Camping Trip- Day 1
I’m a little bipolar when it comes to scheduling. I like to have plans as much as I like to fly by the seat of my pants. I think if I had my way I would definitely plan out my vacations for the summer but because of Rob’s line of work and being self employed I’m left with making last minute plans. And that, too, I’m ok with. Because Rob basically has the entire winter off of work it is hard for him to justify taking any lengthy vacations in the summer. Yeah, that’s a bummer. I love having him home more in the winter so I’m not THAT bummed. Anyway, a couple of months ago I decided to take a Monday off from work which would leave me with 8 days off IN A ROW. I had no idea what I was going to do, if anything, during my time off. Maybe take a weekend trip; maybe stay home. Maybe go camping? The latter wasn’t first on the list because the only type of camping I’ve every done was in a tent... and I’m brave, but not brave enough to attempt that with 3 kids. But somehow in conversation with my sister she offered to let us use their camper. JACKPOT! So this week I’m “camping.” By “camping” I mean I’m sleeping in an air conditioned 32 foot trailer with flushing toilets, shower, stove and refrigerator and, most importantly, AIR CONDITIONING! Certainly not roughing it by any means. We decided to check out Sandy Pines in Hopkins because it had a great reputation, a slew of things to entertain the kids, and it is close enough for Rob to commute to work. NICE!
We arrived tonight, Thursday, and set up “camp” and ate pizza from Perfect PIzza. My overly tired children were put to bed and I decided to journal a bit. Tomorrow we’ll check out the pools and maybe the beach. I’m so excited for a little vacation but more excited to make some memories with my kiddos.
Our home for the week! Thanks Dave and Yvonne!
Camping Trip- Day 2
It’s 10pm and the kids are in bed and I am so ready to hit the sack my self. I’m exhausted. “Camping” is hard work. The kids were up earlier than their normal early bird schedule and Rob had already left for work. We started the morning with a walk around the campground. I was fairly certain that I would be met by park rangers when I returned to my camp site and asked to leave after all the sleepy vacationers complained they were rudely awoken by my soon to be 2 year old incessant crying, whining and screaming. I’m being optimistic and hoping this is just a phase. It’s absolutely awful. Give me any “phase” that kids go through.... I can’t handle this one any longer. Just STOP THE SCREAMING!
We made it to the water park which was awesome. There was a splash pool that is about a foot and a half deep and that transitions to a regular pool; and a huge splash pad with all kinds of activities! And finally, an adult only pool, whick I’ll probably never see the likes of. We stayed there for about 2 hours and then headed back to camp for naps. The pool is only about 10 minutes from our camp by car and they never made it back before falling asleep. Fortunately they all transitioned well and I was hopeful that I would get a nap in too. That lasted about 5 minutes when Max decided to wake Leah up. She so was not ready to get up. Now I have a child who thoroughly enjoys her screaming fit that was was short changed on sleep last night and now on her nap too. Oh, my. Sorry Sandy Pines campers. Please don’t egg my trailer!
Rob arrived late afternoon. We rented a golf cart, grilled delicious burgersl, took a long ride on the golf cart and ended the night with bonfire and smores. And now I’m calling it a day. Because I’m sure my early birds will be up looking for their worms before I’m ready to roll my self out of bed!
Isn't this the best marshmellow roasting stick ever?
Camping Day 3-
Today we beached it! I have a love/hate relationship with sand. It doesn’t take much sand to ruin a picnic lunch. Ask Leah about her PB&J&S (S=Sand)! But it’s entertaining. The kids love to play in the sand and seem to occupy themselves longer than at the pool. In the evening we took another golf cart ride and found the ice cream shoppe. It was an absolutely beautiful evening.
It’s a bit ironic that at home I complain that the kids are like magnets attached to me and at any given moment I have one, if not all three, within a 2 foot radius of me, but when we’re camping and all 5 of us are crammed into a 32 foot trailer, it’s the close proximity of everyone that I truly enjoy! I believe the main difference is what else I have going on.... at home I have a myriad of things I need or should do swirling around my overflowing, disorganized mom brain while when camping I have nothing more to do than be in that moment. There is no TV, no internet, no distractions. Just me and the kids. (Sounds nice and sweet now, huh? Talk to me at day 7)!
Camping Day 4-
We woke to find dark, threatening storm clouds looming overhead. I thought for sure our day was going to be rain filled and that our expected guests would cancel their trip. But after a quick thunderstorm the clouds disappeared and it turned out to be a hot, beautiful day. The Achterhof’s decided to make the trip and we enjoyed the afternoon playing at the water park. Semi Pro BBQ PIt Master wanna be, Rob, grilled us some delicious chicken (the left over from his BD party) and they were Yummy!
Leah couldn't get enough of this slide. She kept saying, "My turn" and wanted to go down by herself. Max didn't want to have anything to do with it. (He's more like me when I was a kid... a little timid about the water)
Camping Day 5-
Another rainy morning but, if it had to rain then today was the right day! My dad had a doctor’s appointment today that I needed to attend so we left after everyone woke up and headed back to the house for a quick shower and load of laundry. Rob had a rain day so he and Max spent the day running errands. The girls went to the baby sitter for the afternoon and I ran my errands. It was a nice day to myself... would have been nicer if I had scheduled a massage and pedicure but nice nonetheless.
Up until tonight the camping trip had been pretty uneventful. What would a camping trip be without a good story, right? Well, here it is. Max and I were getting ready to take a golf cart ride but couldn’t get the golf cart started. Max went to get Rob from inside the camper. When Rob left the camper the door either accidentally locked or Leah locked it behind him while trying to get out. Yes, that’s right. Leah and Sarah were locked inside the camper WITH the keys. I panicked. And then I got a hold of myself. I could talk to Leah through the door and I tried to explain to her how to unlock it but she had no clue. But she tried... I could here her grunting as she tried to open the latch. I knew she was ok because I could talk to her. But I had no idea what was going on with Sarah. I could hear her whine and I knew the camper was fairly kid proof. I probably wouldn’t have freaked out as much if she had been in her pack in play but I knew I had left her on the floor. I found the Ranger number quickly but before I could even tell him what was going on, Rob had broken one of the camper windows with a hammer. Rob hoisted Max through the window and that’s the end of the story. The end of a story I’m going to have to tell my sister to explain why she has one window with no glass in her camper that she let me borrow. But the kids are safe. And I might be renting a camper next year.
Camping Day 6-
It was a great day but I’m ready for my bed, my shower, my home. I could have just packed up and left this morning. Camping is a lot of work with 3 kids but when I’m flying solo because Rob is at work... well, everything seems magnified, for me and for the kids. I think it had rained last night and the dirt was wet so I was nervous about the kids tracking dirt into the camper and it was so sticky hot outside that they didn’t want to play out there, and I couldn’t blame them. But the rough start to the morning evolved into an awesome afternoon. Rob’s sister Laura and her 3 boys arrived around 11:30 and we hung out at the splash pad/ pool all afternoon. There was no better place to be than the pool to cool off. We had a delicious dinner and another ice cream run before hitting the sack early. We are all so tired!
Max squiring water into Sarah's mouth. She giggled and giggled!
Day 7-
Home Sweet Home. We were going to stay the entire day at the park but it was raining and not looking too promising and Rob had another rain day so we decided to just pack up and head home a few hours early. I’m really glad we did that otherwise we would have gotten home in the evening and then I still would have had to clean the camper and finish the laundry, etc. Now it will all be done today and the our camping trip will be just a sweet memory.
