Palmer People: BIG Lake AZ

It has been YEARS since we've been to Big Lake with my family.... probably 4 years or so? We started talking about it a loooong time ago and reserved our campsites back months ago. As soon as we told the kids, they were counting down the days! I had forgotten how much I love that place!!

We saw tons of wildlife on the way in.

We're heeeeeeeeeeeere!!!

The next morning, we ate breakfast and packed up to go fishing.

The boys got right to work, filling their pockets with crawdad claws.

Blake and Joshua

Ashton and Lexi

Dalton gets a fish!

Hayden was happy as long as she was being held or shoveling treats into her mouth :)

Blake gets a fish!

Good catch!

Taylyn gets a fish!

Preston takes a potty break up the hill.... hehe

Gavin gets a fish!

Preston gets a fish!

A live crawdad!

While everyone else was reeling in fish, we had a few who were still patiently waiting. Time to bust out the "Fishy Dance!"

As the morning wore on, this one was losing hope.

Ashton catches a fish on his kiddie pole!

Lexi gives fishy kisses

Lex & Grandpa

And then, she FINALLY got one on!!!!!

Everyone was excited for her!

But that darn fish got away, right at the shore. She crumpled right into her daddy and burst into tears.

Lucky girl, though, got to go out with Daddy all on her own later that afternoon to see if they would have better luck. And wouldn't you know, she caught a fish!!!!

With Uncle Joshua in his hammock

Matt shows off his catches after an early morning fishing trip

I was a little worried taking a newly potty trained toddler camping, but she did GREAT! No accidents!
I bought this little travel potty and set it up behind our tent so we didn't have to trek to the bathroom every time.

Learning knot-tying tips from the master~

Poor pregnant tree is still pregnant!! ;)

Out for a Rhino ride

Naps were non-existant during the trip so I wasn't surprised that this happened.

Matt took the boys out for a little fishing time

Gavin caught this HUGE trout!

Cleaning it up

Not sure Blake really likes this part

Preston's little fishy

Always being held! Having the teens around was helpful!

Braid girls! I did Lexi's and Taylyn's and Brooklyn did her own.
(sad this pic is blurry)

More spoiling

The kids worked on building a fort at the campsite

Dinner time! A trailer full of kids!

Ahhhhh, happy to get a shower in.

Glow stick fun!

Hayden slept SO well in the tent! Probably due to sheer exhaustion by the end of the day!

Up with the sun for a little sister/mom/dad fishing time. It was FREEZING and we didn't have much luck. Becky caught the one and only fish.

At this point, I hadn't caught a fish, so we went out as a family. The bugs were BAD and it was HOT so we had lots of whiny kids. We weren't really catching anything but we persisted. We finally managed to get some hits, I reeled them in to shore, then BAM, they got away. This happened 5 times and I was ready to be done. Just at the last minute, we got two fish, back to back.

Hayden loved going "fishing pole"

Saw this little guy slithering in and out of the rocks

Blake really got the hang of casting!

Token fishy kiss

Hayden named her fish "Sparkles"

Some fun back at the campground~

Lexi with silk worms

Hayden and Ashton digging in the dirt

Still cute, even when she's filthy!

There was a hill along our campsites that the kids rode their scooters down. They got some pretty good speed and it was a little scary to watch them! Gavin biffed it a couple times, but no major injuries.

Uncle Taylor got a little bored and constructed this mega-fort!!

Our night for dinner & dessert! There wasn't a drop of food left!

S'mores! We've started making them with Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and those got eaten up quickly! There was a fire restriction, meaning no campfires, so we just roasted marshmallows over the stove. :)