Off to the Sequoias

We're heading out again this morning for our annual trek to church family camp near Sequoia National Park.

It's our favorite event of the year (seriously, right up next to Christmas!), and it was almost canceled this year. The boys start asking about when we're going back as soon as we get home. We've thought about spending a whole summer working at camp when the boys are old enough.

They love waking up and heading outside to the trees and fresh air, spending all day exploring and playing outside. I love that, and the fact that I'm not responsible for meals, and follow them around with my camera, or just sit by the campfire and knit and visit our fellow campers. Every year I come back and wonder how I could make home more like camp...

This year I was inspired to make them field bags for taking with us on our walks along the nature trails around camp. They were very easy, and I finished them up yesterday just in time. (I need a deadline for this kind of thing!)

I used two pairs of capris that don't fit me anymore (ahem, must have been the dryer...) to make four bags. I needed my own, too, of course! I was honestly surprised at just how much they liked the idea when I was done with them. I filled them with notebooks and colored pencils, glue sticks and baggies, just in case.

It's funny, I've been reading a lot of Charlotte Mason and nature study blogs this summer, and making sure we save time for outdoor exploring in the next "school" year. But really, the boys were born naturalists. Eldest may not like to draw, but he keeps a notebook of every creature and plant he's ever seen and heard the name of in his head.

So, the bags are less for inspiration, and more a practical solution to the problem of "Mom, will you hold this pinecone for me?"

As if that were really a "problem"!