White Water Weekend

 Nothing like a big ole' Dennis family Camp out!

We spent five days in Flaming Gorge at the Mustang Ridge Campground.

It is such a beautiful spot with a great view of the lake!

Most of our trip was spent playing in the water, either on the dam or on the river.

Here are a few of the pics.  :)

My three kiddos.  Am I a lucky mama or what?

 

This was right below of camp spot.  The kids loved climbing on the rocks and jumping in the water.  We made sure they always had a life jacket on when exploring this place.  :)

The water was cold, but refreshing.

 

 

Lib and Jack like to hold hands.  They are the best of friends.

It is so cute to watch them play.

 

Gage got a lesson on how to pogo from Daddy.

 

They also chilled a bit in the hammock.  I didn't dare sit in it yet.  I still remember oh too well what it felt like to plummet to the earth when the rope snapped a few weeks ago!

Cord did get some "professional climbing grade" rope and new straps.  It is safe as can be now.

but still...

 

Who is that cute girl sporting two life jackets? 

 

Cousin Woodrow let Gage do some jumping in his jumper!

Looks like it wore Gage out...

 

The kids took turn doing some scooter races.  

Libby was a great cheerleader!

 

We tried out those HUGE marshmallows they have now in the stores.

They are pretty messy...

 

 

The little boys getting clean in Cindee's trailer.

Good thing for the air conditioned trailer for naps.

Gage had some nice long snoozes in this baby.

We took a tour of the Flaming Gorge Dam.

It was actually super interesting...

Check out the white water coming out of the dam.

Pretty intense right?

 

 They were letting water out through these huge tubes.  We were pretty lucky to get to see it.  They have only used them a handful of times since the dam was built!  

Our tour guide said it was a "real treat" to witness.

I have to agree.

 

Cute Nat and Ben listening to the guide talk about how they built the dam.

Notice they like to hold hands too...

 

We got to go down to the base of the dam and feed the fish.

A nice guy who was on the tour with us gave all the kids quarters to get fish food.

They thought that was pretty cool. 

 

Here I am getting ready to jump on the raft.  

We took turns each day going down the river.

I seriously haven't laughed as hard as I did on the raft than I have in ages.

One time, Jenny and I got knocked into the raft by a huge wave.  We were totally tangled and couldn't get out.  I almost peed my pants from laughing so hard.  It was a blast.

Almost every trip someone got thrown into the water.

"Some of us" started throwing ourselves into the raft on the big rapids to ensure safety.

This technique was named the "Dennis Dive."

Hey...you gotta do what you gotta do right?  :)

I have an awesome family.  No doubt about that!

(the following pics courtesy of matt's phone...)

 

Cord was often the man on the back of the raft. 

He got to steer the boat!

 

This is the trip when a wave came over the raft, knocked me totally airborne and blew Eva into the river.  It was out of control.  :)

I feel really lucky to be able to spend time with my family in the great outdoors.  We have so much fun together.

It was a fantastic vacation.  Can't wait to see where we go next year!