Camping on the 4th

Our Fourth of July was spent at Ensign Ranch near Cle Elum, WA. I guess this is the start of a tradition as we spent our last 4^th there as well. Ethan has talked about that trip since last year so he was so excited to go again and doubly excited knowing that grandma and grandpa Rubalcava would be joining us.

Ensign Ranch works out great for camping with kids because there is plenty of fun stuff to do … we camped in a tepee, took Ethan on a horse back ride, hit the giant slip and slide a few times, went canoeing, spent a lot of time of the giant rope swing next to our camp ground, spent an afternoon at Lake Easton, went hiking, etc! Who needs fireworks with so much stuff to do?

Ethan riding Harry the Horse. Ethan was hoping to ride Charlie, the same horse from last year. Yes, he has remembered the name of his horse from last year and has spoken of him fondly for a whole year. Unfortunately he was sad to learn that Charlie had moved on to greener pastures.

Dad and Ava in her oh-so-darling watermelon bathing suit at Lake Easton.

As you can see everyone took a turn on the rope swing including grandma and grandpa. Although my mom was not fond of the swing.

Jairo and I also took a few turns on the "lake" rope swing. I use the word "lake" very loosely as it was more of a large pond and when we emerged from it we smelled like pond scum. Aside from the rancid after smell, this swing was one of my favorites because I flew high into the air and the fell into the cool water. However, on my first swing into the lake my leg got caught around the smaller tow rope and I was flipped upside down. This left me with one of the ugliest bruises around my knee that I've ever seen. But hey, that's the price you pay to feel like a kid again. I'm just thankful no one caught that incident on video.

To keep Miss Ava from turning into a complete dirt ball she spent a lot of time on grandpa's lap or strapped on our backs. Funny how Ava is such a wiggler for anyone who wants to hold her, but she would sit so still and patient for grandpa. And, as you can see she was completely comfortable on our backs and would zonk out every time.

We did head into town on the 4^th to watch the fireworks, but they got started so late that by the time they finally started Ethan was crying to go back to camp to go to sleep so we only watched a few minutes of the show (although it did not seem like we were missing much). The great thing about camping on the 4^th is that you can actually go to bed by 11pm because you’re not kept awake until 2am by the continual Bagdad-like fireworks that occur in our neighborhood. I realize that I’m starting to sound like someone who does not like fireworks when I actually really do enjoy them, but with the parameters that a worthwhile show is put together and that there is some general consensus on an appropriate time to knock off the loud crackers for those with kids who are little beasts if they don’t get their sleep. Now I just sound old, so I’ll move on.

One of my favorite treats about camping is the food. I love foil dinners, fire roasted hot dogs, Dutch oven meals, and hot chocolate in the cool mornings. I also love roasting marshmallows and passing them along to others to make s’mores (not a fan of s’mores, just roasting the marshmallows). You may notice the mosquito repellent in the background of the above photo ... the one down fall of the trip this year were the mosquitoes. I can't think of anything more aggravating that mosquitoes and we all received our share of bites including poor little Ava who developed an allergic reaction a few days after returning that looked like a bad case of chicken pox.

I remember last year on the ride home from our camping trip Ethan was alseep less than 5 minutes into the drive. I guess he slept better this year because he said he wanted to "read" the paper on the way home so I found him the cartoon section to peruse. It was quite funny to watch him look through the comic section so thoughtfully. The fun did catch up to him later as he passed out with grandpa at home.