Camping with two kids...

Hi ho, hi ho... a camping we will go... 


:) Well, we did it. We had a camping trip. Kind of. It counts as the first one, but I'm sure that there will be another more "official" camping trips. You see, I kind of know my kids. I know that they are young for camping, despite their confidence and desire to camp. I know they are young to really appreciate camping... to really enjoy the "wild." 


We contemplated what to do. Yatesville Lake State Park has a wonderful campground that I have really been wanting to try out... especially since Brad and I camped there a few times when we were dating in college... before the property was officially a campground. Yes, we were trespassers... who never got busted. :) Anyway... I found that there are boat-in sites to set up camp at Yatesville and I thought it would be perfect for us since we'd be boating. But, there was the catch... we had to rent for three days in order to go. Since, that didn't make much sense, we figured it really would be better to just camp on some of my parents' property. 


I thought and thought and thought... and figured that it made a lot of sense to just camp out near the woods behind my parents' house so that we could have quick access to the house if it rained (it was calling for thunderstorms) or if the kids got scared (much more likely the case) or if we needed the bathroom (we did a few times). 


And so... we, being me and Emily (Colt's girlfriend), set up the tents and the camping area. We were eaten up by mosquitoes. We covered ourselves in bug spray and long sleeves. We roasted hot dogs. We roasted marshmallows. We hung out and talked and enjoyed the evening around the fire with my parents, Colt and Emily, and the kids.


There were no photos. 

There were NO PHOTOS. I know. I suck as a parent who blogs. I should remember these things, right? 


I lived in the moment.


And, I had my hands slightly full, since Bailey decided to be completely exhausted and crawl into my lap to fall asleep (she weighs nearly 60 pounds, so this wasn't that easy). 


Around 11, we crawled into the tent. Had it not been for the thunder and lightning, I would have left the tent unzipped so that the wind could blow through the screen. But, if it rained, well, we would have ended up soaked. So, we sweltered. Our body heat plus the heat of the evening equaled a night of very uncomfortable, sweaty sleeping. At about 2 a.m., Bailey woke up. She was scared, despite her arguments that she wasn't. I heard her wake up and I watched her as she watched the shadows. I watched as she looked at her dad and scooted as close to him as possible, despite the heat. I watched her sit up and lay back down about five times. Then, she said, "Mom... I have to go to the bathroom." She was trembling. I thought it sounded like it was raining. I had been listening to the wind and it was blowing hard. I told her that it was raining and to go back to sleep, but she wanted to go in. So, I woke up Brad and told him to get Jake and we would go in, since it was raining. Well, lo and behold, we crawled out of the tent and it was just wind. There was no rain. We could have went to the bathroom and come back to the tent and they would have made it. But, we didn't. We took them on in, curled up and went to sleep. 


The end. :) 


P.S. Bailey says she doesn't care if we go camping again. I'm so glad we didn't pay to go some place. I'm so glad we were close to my mom's. I think we'd be able to get them to go again and they would be fine... especially now that they know what to expect (and we know what to expect from them). :) Repeat... soon? We'll see. 

List update...

Tonight is a list update. 

I have no kids to write about tonight. They are living the good life, getting spoiled by their grandmother in eastern Kentucky. I'm sure they will be total brats by the time they get home. I dread that part. I miss the little birds... but when they come home, they act like the little prince and princess that they've been treated like at their mamaw's. :) But, they have fun... and they have rules that involve no more toys for a while, which is good. They did get a cat (that will stay at their mamaw's) and apparently it is all the rage. So much that my little man, who typically is ready to come home by now, wanted to stay one more night. It worked out nicely for me... since I have the appointment with the surgeon at 10:45 in the morning. Yippee. 

So... back to the list. 

I'm slightly disappointed... well, flat out disappointed, that I can't do Habitat for Humanity this weekend. We (being Brad, Cilla, Bret, Dawn, and Brandon) had planned this in June. All three of us ladies want to do this... as do the guys, I think... and it sucks that my gallbladder is preventing that. Boo. That's two list items that it has interfered with... camping and Habitat for Humanity. Have I mentioned how much I can't wait to get this gallbladder out and be done with this? 

Anyway... I'm working on other things though. 

Our garden... is growing. Some of it is dying, but lots of things are growing. Well, lots of tomatoes and peppers are growing. That's pretty much it. lol. The squash and zucchini must have had some infestation of insects or something, because it was growing great and then BAM! It all died. All of it. So did my baby watermelons! The plant is HUGE, but the watermelons that were growing turned completely black and shriveled up and died. I was not happy. The pumpkin plants are getting too hot and I don't think they're going to make it. That made me more sad than anything. I was so excited about seeing pumpkins growing this fall. My butternut squash, however, has done really well. There's one almost ready to pick. So... I'm learning. I know next year to spread things out more... I think the bell peppers would be bigger by now if I had put them in front of the tomatoes. The plants got too big and shaded the peppers too much. No habaneros next year... they are just going to rot away because no one knows what to do with them. lol. They are just too hot. And, hopefully my blackberry bush might come back next spring instead of completely dying. We'll just see. While I have lots more to learn in terms of gardening, I think it's safe to say that I can mark off my vegetable garden on the list. So... one more thing comes off the list! :) 

Running. Well. I'm not running because of my health. Enough said. My goal right now is to get healthy and get over this surgery and everything and start training again. I was hopeful that I might be able to come back fast enough to run a 10K this fall, but I might just plan to skip the 10K altogether and just train for the half marathon in the spring. I don't know. I'll just have to see what happens. 

I also have on my list some things about reading. I want to read Newsweek's Top 100 Books of All Time. Well, actually, I don't think I should have put that on the list, because there are a few on that list that I flat out do not want to read. So, I might just never accomplish this one. I actually might change it to something more like "read the books I want to read off of this list and create my own list of Top 100 Books." :) Until I make that executive decision to change it, I am reading some of the ones that are on this list that I actually do want to read. Today, I visited the library and picked up The Catcher in the Rye and Gulliver's Travels. I think it's quite funny that I never have read either of these two. I know the general synopsis of both and have heard references to them throughout life. I just never have read them. So... I'll let you know what I think about them. :) 

Also, at the library, I picked up the second round of books to read to the kids, as part of the 50 Books To Read While In Kindergarten. We have marked off 6 from the list and I picked up 7 more today. I am surprised by how much the kids enjoyed it. Actually, I really expected Bailey to, but Jake shocked me. He doesn't typically like to read, unless it's about superheroes. But, he loved the books! He especially loved A Splendid Friend Indeed by Suzanne Bloom. Funny how certain things appeal to certain kids. 

I'm still working on the list and have some additions and changes to make to it. I was planning to wait until my birthday to make some changes to it. But... I think I'm going to have to do it sooner. There's one thing that I was going to add that I am going to be able to accomplish in September (surprisingly), so I'm going to have to at least make that change. :) I'll let the curiosity drive you all nuts... except Cilla who I already told about it. :)