Five Pines: It's the simple things...

Last weekend we hooked up the trailer and headed out to Fort Custer State Park in Augusta. We debated whether or not to go because the weather forecast wasn't looking very good. We decided come rain or shine, sleet or snow we were going. We left about noon on Friday in the pouring rain and 40 degrees. We were so happy that we didn't let that stop us. Come Saturday morning the sun came out and the temps rose and we enjoyed every minute of it!

Craig made beautiful fires that kept us warm and cozy.

It was Easter weekend and Jordan was home on a 4 day break from college. Much to our delight she joined us the whole weekend. Loved having my girl with us the weekend!

We weren't going to bring any of the dogs with us but Jordan talked us into bringing Fiona because she misses them being away at school.

I am still in love with our trailer. It's has every comfort of home.

Here's Jordan and Craig with their noses stuck in their phones. Must have been checking Facebook.

This cool photo was compliments of Craig. I love how you can see Jordan through the flames. I've noticed that Craig is picking up the camera a little more often and trying to be creative.

Staying warm around the fire.

The BEST part about this state park was the lakes. It has 3 secluded lakes. Not one house is on any of them. We spent most of our time kayaking. I even got Jordan in the kayak.

She picked it up real fast, not that kayaking is hard. Having her out on the water with me was awesome. The sun was shinning beautiful and I got some great shots of her. She's so photogenic.

I am so grateful that as young adults our children still want to spend time with us. I hope that never changes.

Jordan has two more weeks of school then she will be home for one week before heading back for spring and summer semesters. Since she isn't going to be home this summer we are relishing all the time we get to spend with her.

Turtles were sunning themselves everywhere. This brave little turtle stayed on the log a lot longer than the others. Usually they all scattered when we got close.

It's nesting season. I never knew that a nesting Canadian Goose hunkered down and tried to hide from you. Can you see the goose?

Craig and I celebrated 25 years of marriage this past week. What a lucky woman I am.

I adore him. How comforting it is to me that late at night after I've had a stressful day I can count on him reaching for my hand. He is my everything.

Kayaking may not have been his idea but he knows what enjoyment it gives me so he has learned to love it too. That's what kind of man he is.

Craig and I found a swampy bog area in the park. There was no boat landing or paths to this area. It was so beautiful and I was dying to kayak there. Later that day we saw a park ranger and I asked them if it was OK to kayak in there. Sure! Craig and I headed out there and kayaked for about 3 hours until it was too dark to see anymore.

I can't wait to go again in a few weeks when things green up.

On Sunday morning Craig took me and dropped me off at the lake so I could kayak for a few hours before heading home. This was the only lake we hadn't been on yet. What a gift that morning was. Just when I didn't think it could get any better it did.

This lake by far had the most wildlife on it. I was in absolute awe. Every corner I turned there was something amazing to witness.

This lake was huge but very shallow. Even in the middle it was only a few feet deep. This nest was out in the middle. I'm guessing it is an eagle nest but I didn't see any eagles.

I was thrilled to see nesting sand hill cranes everywhere! These are huge birds, standing about 5 feet tall.

I saw 5 nesting pairs and I'm sure there were more hidden that I couldn't see. Most all of them made their nests partly hidden just into the reeds.

But for some reason this crazy Momma made her nest right out in the open water with no cover at all. I felt sorry for her because she was having an absolute fit with me out there. I never did get very close (thanks to my telephoto lens) but she still wasn't very tolerant of me.