old man nick's birthday camping trip

this weekend's camping trip to celebrate nick turning 28 big ones was SO beautiful and great! we left friday and came back sunday morning before the crack of dawn to get back in time for church. i tell you what, that buffalo river is the most beautiful river i've ever seen, in all my days. the bluffs, the fog, the green combined with fall's first crispness in the air... it was perfect in every way.
my only sadness was misplacing the camera saturday and not finding it until after dark later that night. it was so horrible to be surrounded by incredible beauty and merry memory-making but no camera to capture it permanently!
i have mental snapshots though. there were two distinct times when i thought, 'MAN, i miss my camera!'. so i paused, took a mental snapshot, and will now forever have it. no one else can enjoy them... but oh well.
the first one was from across the river right before the boys (nick, zach & micah kuenzle) were getting ready to start their hike up to cecil's bluff. they had just crossed the river at a shallow spot and were putting their socks & hiking boots back on. i looked all around at the rugged nature, the craggy rocks they were preparing to mount, and then back at them and couldn't help laughing out loud. their feet were wet and must have also been tender on the rocks because they were all three prancing around, hopping from foot to foot with their jeans rolled up to their knees, awkwardly bending over and trying to get their shoes back on. it was hilarious. they looked so manly and so vulnerable at the same time.
the other was when we were sitting around the campfire in the late afternoon, right as it was starting to cool off and become dusk... i looked over past the tents through the trees and the sun was shining on a slant, making long tree shadows across the green grass.
my favorite time of day.

allison camped with us friday night then headed back to civilization for a fall fest.
saturday, the boys went on their hike and i lounged in the hammock, reading my book for a nice long while.

this was on the way back home - we drove past 3 breathtakingly beautiful farm/sunrise/fog shots until i finally got my camera out and this was the best that came along. inevitable.