What a Weekend.

As an indication of how my weekend went let me say that I mentioned to my husband on Friday morning that I was never camping with them again. While that is a fair statement given the stress I have been under I also have to say that I really enjoyed our trip.

Wednesday was a really crazy day. I had class in the morning and I zoomed home from school to find that my husband had started loading the truck (Yeah Dave) except that I wasn't finished packing yet. So a couple of hours and a badly botched batch of Pumpkin Cheesecake Muffins that I almost cried over, we left.

Seven hours later.
We arrived at the campsite, in the dark. Now, we were all extremely happy to get out of the truck. Don't get me wrong, it was wonderful to hug my parents, my nieces, my sister and her husband. Fabulous. But seven hours? Come on. Why is it that everywhere my family travels it takes us seven hours. Geez!

Setting up that night wasn't too bad. We had lots of help and we were just hanging out enjoying the evening. However, once we all hit the hay the party began. I stayed up to chill with Mike and Erin. By the time I crawled into the tent it was some where around midnight. Shortly thereafter, Abby started coughing and was very restless. Our air mattress wasn't quite pumped up all the way because it was new and we hadn't charged the battery on the pump. Why couldn't it use the the electricity from the cord? Its a mystery. So every time I shifted or moved Abby stirred. She also sat up several times. I was worried about her. It was chilly and damp and she was congested. So I pulled her up onto the air mattress. Then, I have to pee. Seriously, I have to climb out disturbing everyone and pee next to the woods by our tent. I actually don't mind that part except that I didn't really have any tp handy. I had to do that two more times before the sun came up. Finally Abby starts breathing deeply and is in a good spot. I am finally settling down, no more pee and I'm warm and Wesley yells out "I don't want to be alone. I'm scared." Now, you must know that the child was in a tent, connected to ours, and in his tent was a giant black labrador retriever and his big brother. Its not as if we left him in the woods alone to fend for himself. Come on kid. Guess who ends up on the deflated air mattress with me. So, Dave says forget this and he climbs into the boys tent. Leaving me with two not really sleeping well babies. I did not have a good night.

However, like all camping trips I wake up so happy. I climb out of my tent and the air is so clean and the lake (that was right in front of our tent) was so beautiful. I was energized at hanging with my family and just being able to be a mom.



Ayla and her cousin Katherine are only four months apart age wise but they were inseperable the entire weekend. They are just the cutest little friends. The dug in the sand, found a whole treasure box of junk and invented games and adventures. I loved watching my daughter enjoy her cousin. It makes me appreciate my sister that much more.

Erin wanted to go running. I haven't excercised much lately so Mom and I walked while Erin took off. Then, we get back to camp and Erin wants to ride. So I say ok. Mom, Erin and I then head off on a bike ride, in running shorts, in the cold. I liked the ride. But I was happy to get back. I was freezing. I wanted to shower and put on my blue jeans and my hoodie. Well, we get back to the campsite and my kids are like "you said you would pull us in the trailer." Say what. My Dad says, "Don't be such a wuss Meem" So, of course I have to show that I am definitly not a wuss. We load up all 60 lbs of my babies in the trailer and set off. I make it only two rounds around the circle we are riding. My legs are burning, I haven't slept, I'm starting to feel like Wesley could do a better job on the bike. Thankfully, my Dad emerged from the woods and agreed to ride them back to camp. I realized I need to get my butt back in gear.

The rest of day was just nice and peaceful. We went over to Mike's grandma's house for turkey and all the fixin's. Her property is just beautiful and we all really enjoy The Galland's company. While we were there the guys checked the weather. Not good. It said its supposed to rain on Friday. I was secretly hoping we could just head home. I was tired, I have three tests this week and three finals next week and my house is trashed and we have no food and....well you get the idea. We decide we will wait until the morning to see what happens to make a decision. In the early morning hours it begins to rain.

I was curled up in my bag, next to my husband (who has this whole time been a rock of strength and a hard worker). My baby was sleeping much more peacefully this time next to me. I laid there and I listened to the rain fall gently on the tent and I just felt whole. Being outside is something that I crave sometimes. Something that my spirit chastizes me for when it doesn't get enough. Friday morning was like a renewal. A sweet blessing of just being a part of the earth.
(Gratuitous Baby loves before the Nitty Gritty)

Now, after this beautiful morning, in which we all sit around eating breakfast and chatting about how we need to get things going, the rain comes....For Real. The temperature dropped and the rain started as intermittent but got more continuous throughout the morning. At first, we were like, no big deal. I went in the tent with Abby to keep us dry and I started packing everything up. Things went on pretty well for a while until my tent starting leaking. At this point, everyone was starting to get a little cranky. Once your socks are soggy, its hard to have a good attitude. I got out of the tent with Abby so that Dave could finish breaking it down. Erin and I were standing near a tree when the rain just dumped. Erin grabs a towel for us to stand under and we try to put Abby between us so that she doesn't get the brunt of it. I remark to Erin that towels are absorbent and maybe this isn't working, meanwhile we are just laughing. It felt like an adventure, a cool memory that we will laugh about later. The guys were not having as much fun. Dave was cussing. My Dad was fussing and Micheal was hiding out. My poor baby was so cold and shivering I finally gave in and took her up to the bathroom to get her some dry clothes. We headed to Mom and Dad's where we just chilled until Saturday at lunch time.

It was really good for our family to be together. Not only do I miss so much my sisters and my parents and my sweet little nieces and nephews but I miss my own kids. I haven't seen much of them these last few months. Dave and I are not getting to spend time together with them. It was so great to just be together, no t.v.s, no game systems, no distractions. I'm glad we went. It was worth the trauma. Although the jury is still out, on if I will be doing that again anytime soon.