Camping!

 Violet and I were blessed Friday to sneak in a quick 24-hour camping trip with JT, Callie and Jonah at a campground in the San Gabriel Mountains called Crystal Lake. (Cora had a previously scheduled birthday party, Stace had football, and Jim had to work too.)

Here's our setup, and Violet did all the heavy lifting for me. She's quite a camper, and really loves being in the mountains and big trees.

We made it "camping lite," with me bringing up a pizza for dinner; we cooked breakfast, and then ate sandwiches from home for lunch on Saturday.

We took a walk around the area after dinner, and enjoyed the views.

We had a look at a very old amphitheater, with a large fire pit.

Check out the holes, presumably from acorn woodpeckers.

On Saturday, after packing up, we took a walk to the lake, the only natural lake in the San Gabriel Mountains. It was a mile walk, and it was hot, so we tried to focus on shade and drinking plenty. 

But it was worth it - so beautiful!

We sat under a tree, ate our sandwiches and watched a family fishing. The lake had just been stocked, so fishing would have been fun. But carrying all the gear in the heat, and then dealing with fish and a drive home - not this trip.

I'm so glad my college bestie and I were able to make these memories with our kids (minus my big one...).f