Returning to our roots...

Not Haley style, but Anderson/Erwin style. We went camping! All of us! Even Princess Rachel. And one stab at who liked it the most...you guessed it, the Princess. We decided on an overnight trip, and set out for the Buffalo River a little later than we wanted (always the case with the Erwins). We settled our camp a little before dusk, and Momma went to work on dinner. After a bit of a challenge on the fire; not the camp fire - we had that down. It was the darn charcoal grill that gave us a hard time. Anderson/Erwin won, and we had a great dinner by campfire.

Hook 'em horns? What the heck is that? Well, Ray is excited anyway...

Is that a marshmallow are you just happy to see me?

My boy. And yes, it is a marshmallow, and I made it all by myself, and my Momma is so proud of me she could burst.

Will, lovin' life, albeit dirty life. I DID NOT go crazy with the germ juice this weekend. I let go and let God, and we had the most incredible time.

At one point, I walked the kids and Kirk away from the camp, away from the campfire and lanterns, and I said, "Look up", and you could see stars from here to tomorrow. It was awesome. And my kids, who have never seen anything like that, gasped. It was the most precious sound, next to their first cries.

Mr. Kirk found her before I stepped on her. He knelt down, and she crawled up his finger, her wings still wet with the morning dew. She opened them, and tried to fly, but just wasn't quite ready yet. We were patient, and we followed her with camera in hand, which allowed us to get these great shots.

Captain Kirk

He took care of us, all of us, all weekend. He kind of liked that camping stuff too.

We did it. We didn't know until the morning of if it was the right thing or not, but who knows if going canoeing with an 8 and a 4 year old will work? After breakfast, we decided that you can't come to the Buffalo and not canoe. We loaded our gear and set off for a 3 hour tour. It was incredible; the water so clear that they both were surprised at every rock, every fish. They were great. We stopped at a couple of banks, and Kirk and I fished while they waded; we both caught a fish, small but fun. And Kirk got to learn a thing or two about tying a jig and taking a fish off the line. I was as proud of him as I was my little ones.

Why we love this place. Because it is a gift from God. We are thankful for every trip, every memory.