Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Camping

We had our annual family camping trip to a lovely little municipal park outside of my husband's hometown this past weekend.  It is a weekend of fun for all with golfing, fishing from the spring fed pond, nature hikes....



And food.  Lots and lots of food.

On Sunday we had a little shindig for my Grandma Irene for her 91st birthday which will actually be June 8th.  However we will be unable to all see her on that day, so I bullied the siblings into all coming and nagged my Grandma into traveling to see us for a little celebration.  We had hot dogs and hamburgers, and I had made a delicious sheet cake that appeared perfectly normal when we left my house, but apparently it had a mishap somewhere after it left my house, whether it was the trip in an ice chest or the day in a cabinet of my mom's camper.  The temperature was over 105 degrees on Sunday.  I'm thinking the combination of moist refrigeration followed by heat in my mom's cabinet somehow melted it...Of course she had her A/C running, but with temperatures that high, it is nearly impossible to keep a camper cool!


Anyhoo, I chatted with my Grandma while I helped with lunch, but as soon as lunch was over, my cousin Ben informed me that he was taking all of the kids fishing and swimming at a local farm pond that was about fifteen feet deep.  My dad informed my husband and I that we were both going to help chaperon/life guard.  I know he didn't want to go, and Paula was going to be gone for the summer, and he didn't want her kids to miss out on the fun, so that left Studmuffin & I to help Ben lifeguard.  I may be 35, but if my Dad points his finger and tells me I'm going to do something, I do it...Even when he phrases it as a request.  I know it's really NOT a suggestion.

Logan in a paddle boat.  We later realized the paddle boats were missing their rudders.  That made steering interesting to say the least.


That farm pond was the coolest!  My brother David had tagged along, and we made a dash for the paddle boats...As we lifted it to drag into the water I screamed because a water snake slithered out from under it and into the water.  I informed him I was NOT getting into that boat until they lifted the boat completely off of the ground and I was assured no more snakes were under it or getting IN IT with me...



After that was ascertained I happily hopped in with my brother and merrily paddled away...We had a few issues with steering, and we later learned the darn thing didn't have a rudder.  After a few minutes my brother's bottom became wet.  And a big puddle formed under his feet...He jumped up on the back of the seat, because he obviously could NOT get wet.  In a farm pond.  In 105 degree heat.  Never fear, Gentle Reader.  I peddled his sorry carcass to shore.  I needed to burn a few calories anyway after eating nearly nonstop all weekend.

Ben wished he had a camera to take pictures of their faces.  He said Bookworm's face said "I MADE IT!" every single time.


We drug the boat up on shore as far as we could (which was much harder since it was full of water now.)  The little ones ended up taking over the other paddle boat, and I headed for the raft that my cousin had drug from the shore to the middle of the pond.

See the moss?  Well, right where it stops, the ledge drops off and it gets deep.  Obviously they had to jump BEYOND the moss.


Did I mention that the pond was cold?  It is spring fed, and about 15 feet deep, which is down at least 6 feet from it's normal level due to the drought, and believe me, it was COLD!

So, my maniac 6'4 (guessing here, I just know I have to tip my head to talk to most of my cousins and I'm 5'8) cousin did a swan dive off of the lovely high dive built of high line poles and bridge beams.  I made him jump off of it two more times before I would let my kids and Paula's boys jump off of it.  Feet first.  With Ben in the water right beside where they were jumping in.  It was a good thing, as Aiden's water shoes were making it hard for him to swim.  But of course, he couldn't take them off!

My cousin Diane's husband showing how crazy he is.


My Uncle JimBob and I talked about how stressful it was if the kids failed to swim immediately to the top and instead felt the need to swim under water to the raft...Like Popcorn.  That kid was the first to jump in, and she jumped the farthest, and she was upset that I wouldn't let her do back flips like Phil.  Thanks Phil.  Thanks a lot...She got over it and had fun anyway.

I'm not entirely sure this is the face of a stressed out man...


After watching the kids, my cousin Diane's husband decided the kids were having too much fun.  He climbed up there and did 1 1/2 flip...three times.  The picture indicates the safety of that decision...Yes, that's black mud all over his shirt.

The pond was down, and the wind had been up.  That is why there is so much junk on the shoreline.  60mph winds will blow stuff into the pond that is meant to be enjoyed on the shore.  Like that once lovely folding chair.

Monday we had to pack up and come home after three fun filled days.  Thankfully the weather was great until yesterday, as the other two days we actually needed jackets off and on to stay warm...Until Sunday into the night, when we suffered in heat until about 1:30 am, then suddenly I needed a blanket to be warm.

If that ain't class, darlin' I don't know what is.


Anyway, we had a great time.  I hope any family on the Richard side that's reading this will feel jealous and join us next year!  We were up to 8 campers parked in our circle this year.  Be sure and mark your calendars for next Memorial Day!  It was great fun!  Sure the cotton is flying!  I say take a Claritin, 1200mg Mucinex and 30mg of Pseudoephedrine!  It will cure what ails ya when the pollen is high...Of course, you may not be able to keep up with your thoughts, but you will feel great!




2 comments:

Marilyn said...

What a fun time we had. Saturday night was a great feed and fun games. We are sorry not everyone was there but for the ones who were: See you next year and hope some of the others can come too.

Taylor said...

Sounds like a fun trip! Looks beautiful! I am needing warm weather. We haven't really gotten there yet. :)