Camping in the Rain!

We spent this past few days camping at Lake Roosevelt here in Arizona. We rolled in after dark on Wednesday night (which is always interesting if you've never been there!) and were thrilled to find some absolutely GORGEOUS surroundings when we awoke the next morning. We were camped next to a HUGE lake, ringed by gorgeous mountains...so scenic and lovely. It was pretty overcast in the morning our first morning there, but after our traditional pancake and eggs with bacon breakfast, our family headed down to the lake, fishing rods in hand. Those boys of mine (and my girl!) were pumped up to catch "the big one". They were equipped with all sorts of lures and bait and bobbers and other assorted fishing gizmos. They hiked down and picked the "perfect" spot. Everyone got their rods and ready and the fishing excitement began. Only it lasted a mere seconds...because within two minutes, two of the three kids had their lines tangled and snared on various bushes and trees and what not. Poor Chris (who was SO looking forward to do a little fishing on his own) spent the next 15 minutes wrestling the poles free of the snares that held them. We snapped one line, saved the other...and decided we'd best find another "perfect" spot. We found one and the fishing adventures began all over again!

After restringing the line we snapped at our previous "perfect" spot, we soon had all three lines in the water and everyone was anxiously watching their bobbers. That lasted about 2 minutes before Clara was bored and not at all happy about not landing "the big one". We continued to try our hand for a little bit but eventually conceded defeat. Fish-ONE, Roberts Family-ZERO!

After lunch, the kids headed up the playground there at the campground and had the time of their lives! I can't remember when I've enjoyed having my camera so much as I did that afternoon. I loved watching their huge smiles and hearing their intoxicating laughter as they enjoyed the simple pleasures of childhood. Just running and playing and laughing and loving everything about being a child and the freedom they had that day! It was magical and we passed a LOT of time there on that playground...none of really aware of it as we just enjoyed the time and the play. Their smiles were just so beautiful that day. So free and so huge and so bright!

The kids were completely oblivious to the clouds that kept building throughout the afternoon. They just ran and played. The playground had swings...which are Clara's absolute favorite. There aren't many parks here that have swings, so when Clara finds one...she is in heaven! Not only did they have swings, but they had a tire swing. And that was an unbelievably huge hit among all three kids. They spun around and swung...they performed amazing feats of jumping out of the swings at dizzying heights (which incidentally gave their poor mom a heart attack when I went to edit these pictures!) and they just soaked up the moment there with all that swing action!

Not long after we called it quits and headed back to our campsite, the gentle rain started. Nothing big. Just a drizzle. But it practically never stopped the rest of the weekend! We ended up stuck inside the camper all day Friday. We got out for just a short time and went to visit the Tonto National Monument and saw the cliff dwellings of the Salado people. VERY cool. Really, really neat. I just wish the weather had been a bit nicer. It didn't rain on us while we were at the monument...but pretty much every second thereafter...it rained!


We spent the time together playing all sorts of games. We played Spoons, and Uno and Old Maid and Go Fish. Then we played them all again. We watched the Sound of Music and snacked and chatted. It was amazing that noone killed each other or came close seeing as we were in such close proximity for such a long time! Somehow in the midst of all the noise (Spoons is a VERY lively game among my crew), Chris managed to curl up and go to sleep...snores and all! Go figure! Later in the day Chris and the boys struck out for a drive just to get out. For some reason they didn't want to watch the Sound Of Music with Clara and I. Go figure! After they got back we grilled our steaks in the rain and had a delicious dinner, then went on the curl up together and watch some more movies. We were ready at that point to just get on out of there! We got up really early and prepared to head out. And after a long weekend of rain and cold, we emerged from the camper this morning to find the sun, shining bold and beautiful, warm and inviting and it was all just amazing. Of course...too little to late! We had to get back. But we were all glad to see the gorgeous surroundings and how pretty it all looked in the sunshine! We will definitely go back and visit that one again. It was a nice weekend...rain and all!