Camping at Little Mill

We got so lucky to find a camp site at beautiful Little Mill Campground. Not only did we get a site, but we got a site that had a huge rock for the boys to climb around on, a perfect climbing tree, and lots and lots of forest surrounding us (filled with fun critters to lure...).

Below our campsite was American Fork Canyon Lake where we went Rafting and Hiking. Aaron wanted to hike to the VERY end of a hike we started last year. So we kept on hiking until the trail literally ended on the side of the mountain that sits next to the lake. It was a fun adventure.

Eric and I always wanted to make homemade S'mores! We found a great Graham Cracker recipe, Eric made the chocolate squares, and I whipped up Homemade Marshmallow Squares. Talk about a heavenly treat!!! They were delicious.

Along the FOOD thought process, in the morning we had donuts and raspberries for breakfast. Our niece Aesha had the idea to roast her donut over the campfire years ago so we decided we'd warm ours up that way too. Then Ammon decided he wanted to try roasting raspberries. Our next food creation came about a little like this:

Daddy: "So, how did those roasted raspberries taste, Ammon?"

Ammon: "You know raspberry pie? A little like that."

Daddy: "(gasp w a smile on his face)

All of us saw the lightbulb go on over Eric's head immediately and we all caught the same thought he had without any exchange of words! We all rushed to grab a donut to roast and some raspberries to put on our roasting sticks. When the two were paired after being roasted we got the gooey-ness of a warm cake donut with a crisp edge (where the fire had crisped the frosted edges of the donut), with the ripe fresh mushiness of baked raspberries. We won't go camping without this breakfast from now on!! So warm gooey and incredibly yummy!

-Eric taught the boys how to start a fire using the "spark stick".

-Poor Asher got bit by a mosquito and his forehead swelled up so that his cuteness was more alien-ish than boy-ish.

-Eric decided to jump in the lake for a quick freezing dip. We challenged the big boys to and Aaron, always up for the challenge, dove right in after Eric and then Ammon joined in on the fun.

-We shared our picnic blanket with a group visiting from China bc we were situated in one of the few shady spots along the lake beach edge. They wanted to take a picture with Michael and Asher. Asher's alien head will now be seen by who knows how many fun loving chinese relatives of our picnic pals.

-The boys and babyG got new sleeping bags. Inside each bag is a little pocket. We put a little toy animal in each of the kid's sleeping bags as a surprise. They boys said, "the Camping Fairy comes & leaves surprises in your sleeping bag each time you get a new bag?!?" :) Ammon got a Woolf, Aaron got a Bear, Asher got a Racoon, Michael got an Elk, and BabyG got a Horse. That night, we had a fun shadow show using the flashlight, the inside wall of our tent, and our new animals (and of course shadow hand puppets too).