Stoker Family

this past weekend we drove to hells canyon and spent time with my side of the family.

the campgrounds were down a steep hill and for some reason, kamden thought it would be a good idea to forget the paved trail and head straight down the hill...

i, being the protective and brave mother that i am, stood frozen at the top of the hill. my arms were loaded with camping gear as i watched my second born fly down the hill propelled by his short little legs which looked like a cartoon going in circles surrounded by a cloud of dust. i hesitated knowing what would happen if i went after him...just like jack and jill. but i threw down whatever i had in my arms and started toward kamden. my legs going faster and faster, i watched as he finally fell face first and did a head bang into a pile of rocks. i was certain his face would be cut and bleeding when i got to him. but then i kept going right on past him, realizing that i needed to stop myself. so, naturally, i put my knee down right when i happened to meet the paved trail. tough little kamden had only a few scrapes on his cheek, legs, and arms...my knee, however, is still on the pavement. but at least i made the effort, right?

after the trauma was over and camp was set up, there was plenty of fun to be had. there was a lot of fishing...

ethan caught his first fish!

emily tried her hand at casting...

kamden had the time of his life throwing sticks and rocks in the water...

...all he ended up catching was a ladybug.

there was also some boating to be done...

...until the transmission had some issues and we had to get rescued by some lazy bums in a fishin' boat...

owen was spoiled rotten by everyone and got to go on lots of walks with grammy...

...and uncle jeff...

...momma emily and momma kelsey even got him to fall asleep while on a walk.

he got to hang out with grampa...

and just relax near the water while the waves put him to sleep...

 

out of his 11 months of life i don't think he has ever slept better...

other pics from the trip...

and, since we started the trip with some drama, what better way to end it than with a little more? on our way out of the mountains we were driving on a really curvy road and i was getting car sick. then from the backseat kamden says he's tired and needs to go to sleep. good idea, right? well, that idea got interupted when he barfed all over himself, his carseat, the seatbelt, and anything else that got in the way. but jeff was a trooper and did most of the cleanup, saving me from the same fate. but we did get to see a deer cross the street and bound gracefully off into the woods so i guess it wasn't all bad.