Camping is a trip

The vacation officially began on Monday. We purchased a used pop-up camper (I don't tent camp anymore - I just don't have it in me.) After loading it up, we got to the campground late in the afternoon, and got all set up and cozy. We had a fire going, roasted hot dogs and made smores (which I hate, by the way. I like all the ingredients of the smore, I just don't like them together. I prefer my marshmallows roasted, and alone.)

We put off going swimming or fishing until the next day and just chilled out at the campsite. WELL...that plan didn't quite work out.

The air conditioner began leaking, so we had a small pan to catch the drip. OK, no problem. We took Jasper along, who I don't trust enough to spend the night outside of his kennel. He still has too much 'puppy' going on and chews everything.

I discovered that two adults, two kids, and a rather rambunctious dog with a large kennel is just too much for a pop-up camper. Oh, its fine when you are outside of the camper, but not good when all are stuck inside it. To top it off, the dog had horrible gas (I know - TMI) and I decided right then that the dog is not camping with me again!

Then the rain began. (Rain that we weren't expecting!) We got about two inches and the leaking drip from the air conditioner became a steady stream. We switched from a small pan to a 5 gallon bucket and it was almost full. By Tuesday morning, we were soaked through. Decided that was enough camping!

We loaded up in a downpour and took our soaked behinds home. After setting the camper up in the garage and placing fans inside to dry everything out, James and C.W. removed and re-sealed the A/C unit. (No more leaks!!!! Good job, guys!)

By Friday, we were ready to try camping again. I'm an optimist, as everyone knows. This time, we left the dog at home with John. And while there was a little bit of rain during the night and some loud thunder, it didn't amount to much.

Some pics:

Ryan and CJ are ready to go to the pool!

CJ LOVES to fish!

Waiting patiently for Dad to bait the hook (although after the first time, CJ was taking care of baiting his own!)

Still waiting on Dad!

Still waiting...

Ryan caught a blue gill! He was hilarious!!! He was so excited, but everytime the fish would jump Ryan would scream "NO!" and try to get away from it. It was very hard to get a pic!

Another pic of Ryan and his first fish.

CJ caught a couple of toads. (Gross, I say!)

But he's proud of them! (No toads were harmed in the making of the blog post. He released them shortly after the photo session.)

All in all, it was a very successful camping trip. We all had a great time and can't wait to go back!

PS - there was no knitting on this trip. I took it along, but quickly realized that relaxation does not take place for Moms on camping trip.

A good day for ducks.

So much rain!

Well, the weekend was interesting. Independence Day was a soggy one here in Missouri, which brought 4 inches of rain to the area. (Taken with my cell phone through the screen on the window - sorry for the low quality!)

The parade was pushed back an hour, and then got started without rain. Sadly, the rain returned before the end of the parade. Hubby and the boys and I were dry, though, driving the fire truck through the parade. Here's a pic of the boys waiting to get the parade started.

Then we had rain off and on all through the day. Ryan played in the water so often, that we made several trips home for bathing and clothing changes. (Good thing we only live a couple of blocks from the park!) I began the day by complaining to my neighbor about all the rain ruining the days festivities. She said "Well, it's a good day for ducks." What a great way to put a positive spin on the day. I decided to be negative no more, and we ended up having a great (though incredibly soggy) day.

It stopped raining long enough for the fireworks show to begin on time. During the fireworks, a fine gentle mist began falling, (which was much better than the buckets that had been coming down all day) and to be honest, the evening was almost perfect. Libby wasn't here, so it couldn't be perfect, but it was as close as one could get under the circumstances.

Today is 'trip to the dentist day'. Yay.

Happy Family

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