Camping at Lolo Hot Springs

On a some what spontaneous whim, we decided to go camping this weekend with Perry's parents at Lolo Hot Springs on Friday night.  Lucky for us, its only about 30 miles from home. The boys were eagerly awaiting dad to get home from work all day long so we could leave. We've never been camping with them before, but they've been a couple time prior with Grandma & Grandpa. If I recall correctly, each Memorial Day weekend or Labor Day weekend they've taken the boys, they've had horrible weather! We lucked out this weekend though!

Growing up, camping was a huge part of Perry's childhood. His family used to go camping and backpacking every summer. (Correct me if I'm wrong!) So needless to say, this camping trip was very special for Perry.

 As soon as we arrived, Hunter and JP were anxious to check the river out. For kicks and giggles, Grandpa John brought out his pans and they looked to see what they could find.

 Perry tried his hand at it, and clearly didn't know what he was doing :)

 But of course, the boys' attention span was limited and they were off running around in no time. Within minutes they had each claimed their favorite sticks, which they carried around for the rest of the evening. 

 After dinner, I warmed up my *white* legs by the fire while making S'mores. Yum! Although the boys tried, they needed help roasting their marshmallows.

 I'm pretty sure it took him about 20 minutes to each his S'more. He likes to just "save things for later."

 I believe Hunter may have gotten in trouble for something, so he took his stick down to the river to poke around. Here he is pouting because he threw the stick in the river and lost it. Hind sight is 20/20...

 He was fairly resilient and eager to join in the fun Perry and JP were having playing baseball. More like "Let's see how many pine cones Perry can throw at JP before he hits one." Pretty fun to watch!

Bedtime was a little bit of a struggle for me and took about an hour or so to get the boys to calm down and lay still. Very frustrating! And then of course it didn't help that at the main office, there was a techno party going on. We arrived at our camp spot at about 5:30p and it was already blaring. It continued to disrupt the sound of nature until 8AM. That's right...all stinking night! I'm not sure anyone slept very well... 

 So after a long night, Perry and I took the boys for a short lived hike up the mountain. JP was terrified when the trail narrow and insisted he be carried. Hunter was a trooper though.

 My favorite boys!

 And we've got a little boy that still likes to pee on trees...

 Montana....20 Miles from home.

 Perry had the bright idea to show the boys what he used to do when he was a kid - pick up sticks and break them on trees. Initially I didn't think this was one of his best ideas, but the boys loved it, and surprisingly no one was injured with all the sticks flying around. It was quite fun to watch them! 

 Sometimes Hunter likes to just go sit by himself for a little rest. He just makes my heart smile when he does this - sitting nicely and all. 

 I made sure we had a family picture taken while on our camping trip. Mostly because we *never* get family pictures, but also because this was our first family camping trip. It might also be the last time we get a picture of the four of us before baby arrives in a few weeks.

 Grandpa John and JP finishing up the hike. JP was a trooper! We did a lot of walking for his little legs. 

 The trail we were walking on had a lot of granite and rocks with mica (?) on them. Basically lots of shiny rocks. JP was pretty fascinated by them. Not as much as Hunter though. He impressed me by filling up his pockets full of rocks, 13 in total, and finishing the last 200 yards or so of the hike, uphill. I knew he had a couple...but 13?! 

Once we arrived home, the first thing Hunter did with all of his rocks was plant them. I know, who plants rocks, right? Hunter does. In his sandbox. I tried to talk him out of it, but you know kids... At least now he has something to dig for since they are no where to be found...