Family Camping 2015

Ah, family camping.

I'm a fan of repetition in design as well as in life.

Repetition in life is called tradition.

Our location is the same (outside Olympia, Washington on some timber land that my brother's company owns) and many of the people are the same from year to year. This group was started by my brother and sister-in-law and some of their friends and usually includes my cousin Rob (the best storyteller and all-around creative genius) and his family along with an extended collection of my brother's friends. Some stay out there all three nights and some come just for the day. This year Rob organized an art show for the kids to draw pictures of Shakey the Bear - a family camping legend who brings treats to well-behaved campers.

This year also marked the first that the adults were officially and completely outnumbered by the kids. There were so many babies! Simon was in heaven - he loves babies.

Each family is responsible for one meal. I had Sunday breakfast this year and ended up doing a dry cereal bar that included purchasing a whole bunch of fun kids cereals (and bringing way too much home too).

This was also the hottest Family Camping adventure to date. We spent a lot of time in the water to stay cool which not a single person complained about. This year one family brought some kayaks and another brought a big inflatable floating thing and I brought a couple water chairs. Water time was definitely a highlight this year.

It's one of my favorite places to take photos. Being outside all day long is an awesome opportunity to capture light at just the right moments. I shot most of these photos with my DSLR and a few with my iPhone 6 .

Looking at this photo of Anna and Lucy and friend Hannah made me go back in my archives to find this one of them just a couple of years ago:

And then there's this one from this year:

Which totally made me look for this one from 2011:

Right before our very eyes.

My cousin Rob, my brother John, and my longtime friend Paolo.

Simon and Auntie Liz and baby Olive.

Sweet Jane.

Story time. The stuff legends are made of - these kids will remember this stuff forever.

The morning hike up into the woods.

Some of our crazy crew.

Shake leaves these awesome notes around from time to time and the kids follow the clues to find goodies such as drawing materials, glow necklaces, and other treats.