood isn't as easy as it seems, especially when you have to saw the logs by hand.

Boating was the activity of the day. Every spare moment and every willing adult was drafted into service. At this point we hadn't granted any children permission to enter the boats/water without adult supervision. This would ultimately change due to the huge demand for aquatic activities and the increasing proficiency of the kids in paddling the boats around the lake.

After a while all of the adults grew weary of paddling around the lake and we docked the boats. After all, we wanted to spend some time with the other members of the family who were not in the boats.

Lydia Boel Troy Kim

After a morning of paddling around the lake it was time to have some lunch. We had divided several meals (2 dinners and 1 breakfast) to be prepared to the different families but the other meals were "on our own." So we decided to go for simplicity and ease in preparation and clean-up. So we had cold cereal for breakfast (we were forced to capitulate and use some of Grandma Petersen's hot chocolate) and sandwiches for lunch.

While we all prepared our own lunches we did enjoy the time together as we ate what we had prepared. We had enough people at camp that we were able to keep the fire going through out the day. If you didn't have something to do there was always someone at the fire pit and you could just visit with them.

Hailey BoelVivian BoelAleky Jones

Devin found several hobbies over the campout. The first hobby was boating. The second hobby was playing catch with anyone who would throw the ball back and forth. Here he is playing catch with Aunt Janeil.

The two little buddies got along quite nicely with one another. I think they make a great pair.

Michael took some time to color and avoid the hustle and bustle of trying to keep up with the big kids. Of course, they were probably back on the lake...again!

You just can't go camping with the Petersens without doing some shooting. It is a highlight that everyone looks forward too. I know my boys are certainly addicted to it. As long as a gun is being used you can be assured that my boys will by in the vicinity watching, waiting for their chance to participate.

Grandpa Petersen and Uncle Kyle got to shoot the first few rounds. But it didn't take long for the line of grandchildren to form and wait for their turn to shoot as well.

David loves to shoot guns and he is getting pretty good at it. He's to the point that he can load the rifle with adult supervision and shoot all by himself. Not only that but he is hitting the targets too! I can't believe how fast he is growing up.

Donovan gets excited about shooting as well. At this point he loves to help load the rifle but he just loves to pull the trigger. He gets pretty excited when he see the splash from the bullets too.

Michael just thinks it's great to pull the trigger and make a bang. The splash is great too.

Aleky didn't get to shoot this round but I got a few shots in. I think we all anticipated more shooting over the next few days but the way things ended up this was the only shooting that we did as a group. I did get a chance to shoot a couple of Grandpa's big hand guns and that was certainly an experience! I'm sure one day we'll have a great collection of firearms as well but that day won't be tomorrow.

David, Donovan, Cynthia and Devin kept the rifles going for quite a while. Grandpa and Uncle Kyle spent their efforts just keeping kids in line so that everyone had a chance to shoot.

As the day wore on it was eventually time to get dinner prepared. Grandma Petersen brought the ice cream maker and extra ice. It is always a treat to make your own ice cream while camping. Aunt Kaylynn was put in charge of turning the ice cream and she recruited plenty of help. The one rule for the ice cream is, "if you don't help turn it you don't get to help eat it." It seems to work pretty well for getting plenty of participation.

This day was a beautiful and relaxing day. I didn't get to take a nap but there was plenty of chances to paddle the boat around the lake, hang out by the fire, eat some wonderful food and shoot a few guns. Our closest camping neighbors moved out and Uncle Kyle moved in. He drove the jeep around to the next camp site and pitched one of the extra tents there to save the spot. We didn't actually use the space, we just wanted to have some room between us and the next set of campers.