I know that my over exhausted mind will not be able to type up the happenings of the last week in a manner that will do it justice, so hang in there with me...
Last weekend (7/30) we took off for a fun-filled week of camping in a tent at William O'Brien State Park! As excited as we were, the 110+ heat index kind of put a damper on our enthusiasm, but we pushed ahead. And we packed fans. We also knew that it was expected to rain for a day or two while we planned to be out there, so we also packed a large tarp, warm clothes, books, card games, and yes, even the gameboy and dvd player. We may have cheated a little, but I think that everyone really had a good time. The one full day that we were there during the heat was Monday. We ended up retreating the 45 minutes back home that morning in the air conditioned van to pick up the lantern we had forgotten to pack and some firewood we had sitting in the shed. After that, we spent the rest of the day at the water park at Wild Mountain, about 45 minutes north of the camp site. Taylor went on every single water slide - she even did the speed slide!! Ian went on every slide but the speed slide, but he really enjoyed the water playground and lazy river the most. Panod and I also had a great time and by the time we got back to the camp site that night, we were too tired to care about how hot it had been earlier that day. That night and on into Wednesday morning it rained. A lot. I heard estimates of 5 inches after we got back home!! We did manage to stay pretty dry and warm. Tuesday was my birthday and we just enjoyed the cool rain, and made spaghetti for dinner on the screen porch. Panod and kids also managed to find a way to get me some really cool toys for my bike as presents. And since I've been riding into work this summer, I couldn't wait to put them to use! Wednesday gave way to cooler temps and blue skies, so we did a lot of hiking, biking and swimming the rest of the week. We had some unexpected visitors pay us a visit in our porch and just outside the tent a couple of nights - raccoons!! We knew enough to throw out our trash at night and put the food in the car to try and keep them away, but they still had to come and make sure that there really wasn't anything to eat. But the bats we would see at night were cool and Panod and Ian got to watch a toad eat a bug! Saturday afternoon we headed back home. Back to voicemail, email, snailmail & satellite. Little did I know what was brewing....
Sunday was, in my mind, a day to catch up on laundry, do some grocery shopping and maybe even grab a quick nap on the couch before mowing the lawn and grilling out some dinner while we got caught up with our neighbors. I really had no idea. I really thought that Panod had gotten me up from my nap on the couch because he had a serious craving for fish tacos over at Se Salt in Minnehaha Park. And he wanted to bring the ladder ball. And Taylor wanted to bring the camera. I really must have been half asleep, because I still didn't get it. It wasn't until we walked through the pavilion and I saw my family & our neighbors that I got it! SURPRISE! They got me! And I understand that Panod was the ring leader!! Even Taylor had known since before we left to go camping! How Panod, my family and the neighbors all pulled it off is beyond me. I really did enjoy having everyone come and celebrate! Thank you! Thank you!
Now for the fun part - you can look through the camping pictures and the party pictures here. Enjoy and thanks for reading!!
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