Payson Lakes Camping

After only spending a few nights back home from our last trip, we decided to go camping for the weekend!  It was an epic couple of days, especially since we were joined by three other families in our neighborhood.  There was 7 kids total, ranging ages 2-7.  I love having friends with kids who are in the same stage of life as us.  It makes taking adventures like this one far more fun!  Our destination was Payson Lakes, about an hour south of where we live in the Rocky Mountains.  We camped at 8,000 feet, which made for gorgeous views the entire drive up!
Side note: I broke my nifty fifty lens on our last trip and was completely devastated.  Instead of simply replacing it, I decided to upgrade.  And my friend Erin was sweet enough to sell me her 50mm 1.4!!!  I was ecstatic about it!  It arrived in the mail literally a couple hours before we left for camping.  I will say that it took a bit to get used to the new lens.  I had a harder time nailing the focus and took waaay too many blurry photos, but I'm loving the new lens!  If you have yet to buy a fifty, skip the cheap option(the 1.8) and go for the 1.4!!!

This was our first camping trip of 2016, so I was lightly nervous about how we would all fit in our three person backpacking tent now that Finn is much much bigger.  We brought our queen sized air mattress for the first time (it felt like I was glamping), which just barely fit inside.  It was snuggly & cozy for sure.  I think that we can actually keep using it this summer, but by next year, it will surely be time to upgrade to a four person!

Our days were filled, with no real agenda, yet the time passed quickly.  There was kayaking & fishing.  Campfires & s'mores.  Little walks for flower picking & rock finding.  Finn was quite the explorer, never content to just stay still.  He would often wander wherever his little heart desired, practically gleeful to be taking off into the forest!  Both my boys just love camping, which makes all the effort that goes into each trip so so worth it!

Usually Conor does all the camping preparation, but he had a big work week, so it all fell on me!  I probably stressed far more than I should have.  Made too many lists.  And I went a little crazy on the food & drinks, but... I nailed it!  We were in charge of dinner one night, so we made foil packs of salmon topped with butter, white pepper, dill, & lemon slices.  We just tossed it on the campfire, and bam! best meal camping ever!!!  I also purchased a few surprises, like cold brew nitrogen coffee for Conor (how very hipster of me!) & cinnamon rolls to be heated on the campfire one morning.  It was all so finger lickin' good!  And let us not forget the booze...  We filled two growlers of our latest batch of hard cider (grapefruit for the summer season) as well as some wine & beers for good measure.

Many of the best moments were those just surrounded by friends; friends that have become our family here in Utah.  There were no cell phones, just genuine face to face time with some wonderful people.  I loved being outside constantly and getting in some true moments of relaxation.  The camping hammock is my happy place!  Not quite so peaceful when the boys are crawling all over it, but still relaxing nonetheless!

  

After two nights we were all filthy dirty.  Everything was covered in pollen (like a crazy ridiculous amount of pollen).  And the booze had nearly run dry!  Liam was devastated to be leaving.  I swear he could camp for an entire week and still never want it to end.  So I'm sure this is only the first trip of one incredibly busy camping season.  I'm already scoping out spots for future weekends!

 And a huge thank you to Conor for making these trips run so flawlessly.  He always sets up & takes down camp (not where my skills lie) and just keeps us all alive in general.  He is my mountain man.  He encourages us to adventure with the boys and always keeps the stress levels down.  I'm proud to be a family that camps with little ones!  I know that we are creating beautiful childhoods for our boys.  I so hope they look back with fond fond memories!