Sep. 16, 2008 - A Camping We Will Go....
This past weekend we made our family's first attempt at tent camping down in beautiful Brown County, Indiana. I spent nearly the entire week leading up to this trip trying to figure out what we need, what food to make and arranging to borrow nearly everything from my brother. (I'm sure I made it harder than it needed to be) I kept checking the weather hoping that the rainy forecast for the weekend had somehow been a mistake and that it would be a really nice sunny weekend. The guys (my hubby and his brother) were convinced that it would be fine as long as we had some dry time to set up camp and get everything tarped. So, we packed up the van...and I do mean packed and set out....about 3 hours later than planned..ahem...
When we arrived, the guys set about putting up tents and tarps and such while I walked around and tried to look like I had a clue as to how to help out. After we, they got everything set up, we they (again) got a fire going and we cooked some hot dogs. Since it was rainy and drizzly the whole time we were setting up and the kids were all muddy and wet, we decided to load everyone up in the van and drive up the road (a very short distance) to the showers, get everyone cleaned up, into pj's and down for the night. We buckled everyone in, and Danny started the van....didn't start. Tried again...same thing. We had kept opening and shuttng the doors so often during set up that our battery died. So we walked up to the showers instead..planning a trip to the hardware store the next morning to get jumper cables...
Well, that night was horrific. All 3 of the kids were up nearly the entire night. And...did I mention we were all in the same tent? Alyssa talked and sang all night long, Benjamin kept waking up crying that his mommy and daddy were lost, and Caleb just plain couldn't sleep. (probably from all the excitement) Several people had to go to the bathroom numerous times, and with a newly trained 3 year old, that got interesting to say the least! The next morning, two of our kids had fevers and the other was having stomach problems. Danny went off to the store for jumper cables and returned to 2 whiny kids and a somewhat tired wife. His exact words were-"As soon as I get this battery jumped, we're going to go find a room, 'cause those kids aren't going to make it through another night in that tent."
Danny got the van started again (thankfully) and we set out trying to find a hotel. After several tries, (a few were completely booked, one was just yuck.) we found a room. With two beds...and air conditioning, (I'm spoiled) , and a McDonald's right next door!!! Everyone slept through the whole night, and the kids had perked up by the next morning. We had breakfast the next morning and walked through the little town (Nashville) for a bit. By the time we finished, the leftovers of Hurricaine Ike had showed up and we thought that would be a good time to head back. :) Danny has decided that our family just might not be a good fit for camping. Unless maybe we had one of those fancy RV things....you know...with electricity, water and bedding?? :)
Comments
Sep. 18, 2008 - Untitled Comment
Posted by Anonymous
I laughed, I cried, I empathized. I think you could do something book length with this :-).
Heidi
