Larry did a funeral at 2:00 yesterday, followed by the graveside service across town. It was after 5:00 before he got back to the church. By the time he drove home & we left the house, it was 6-something. It was nearly 7:00 before we checked in at the State Park grounds & 8:00 before we could roast our weenies in the dark over the campfire.
Kind of a funny story there...the last time we went, we took Larry's little hatchet & cut some wood up for firewood. We planned to do the same this time, but there was a sign that said "gathering firewood is prohibited--max fine $200". We kind of panicked b/c we didn't want to eat cold hot dogs & un-charred marshmallows on our S'mores. Luckily, when we got to our site, there were a lot of little sticks laying around....and ya know, we wouldn't want the children to trip on those & fall down, so we had to pick them up & get them out of the way....and there's no need in wasting perfectly good sticks after all.
So we had our hot dogs & S'mores in the dark and then went into the shelter to get everyone's sleeping bags layed out. While we were inside, our dog (who was on a long chain/wire/leash sort of thing outside) caught sight of some sort of critter & took off---pulling his head OUT OF HIS COLLAR. We panicked b/c it was pitch black dark and we couldn't see him anywhere. We finally spotted his eyes with the flashlight & called him....and thankfully, he trotted back to us. The sign outside our little shelter said that animals were not allowed inside the park buildings, but we really couldn't risk him taking off during the night while we were asleep, so we broke (another) rule & let him sleep inside with us. He did really well---came in & layed down on his blanket & didn't move until he needed to go potty (twice during the night).
We layed down about 9 or 10, I think. It was cool enough outside that I wore a lightweight jacket the whole evening, so I figured it would be cool during the night. I slept in my clothes because I wasn't sure how many times one of the kids would need to go potty during the night (we had to drive to it during the night because it was a little too far to walk to in the dark). I ended up not getting a whole lot of sleep. Between Sarah's coughing (allllll night long) & getting up to give her medicine & puffs of her inhaler and then the dog needing to go out, waking up sweating a couple of times and then Sarah spilling her water bottle (on the air mattress where all three kids were sleeping). Oh, and let's not forget the neighbors who were apparently having a door slamming contest of some kind. Oh the joys of camping in a public park environment. Oh well...it was still fun just to get a change of scenery.
This morning we woke up at the crack of dawn. The sun was not even fully up yet when the kids were bouncing around, ready to start the day. I took these pics in the pitch black darkness this morning. The kids were all awake & my flash is REALLY bright (which is why they're squinting). I was still in my sleeping bag when I took these. (Note Samuel had come over to snuggle w/ the dog & put HIS blanket on him!!)
Savannah said she would HOLD HER EYES OPEN b/c she kept squinting for the pics when the flash went off. This one just cracks me up.
:::yawn::: Ok, kids.... we got up & ate poptarts, cereal bars & Sunny Delight before we went & did anything. Our campsite was at the base of a HUGE hill (the kids called it a mountain) so while Larry & I got fully awake, the kids "hiked" up & down the "mountain" several times. Samuel was at thetop with is "hiking stick" doing that fun sound that we all learned as little kids for Indians...you know where you make a high-pitched yell while moving your hand over your mouth? Yes...at 6:30 am my boy was waking up the whole campground probably. LOL We shushed him, but it was still pretty stinkin' funny. They were up on this "mountain" at the time I took this pic.
After we all ate, Larry & Samuel practiced setting up the tent that we got for their upcoming Scout camping trip. That was a hoot to watch. It turned out to be big enough for us to all CRAM ourselves into & the dog decided to join us. It made for a cozy little family moment where we all laughed a lot.
When we finally were able to all climb back out, we went to the lake to go fishing. When we got there, there were signs everywhere that said "no animals in the beach area". Hmm.....what technically qualifies as a beach area? We decided it was the areas where the water comes right up to the shore line---not the piers & docks where we went to fish. Right? Who knows if that's correct or not....but we were the only ones in the area, so we took the dog with us. Same as last night...we were not going to risk leaving him at the campsite alone to take off & disappear while we were gone!!
The sun was in my eyes...but....see? I really was on this trip!
It was windy out on the lake & Larry was wearing shorts & a Tshirt, so when he got cold, he walked back up toward our car, where a Park Ranger was setting up to do a bird watching hike. He decided that we needed to all go do that, so we loaded up our fishing poles & went on the hike with the Ranger & several other families.
Another side note/funny story---before we left, I had to go to the bathroom. There was one up on the hill right beside the pier area where we'd been fishing so I ran up there to use that one. Now mind you, we drove all over the place finding the area to fish this morning. Lots of curvy, winding trails & roads that all sort of look alike. It was probably a good 10 min drive from our campsite to the spot we fished. WELL...after we got back from the hike, we went back to the campsite to eat lunch. I took the girls to the bathroom to wash their hands....and wouldn't ya know it....the one RIGHT BY our campsite is the same bathroom I used this morning before the hike. When I took the girls in, I noticed the same odd piece of trash on the floor that I had noticed in the bathroom before the hike & thought how strange it would be that 2 bathrooms would have a similar piece of weird-looking trash on the floor. Then it hit me---so I went outside & looked....sure enough. I could see the pier from there! I turns out that we could've walked to the bathroom & topped a hill to go fishing, rather than drive all over the place. Oh well......ya live & learn, right?
After lunch, we loaded up all our goodies & headed home. We got home about 2:00 today & we all crashed. It was nearly 3:00 before we layed down for a nap, but I slept til nearly 6:00! I guess I was making up for last night's lack of sleep.
We had a good time!
Oh...and one other thing. WHile we werefishing at the pier, Larry & I decided that since we'd already broken all the camp rules anyway, we ought to go for one more. He carved our initials into the pier rails. Awww...I ain't never had my name carved into anything before. It must be real love, huh? LOL (spoken in my best redneck east Texas slang there...)
1 comment:
Looks like fun. Though i am not the camping type.
Laini
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