This weekend marked our family’s 10th year of family reunions at Payson Lakes.
070 The group camp site is reserved from Thursday to Saturday, but for most of the group, Friday is the day to come up and play. We hang out at the lakes, fishing, swimming, and canoeing. But some years, the elements do not cooperate. One year there were fires in a nearby canyon, and we spent the day (and night) wondering if they would evacuate us. Last year we took Marie, our French exchange student with us, and she was excited to go camping and catch a fish. Huge rains drenched our tent and we sacked the idea of camping overnight, but she did catch a fish. This year we weren’t even planning on staying overnight. Ryan won’t sleep where he can’t plug in his sleep mask, and Natalie and I both had to get back for our respective plays. Unfortunately, this campout usually coincides with the opening weekend of Alpine Community Theater’s summer play, so that’s been a conflict for the past several years.

Friday dawned RAINY. REALLY rainy. Ugh. Because of the rain, we weren’t quite so quick to pack up our stuff and go, but we did get to the camp site by about 11:00.
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With three different canopies set up, it kept us pretty dry so we could play some card games.
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The kids were happy to spend some time with cousins, even if it was cold and rainy.
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Eventually the sun came out! Ryan and Megan had stayed at home to get some work done, but they brought 12 junior frosties from Wendy’s with them in a cooler when they came.
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It’s just fun to get together with family.

Shortly after the sun came out, Natalie and I had to leave. We had to get Natalie ready for her play..Opening night! and her call time was 5:00.
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We did some makeup for her and braided her hair (luckily it doesn’t have to be curled or anything difficult like that) and got her some food and took her over to the school. I cleaned up a little bit and then went to my own rehearsal. Thankfully, I didn’t have to stay at rehearsal super long, so I was just getting home by ten so I could pick Natalie up from the play.

Ryan and the kids didn’t get home until nearly midnight, and they brought an extra! Jenna was thrilled to have her cousin Kaylee come and stay with us for the rest of the weekend.

Short, but sweet. No time in the lake, no canoeing, but we still had fun. And since I brought my camera home with me, no pictures of the festivities for the rest of the afternoon and evening, but they came home just as dirty as if they had been there MORE than just a day. (Not sure how that happens)