Doug's 61st Birthday - July 23rd, 2014

We went camping for Doug's birthday. We went to Kent's Lake. We went for 4 days. We spent one morning driving to the other 4 lakes up the canyon. This was one of the rare times that we didn't have any other family with us. We caught a lot of nice Trout from 12-18 inches. This was the first time we caught Tiger Trout. Also caught some Brown and Rainbow Trout. It is a very pretty lake. The campground was more primitive than we are used to. Pack it in, Pack it out. No trash service! We took the raft out one day and fished all different areas of the lake. We also went Geo Caching. There were a few downpours, so during them, we cranked up the generator and watched the 1st & 2nd "Lord Of The Ring's "movies. We had a great camping spot. Shady and quiet. Every evening we would see deer come down to the lake. There was even some wild turkeys! It was a great weekend.

Mandi's 9th Birthday - July 9th, 2014

Mandi turned 9 this year! She had a friend swimming party, and then we went over for pizza and cake and presents. For her present she wanted to go to Tuacahn and see "The Wizard of Oz", so I took her (and Ali). She says she loved it, especially when the Wicked Witch flew right over our heads!!

4th of July - 2014

Day 1

For the 4th of July weekend we went to Duck Creek. We brought Ali & Sam. Mandi didn't want to come this time. (she doesn't really like fishing and hates hiking). After we set up camp, we fished at Duck Creek pond, cooked dinner and played games. The next morning we hiked up the trail to where the kids names are in the trees. Then we went on up to the meadow. It is a steep hike. Ali & Sam had never seen the meadow. They had fun running around, doing cartwheels, and

 catching horned toads.

                                      

                                      

That afternoon, Scott's family came. After they put up their tent we all drove to Mammoth Cave. "The Bat Cave" This time we were prepared and had flashlights. We ALL went in both sides of the cave. We had to stoop,  and crawl through some of it. Grandpa hit his head on the ceiling once and fell down. He really bruised his finger when he fell. At one point we all turned off our lights, and it was total darkness. The floor was wet and quite muddy in some spots. We had to crawl through a small grate to get in and out of the cave. We did NOT see any bats at all.

While we were cooking dinner over the fire, there was a freak thunderstorm We had pouring rain and also hail. It cleared up enough so we could finish cooking, and we had yummy chicken dinner and S'mores and Peach Cobbler. 

Day2

After a huge breakfast, we hiked into Aspen Mirror Lake. We all had great success. Between all of us we caught over 125 fish. (Catch & Release) Back at camp we rested, played games, and made home made ice cream in a bag. It turned out great (except for the kids who got a whole in their bag, and theirs tasted like salt!) That evening we went into Duck Creek Village and watched the local parade. It is mostly 4 wheelers all decorated up. They hand out candy, flags, and prizes.

 Night 2

We ended the night with a trip to the Cedar City ER. Ali got her shoulder hurt, so we took her into town. They X-rayed and said it was separated, but not broken. She had a sling put on so she can't move it for a week or 2. Except for that...the weekend was great!!!