Finale to Summer...

Our last trip of the summer came this year... and it seemed to come way too fast! Some summers drag on but to me- this one just flew on by.

We joined with a fun group this year to end our summer with a bang and we all met up at Bass Lake. We had the Durhams, the Jensens and Brian's parents- Deroy and Linda.

Our kids were in pure heaven because they had ALL of their cousins (on both sides) to play with.

All the adults were in heaven because there were a lot of options for the kids and adults to do during the day. ...

Kayaking, wave-runner (ing), floating on giant islands and inter tubes, reading, swimming, jumping off big rocks, relaxing, sleeping.... you name it and it was pretty much done.

The evenings were spent with campfires, game playing, ice-cream going, movie watching (for the kids), and lots and lots of fun.

Ell and Brian snuck in some video-gaming

(and yes they were in pure heaven too)!

Linda and Deroy concocted a great treasure hunt for all of the kids.

They had to work as a team with absolutely NO running.

They went from clue to clue sending them all around the cabins and our trailer site. They were a little worn out in the end but finally found ALL of the clues.

Once they had ALL the clues they had to put them together and flip the puzzle over so they could read the last and final clue (which told where the "treasure" was.

They found the treasure and it was ......

loaded with candy (of course). :)

So, we said goodbye to our summer.... but will always have super fun memories of this great trip with the Durhams and Jensen families.

************************************************

Unfortunately our travels home were not quite as awesome as the vacation itself. We ended up having car issues as we towed our trailer through the mountains. We had to park our trailer on the side of the road temporarily and have the car towed to the nearest town (about 40 minutes away) where we proceeded to find out that it needs a new transmission. We had absolutely NO cell phone service in the mountains which made us wonder how in the world people managed in the old days before cell phones. Thankfully we were rescued by some of Ells fabulous co-workers who took the kids and I into town and also went above and beyond when they got off work and (with their own truck) towed our trailer to one of their homes (which is where it is sitting as I type). We left our car in good hands and rented a car so we could get home. If all goes well, we will pick up the car and trailer next week. So, the day ended up being quite expensive which we definitely hadn't plan for. However, throughout it all- as we were feeling kind of stranded on the mountain with no cell phone, with 3 kids who were concerned about what we would do- I am extremely grateful for a husband who was calm through the situation and never once freaked out or panicked (like I honestly felt like doing). I felt the loving guidance from our father in heaven who (I know) without a shadow of a doubt sent Ells coworkers to help us. Considering where we were..... it was a miracle that anyone was patrolling that area at that time. We hadn't been parked on the side of the road for long before we had 3 different officers come to our aid which was a huge blessing.

So what should have taken about 4 hours to get home ended up being more like 10 hours. But thankfully we are home.

and now we are getting ready for school to start on Monday.......

:)