August 24, 2013

Camping!

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A group of young children sitting and eating ice cream with a picnic table behind them

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We went camping last week. Four nights around the campfire, smores galore, every meal outdoors and a mountain of laundry at the end of it all.

It was so nice to get away from work and the old routine. Here’s a look at our camping trip, just because I’d like to share it with ya.

We took so many pictures, I don’t know where to begin. Ah, here we go. Pretty isn’t it?

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We went fishing, hiking, biking, mushroom picking, boating, ATV’ing, eating, snacking, eating more, star gazing, cuddling, walking, hunting (with plastic bows and arrows). What didn’t we do?

My parents brought tiki torches with oil that repelled mosquitos. It was wonderful. My hubby and son helped put them up all around our campsite.

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This was the extent of our hunting. I think we had more fun with these than the kids. My son got the bows and arrows for his birthday. I’m curious about real archery now. Are any of you into that?

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There was a LOT of this going on and the children got their exercise. lol.

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Keeping my little fella clean was impossible. He may as well have rolled around in the dirt. He’s pretty clean still in this picture. I hope that’s a rock in his hand:

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Speaking of dirty, after the second day of not showering and feeling fairly grimey, my sister Sveta (the cosmetologist), turned the back of my parents camper into a salon. It was magical. Thanks Sveta!! I owe you one.

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A typical morning (mornings started off chilly):

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Uncle Vadim dressed his niece:

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My son had so much fun with all his little friends. They played all day long and blew through loads of energy. At about 10pm he was asking us to take him to bed.

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We fished every day; mostly off the boat. My son caught the limit in trout one day! He gets so excited pulling in a fish with his own fishing pole. He’s already a pro. Dock fishing proved to be crummy, but who cares, we were sitting on a dock relaxing in the middle of nowhere. That’s me in the orange shirt.

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This is what happened daily with the trout we caught. Catch and release doesn’t exist in our family unless it’s a gross or bony fish. Fresh trout is BOMB! Dad gutted the fish and Mom sautéed it to perfection.

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The evening scene: I was probably licking my dusty fingers after a marshmallow. I was the unofficial marshmallow roaster for the children.

My hubby and I went for a walk at night and photographed the lake. This shot took 30 seconds to capture the light of the moon. It was pitch black outside and there was no flash used. Pretty cool eh?

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And this is the camp site at night (again, pitch black out) Our camera is awesome, just sayin: (Can you see the big dipper?)

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Breakfast was definitely the favorite meal. My sister Alla pre-made the nalesniki which were a wonderful treat; crepes at camp? Oh yes!

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Here’s another typical breakfast.

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This was my favorite meal of all. A pot of soup made by my Mama. It was perfect after a couple days of heavy eating. Of course my mom packed dill for our camping trip.

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My husband went mushroom picking. We later discovered that 90% of the mushrooms were wormy so they were tossed. It’s still pretty cool to go mushroom picking in the woods.

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Oh look we are pigging out again.

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Thanks Bogdan and Nadia for letting us borrow the ATV. Great fun!!

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After 4 days, we made our way home,… but not before stopping in McCall, ID at our favorite burger joint (My Father’s Place) and the best ice cream place ever (Ice Cream Alley)

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We finished up our ice cream cones while the kiddos ran through a fountain by the beach.

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Summer, I’m going to miss you. On the bright side, Christmas is just 4 months away. I know it, I’m ridiculous.

Natasha Kravchuk

Welcome to my kitchen! I am Natasha, the blogger behind Natasha's Kitchen (since 2009). My husband and I run this blog together and share only our best, family approved and tested recipes with YOU. Thanks for stopping by! We are so happy you're here.