A Break From Tradition: Payson Lakes

For as long as I can remember my family went camping at the Spruces in Big Cottonwood Canyon.  I love the area, but for some reason I wanted a change.  After talking with my brother, we decided to go somewhere that had a lake so we could use his canoes.  We decided on Payson Lakes.  I'd make a liar of myself if I didn't admit that I was scared about going somewhere I'd never been before. I was afraid that I'd be held responsible for everyone's misery if the campsite was terrible.  I blindly reserved two sites on-line and crossed my fingers that everything would go well. 

 

When we got up to the campground, we discovered that luck was on my side because the two sites we were in had ample tent space for the 5 tents in our group, and plenty of parking spaces for the trailers and our cars. Phew! 

 

The weather wasn't cooperating with us for leisure lake time (highs of 60F and lows of 35F- yowzer! it was cold!) The up side with cold and windy weather is that the bugs didn't bother us at all!  Yep, I'm reaching for a silver lining! None of us loved the cold weather, but I wasn't responsible for that, so I didn't feel guilty about it! 

 

Daniel and Jane stayed home and I took the boys.  Our next family camping adventure will actually be with the entire family!  Who hoo!  It was cold enough this time around that I was glad that I didn't have Jane with us.  She would disagree, but I don't regret leaving her home (because I seriously had such a relaxing time on this camping trip).

 

The cold weather didn't stop us from enjoying some water play!  The camp host was surprised that we got in the water, but we weren't going to haul all of our stuff up to not use it! 

The only time I took my coat and hat off was as we were packing up our things to go home.  The cold front that had moved in over the weekend had moved out.  Bummer! 

Cute little Hailey played in Mocha's kennel! 

Taylor and Dan.  One of these days I'll get a 'good' picture of Dan.  Somehow I think that the silly face pose gene has been passed down to my boys.  I'm hard pressed to get a non-silly picture of them!

But Hailey, she knows how to pose and be adorable!  The kids were dancing and playing on the trailer and when she saw that I was taking pictures she stopped and posed!

Time to play at the lake!  Austen was the cheerleader for these two!

I love Taylor!  She is beautiful and I am so glad that she is with my brother Dan!

Paul and Cooper on the canoe.

Randy with his fancy canoe!

Seth was really hesitant to get in the water, but once he got on the paddle board, and tested the water, he found his rhythm and loved the boats.  He and Tanner (both 9 years old) took the canoe out by themselves and had a great time!

My beautiful sister Denise and the oh-so-tired Hailey.

Dan got on the paddleboat with Seth and they had a good time!

Taylor tried the paddleboard.  She really enjoyed the ride out to the other end of the lake, but on the way back soon realized that the wind was at her back on the way out and then she had to paddle against the wind to get back.  She was tired, but really did great!

Father and son- Randy and Austen.  The thing that I love about going camping is that we spend time together as a family that we wouldn't normally spend.  A lot of barriers are down and we are a bit more relaxed.

Me and Wendy on our walk around the lake.

Randy, Debbie, Taylor, Dan

Oy vey!  Paul and Seth had a battle over who had rightful possession of this red chair.  They fought it out for over 20 minutes.  No tears shed, but I'm afraid that we got close. 

 

The cement around the fire wasn't very big, and there was a good 1-2 foot drop depending on where you are when you step off. We had several circus acts going on with people (mainly the kids) falling off their chairs, rolling off backwards and doing flips, but luckily no one got hurt!

 

 

Oh our poor little Hailey, she was so tired!  She cuddled with Austen and he had the magic to get her to hold still long enough to fall asleep!

Isn't that so cute?

Denise was horrified that she hadn't brushed Hailey's teeth for 3 days, so she couldn't let her go to sleep without brushing her teeth, so she brushed the little teeth and then put her to bed for the night.  Denise said that she doesn't bring work home with her, but you can tell that she works as a dental assistant, can't you?!

My cute little Seth (but oh how sad I am that he is isn't so little anymore) on our morning walk around the lake.

Mr. Mark and Mr. Seth

Klayre and Paul looking at the chipmunks in the trees.

Randy and Yours Truly

 

This year everyone seemed really relaxed.  We braved through the chilly weather by hanging out around the fire. I truly enjoyed hanging out with my siblings and their families.  Everyone wanted to come back to the lakes next year, so I figure that it was a great success!  Next year my parents will be home from their mission, so they will be here.  Hopefully we can get my oldest two siblings and their families to come with us too! We'll have plenty of parking and tent spaces if they come! 

 

I'm so happy that this break from tradition went so well!