Priest Lake and Camp Reed Pick Up

After we dropped off Annalise we headed up to Priest Lake with Guac and Carisa.

Guac's parents have a cabin on the north end of the lake.

It was AMAZING!!!!

Mark and I stayed in a tent on the beach.

So awesome!

The cabin was up on the hill in the woods.

It's super rustic....

no running water or electricity.

We hung out on the beach and relaxed!

Lori happened to be up at the lake as well, so we got to hang out with her and Jeff on their boat for a while.

Guac's brother Dino (another Camp alum) was also there for a couple of days.

He has a pontoon party barge....

We took a tour of the lake and headed to Upper Priest Lake.

On our way back we noticed a little smoke on the hills above the cabin.

Before we knew it there was a fire plane scooping water out of the lake and dumping it on the fire.

There are pretty strict rules about how close you can get to the fire planes, but Dino (being a firefighter himself) really wanted to see it in action.

It looks closer than it really was....

but it was close enough to see the pilot pretty clearly.

It was a great couple of days that went by WAY TOO FAST!

It's so beautiful there.

Then our time was up and we needed to get back to Camp Reed for the pick up.

I was super anxious to hear all about it!

We got Annalise first....

here she is with her counselors Stega and SeeSaw....

Then Avery with her counselor Racer....

(yes, Avery was just a tad taller than her adult counselor!)

My heart was full.

My girls were so happy.

And we were so happy to see them.

They all had a great time!

Avery can't wait to go back again next year.

In fact, she couldn't believe how different it was from her Girl Scout camp experience.

Both great....but very different.

There's just something so magical about Camp Reed.

She and Emera had a great time being in the same cabin....

And Annalise is ready for the big kid camp next year.

Skyla was a little homesick, but they still had a great couple days being "MINIS"!

We left camp and Avery literally talked the ENTIRE drive to Gramps' house.

We stopped for lunch on our way and we had to STOP her from talking just long enough to order her food.

There are no words to describe how amazing this was for Mark and I. 

Camp Reed was such an influence in both of our lives.

And really....without Camp, we never would have met.

I can't imagine my life without either.

I can't wait to go back to Camp Reed at the end of August for the 100 year reunion.

I can only imagine what amazing stories we'll hear and what memories we'll make together as a family.