Camping at Outhouse Flats

Happy 4th of July! We had a great time this weekend (but it sure felt great to take a really long nap on Saturday after everyone had left!) . On Thursday after many calls to coordinate efforts, we met my mom, dad, Tasha, and the kids at Nicki's in Ogden and then headed up to Outhouse Flats by Pine View Reservoir in the Ogden Canyon to go camping. Now, the camp ground is not really called Outhouse Flats, but my mischievous dad and his equally so friends named it that when the forest service first opened the campground on a flat area between the highway and the reservoir. They had planted trees, but the trees were still really small compared to the outhouses. The kids tried to put up signs saying Outhouse Flats, but the forest service didn't think it was funny and kept taking down the signs. Frustrated, dad and his friends looked for something more permanent. Such as the white reflective highway paint. And Dad's cousin Paul's dad worked for the highway department...all was going well. They only had one more hitch in their plan. In the middle of painting the new name on the highway, going both ways, the local sheriff's deputy stopped by. They hid, but it was a cold night and the paint was steaming up from their hiding place in the bushes. The deputy's flashlight shined right on it. But after reading what was written he just laughed, announced to the steam that he'd be swinging through the area in a little while so they better hurry, and left them to finish the job. So to get back to the original topic, we went camping at Outhouse Flats, but the trees are much bigger now. Melissa and Rob joined us in a little while, then Chad and Tarilynn and kids, so everybody was there. Grandma and Grandpa were practically floating with all their grandkids around them. In the morning we went to the Huntsville park for the town breakfast and parade. Huntsville is growing but it still has a lot of the traditions that it had when we were kids (luckily, since we were out of the town we missed the sheriff driving through town at six with his siren on to wake everyone up for the breakfast. That was a tradition gladly missed) and it was really fun for Dad to see so many people he grew up with, including his cousin Paul. After the parade we went to grandma Newey's house that Aunt DaNeice owns now and had lunch with our cousins. We left to meet a college roommate of mine for a few minutes and then met back at our house here for dinner, except Chad and Tarilynn who headed back to Idaho. Saturday morning we just enjoyed being together and then packed everybody up to head back home. Felicity and Caleb jumped in with grandma at the last minute and I'm still trying to remember if I packed enough underwear for them in the frantic packing. As loud and busy as Joseph is, it sure is a lot quieter with the older two gone, and it was amazing how much faster we got ready for Church this morning. We do miss them, Joseph wandered the house this morning looking for Felicity. We'll pick them up when we head to Idaho for a family reunion this coming weekend. When we talked to them on the phone I think we missed them more than they missed us, Felicity was just excited that she got french frys and a hamburger for dinner. And speaking of that, I better go make dinner, Joseph is declaring he's hungry.