Ross Lake Adventure

 Our last family adventure this summer was to head up to the North Cascades with our friends, the Mahoney's, and camp all up and down Ross Lake.  We stayed the night before close by at a little cabin resort, with lots of bunnies. :)

 The kids actually really enjoyed the spot.

 This was the little house we stayed in.  Deaven is carving out front.

 In the morning, we packed up our gear and headed up to where we would have to hike in.

 Pretty good lookin' crew!!  We were going to hike 1 mile down to the lake, where we would put all our gear into 3 fishing boats for the rest of the trip.  You can see the big Game Cart we used at the left of the picture.

 Peyton and Malorie ready for the hike down.

 Jamee and Will had their hands full taking the game cart down the steep mountain side.  (Not to mention coming back up, lol)

 All the kids did a fantastic job of carrying their gear and helping out.

 Even little Morgan and Kelton did great.

 Our first view of the lake and dam where we would take off from.

 Heading over to get our boats.

 Our fishing boats.

 Will getting ready to head out with Korban and Deaven.

 Super pretty area!!!

 And we are off!

 Morgan and Kelton loved chillin' in the boats.

 Every side of the lake had beautiful views.

 We stopped after about an hour at a dock to have some lunch.  The kids loved looking in the water where they could see a ton of fish.

 Our 6 kids are perfect fits for each other.

 And of course it was Malorie who caught a fish in a sandwich bag.

 Enjoying some nice sunshine!!

 Time to head up the lake to our camp.

 Along the way, we stopped at lots of waterfalls (you can see one of our boats at the bottom of one here.....showing you the size of it).

 Dennese and Kelton chilling.....

 After awhile, we starting teaching the kids how to drive the boats.

 Peyton at the wheel.

 Another waterfall.

 Deaven at the wheel.

 More waterfalls!

 We all LOVED taking our boats back into these little canyons to explore.  Probably our favorite part of the whole trip.

 At our first camp, the kids played in the water (after being eating alive from mosquitoes....while we waited for someone to leave our camp).

 Let the cliff jumping begin!

 Will and his perfect form dives. :)  Everyone except the two little kids jumped off this 15 foot cliff.  I was super proud of Peyton, especially.

 Our camp the first night, at Little Beaver.

 Already caked in dirt. :)

 First of the morning snuggles with Morgan.

 Will and I enjoying a little quiet time on a morning walk.

 Hot chocolate cheers!!

 This camp had an awesome swimming spot, with tons of fish as well.

 Will (looking like Adam) getting ready to jump another cliff.

 Deaven too!

 Lots of little fish!

 Will found Morgan a fake RUBBER fish, that she kept as her pet the rest of the trip.  She was thrilled.

 And we were off in the morning to head further up the lake to cross over the border into Canada.

 Will was getting super relaxed with Deaven driving.

 Crossing over the border.

 Yay!!

 Towards the end of the lake up on the Canada side.

 Will and I actually celebrated our 13 year anniversary while we were on this trip.  :)

 This is where our pictures get a little out of order.

 This was at the very end, when we were pulling back into the original dock.

 This is the 3rd night camping spot. McMillian camp.  We had a nice long afternoon here of playing.

 Our big boys relaxing at camp.

 The girls setting up their tent.

 And the little ones handing out in the hammock.

 Deaven cutting up some fire wood.

 Crazy Malorie and Peyton in the hammock.

 On the last evening, Will and Jamee took the Deaven and Korban out for a REAL boating lesson, where they learned how to start the boat, drive it ALONE and dock it by themselves.  Both boys did really well and enjoyed playing on the lake a bit by themselves.

 Morgan and Kelton playing with their big sticks at Twilight.

 Deaven out driving the boat for the first time alone.

 Will and Jamee took the little kids out fishing too and Will caught a fish!!!  A good size one too!

 This is actually back on our second day again.

 Getting ready to explore more canyons.

See the big bird in the back ground?

 Heading up another cool canyon.

 Under this bridge was the best canyon.  It was magical in there.  Sheer rock cliffs on either side 150+ ft high.

 This was the camp our second night, Ponderosa.  The kids said they liked this camp most (but it was the hardest to dock our boats for sure).

 All the kids came up with a fun game at this spot, that they played for hours.

 .....and the Daddy's took off to do some crazy high cliff jumping.  Yikes!

 Peyton and Malorie provided some funny campfire entertainment before we had a nice spiritual thought.

 We did a short little hike on day 3 back to the big bridge we had crossed under the day before.

 The Hayes Herd!

 This was actually an island we docked at for a bit to check out.

 Another cool canyon!

 At our last camp, we all cleaned up a bit.

 Soaping up and shaving.......lol!

 We ate really well the whole trip.  Fettuccine Chicken Alfredo with salad and bread, Chicken Fajitas, and then Steak and Mashed potatoes.  Pretty yummy food!  And lots of treats, of course.

We had such a great time and it was a pretty incredible adventure for the kids. We are continually grateful for the incredible friendships we have with the Mahoney Family and look forward to more adventures in the future with them. :)