The decision probably would have been a lot easier if not for a few factors. One being the three night requirement for holiday weekends. I wasn't too sure I wanted to shell out $40-45 per night if it was going be torture. Plus Chris was stuck working the overnight shift on Friday and Saturday. So if we did stay the three nights I would have spent two of them by myself. Well...the only adult anyways.Saturday morning the kids and I headed out to the parade. Then we had lunch and ice cream before coming home again. It was on the way home that inspiration struck - perhaps with the weekend already under way they'd waive the nightly requirement.
They were willing to make it a two-night stay. And since we were going to be out that way and up late for fireworks anyways I said "let's do it!". I booked the site, handed out the credit card number, and then began the quickest packing job ever. I kept a running mental list and think I did fairly well at getting the basics. Chris arrived home from baseball, showered, and then we hit the road as a 2 car caravan, going the 45 min to the campground with a stop at McD's for dinner.
We got checked in and then got to work on the tent. Our friends ended up being just three sites down from us. Which was good and bad. Good because they were close. Bad because the twins, Jake in particular, felt he could dart from site to site without telling anyone. One minute he was there, the next he was gone. The best was when he tried to go into the tent of the site before ours. That's when some older lady from NH spoke harshly with me about keeping "him out of our site". I know it's not proper camping etiquette to cut through sites and enter others' tents. But he's a little boy on his first camping trip.
The fireworks were a big hit. The look of wonder on the faces of the twins made staying out that late totally worth it. Getting settled back at the tent was a bit of work. Alexa slept with our friends kids, and Chris worked, so it was just me and the twins. They had no interest in sleeping in their own bags so we spread them out to make one bed. Then they each cuddled up under an arm, Liz wiggling away, Jake first asking to go home and then later muttering under his breath. Eventually all was silent until sunrise.
We had breakfast with our friends and then went our separate ways. Chris to sleep, the friends to hike, me back home with the kids to get the extra sleeping bag, sleeping mats, coffee mugs and a few other forgotten cooking/eating items (plus a shower for myself). When we got back we had lunch, just hanging out at the site till everyone else came back/got up. The kids had fun wandering around the little woods near us, gathering sticks and leaves for the fire. Eventually we ended up at the pool while the dads went golfing.
The pool. It was pure nastiness for adults but joy for kids. The water had to be at least 80 degrees or more. It was more refreshing to get out of the pool and feel some cool breezes than to actually be in the pool. Not for kids though, to them it was heaven. After 2 hours I had had enough and judging by grumpiness so had the twins. We did the playground for a bit before heading back to our tent to change. Then we took a ride to see if a short nap would come about.Night 2: Involved us doing hot dogs and burgers for dinner. Then the moms got to head out to the movies (and AC) while the dads (and friend) had smores/bedtime duty. We were all settled down and snoozing by 11pm, spread out on the mats with sleeping bags all over. At some point it started to rain but it didn't seem to bother anyone.
I was the first to rise and hike to the bathroom. Eventually everyone else woke on their own, except Chris. Then it was time to get breakfast under way. We decided to eat at our friends' site but do some cooking at ours. We ended up with a feast of bacon, sausage, eggs, pancakes, juice, coffee, and donuts. Then it was back to our site and time to start the packing process to be out by 11am. Which we were!
Injury report: All kids managed to sustain some sort of injury. Jake took a tumble down the office stairs and got some road rash on his face. Liz decided to let go while swinging and got some road rash on the back. Alexa did the best job however. While I was in the shower she thought she'd show off for dad. Showing off involved leaping off the playground platform which had to be at least 5 feet high. As usual she was her "graceful" self and according to Chris, managed to catch her foot on the bar and fell, rather than jumping, to the ground. She was screaming about her wrist. We got her some ice and I called the doctor while Chris showered. We headed over the ER for an x-ray. Chris and the x-ray tech said it was a sprain, the doctor referred to it as a greenstick fracture.So we ended our trip with a bang/crash! But it was a successful trip and we are definitely up for camping in the future.
No comments:
Post a Comment