Back to Boot!!

It is a staple, a tradition and the older two have been planning for a year for Boot Lake.  We headed off on our Wednesday migration towards the Nicolet.  It was a different feel this year.  The park service had started taking reservations rather than first come first serve, it worked out fine in the end and will be even easier next year, but caused some last minute stress this year as we were not sure if we would find sites.  Also in the mix was a trip back to GB to visit Ella's School and meet with the realtor.  That too didn't matter much as the weather had been rainy and unexcpectantly cold.  We were left with two days of great swimming.  The kids played on the tube as Dave zipped them around the lake, made sand castles and wrestled in the waves.  We did load up the canoe late one morning and paddle over to a rope swing across the beach.  The kids were tentative but all giggles when they came off rope into the clear water.  I suspect that too will be a yearly tradition now.  It had a been a few days in camp so we also took that oportunity to suds up our hair and get our camp smell back to civilized amounts.   Just in time of course for the trip to the candy store.  The kids loaded up on candy including candy cigarettes and then spent time asking me to buy them lighters so they could light their own.  After looking for at the second store for a four pack of lighers, I bought them a single one to share.  Sophia and Ella then proceded to stand at the end of our campsite and light up their cigarettes to confuse our neighbors.  We continued our summer goal of making fire.  Both Merrick and Grace were able to get a flame going with flint and steel, but alas the two stick method has still alluded us. We spent alot of time worrying about battery life as I didn't have a nut tightened on the camper and ended up setting up with an incomplete charge.  We did get out to do a little fishing and Merrick scored a rock bass, but the wind was too much for canoe fishing.  We had a great family night around the fire playing "treasure island" in which someone has a theme and the others have to determine the pattern.  Merrick required people to bring something that started with the first letter of the month they were born.  Grace did one that was food but in the order it gets eaten through out the day.  Little geniuses!  Ella and Sophia had the tent to themselves.   We also picked up a big cast iron skillet and made a new favorite tradition of campfire pizza.  It wasn't perfect but it was good enough to know that next year we need enough supplies for two pizzas.