We had an awesome time camping with the Maughans this year! We did so good getting ready a few days in advance, so Wednesday was virtually painless. Well, except for Luke. Luke was having a toothache for a few days and so we hurried and took him in for a visit on Wednesday. Nate took him, thankfully. Sure enough he had some infection. Luckily it was a baby tooth, so the Dentist just ended up pulling it. I was so glad we got that toothache out of the way for him to enjoy the camping trip. So we didn't get out as soon as we would have liked, with the Dentist appointment, two ortho appointments, dropping off Buddy at the kennel, a trip to Costco... then stopping at Walmart on our way up to Park City... we of course forgot Molly's shoes- of all things... So we didn't get to the campground until 5:00 ish (by now I had gotten rid of my phone and didn't care about things like time and such). We quickly set up camp because it was starting to rain-- we were seriously racing the rain while trying to figure out how to set up our new tent. Which can I just say- I really love our new tent! I think this is my favorite one. We've had issues with every single one we've gotten over the past few years and had to take them back to Costco, but this one is a keeper! I hope it doesn't break. It was HUGE inside! We didn't know what to do with all the space. We were all very excited about having plenty of room :). We roasted our hot dogs and ate dinner. We decided to do "easy food" this time around. We usually focus on delicious, but this year is just one of those years where I think we're just feeling a little maxed out. It's our own fault, but little things, like "easy food", make all the difference. We chose things we could prepare mostly at home and then just basically warm up over the fire. We have always been fire cookers, which is probably because of me. I have no desire to branch out and cook on something else. Even dutch ovens turn me off a little because I'm not good at them mostly, but also because I just love the idea of cooking something over a fire and having it turn out. We did hot dogs the first night. Taco salad the second, and tin foil dinners (with precooked meats) the last night. We did our bacon and omelets for breakfast, pancakes, and oatmeal. Then sandwiches for lunches. It was very simple. I really loved that about this camp out. I felt like I got to sit down and relax. We said goodbye to Nate after dinner, and then sat around waiting, hoping and praying that Brad and Erika would make it back okay. They'd left to go fishing while it was light out and now it wasn't. I was a little panicked, I'm not gonna lie. I know Bradley knows directions and could find his way home from just about anywhere, but still! This was the dark and they didn't even take flash lights with them. It was a huge relief when they got back. We read scriptures and sang everyone's favorite hymn or primary song around the fire. I loved it! We all went to bed, even Molly after falling asleep in my arms and waking up when I put her in her sleeping bag, and went to sleep! I was impressed with how well everyone slept. I was freezing cold. But luckily everyone else did okay.
The next day, Nate (and Kate and Will- the Maughans let us have them early because they didn't have the room in their truck) got home around 9:00 just as we were finishing up the bacon and omelets. We let him sleep for a little while before it got to hot for him to sleep. Then said goodbye to him again, so that he, Molly and Brad could go fishing. I can't tell you how priceless it was to have a few moments of real freedom that day! I got to play cards with Charity, Kelly, Luke and Noah. We played several rounds of KENT before deciding to make lunch. Lots of fun there. We mostly just relaxed that day and I was glad because I have been needing a break. We were so happy when the Maughans pulled up! We helped them explore and get settled in, then we all got together and made our Tie Dye shirts! This is a much anticipated event by a few of our kids. I was glad the Maughans wanted to do it with us still. I feel bad that I told everyone to go easy on the dye. There was so much left. Oh well. Then we all had woofums together! And the men/boys (minus Luke and Jonah) all went fishing. We got to play cards, and talk. That was the night that the cows came through the Maughan's camp and we ran over and herded them out of there! Which the people next to them didn't love and used some colorful language to try to make us feel bad for urging the cows in their direction. But little do they know- we like having fun stories like that to talk about later :).
That night was interesting. I woke up to crying (I think it was Erika), looked over at Molly and she wasn't there! I panicked a little, asked Nate where she was, he didn't respond, so I looked around. And I was pretty sleepy still, so not a lot of thought processes were working of course. But I finally found her UNDER Charity's legs. Which was not all that close to where she had started! So I was a little concerned. Then I picked her up, laid her in her sleeping bag, and because she was so unresponsive, I guess, I got really worried about her condition. I immediately assumed she was dead. Like I said, I was half asleep, but man, I panicked! I was shaking her and calling out, "Wake up, Molly, breathe! Wake up!!" Like really crazy-like. It's a little embarrassing now. So she did wake up, just opened her eyes and looked at me like I was nuts, and once I saw her eyes open, I knew she was okay, so I told her to go back to sleep. But man, that was scary! Then I had to keep checking on her for the rest of the night. I would put my face right next to hers to make sure she was breathing. She's a REALLY light breather! Makes it really hard to tell she's alive. Just sayin'. So anyway. That was pretty stressful :). We got up and slaved over the pancakes... Luke had worked so hard on the fire, but I think because it was so wet from the night before, it just wasn't doing what we needed it to do. He'd get it going, but then it would die out. So, and this is the picture Travis painted for us, when Nate got back, it had died, and we were being blown out with smoke as Nate was trying to jump start our fire. I had already poured out two pancakes on the griddle while it was going, so I guess we looked pretty funny :). Travis offered to let us use his camp stove, and I of course turned it down because I'm obsessed with cooking over the fire. Yes, I would rather it take an hour to do two at a time, than just do all 18 of them at once on a nice comfortable griddle. I'm weird like that. Anyway, it was nice of him. We did get the fire going, and we did make some pretty delicious pancakes, and I did throw them all over the camp to each person to catch on their plate and we DIDN'T lose a single pancake!! Not one casualty! How impressive is that! I need to work on my spatula overhand though. That would have been a much safer throw. We got ready to go on the hike after that. While we were getting ready for that, I decided that it was okay to not like hikes. I really don't like them. I used to! I really did, back in high school and college, but for the past decade and a half, they have not been my favorite and I have tried so hard to love them and be positive, but I just don't! SO this year, I decided to let it be known that it's not my favorite thing to do, but then show my kids that it's okay to do things we don't want to do and that we can still enjoy them in the process! I think it worked :). I was happy the whole way and talked about what I loved on the hike when we got back. It was actually an okay experience. We only went about a mile and a half up and then came back down, so not too long. There was beautiful scenery. I got to hear all about Erika's book The Island on the way back down, and even Molly kept me laughing the whole time. She was hilarious in the back pack. She dozed off a little, strained to reach the water bottle in the pocket... really funny! Then when I had her on my back (I hope Nate didn't mind me taking her- I really wanted to see if I could do it! She and the back pack probably weigh about 40 pounds which is slightly less then what I've lost over the past year and a half, so I thought it would be cool to carry that much weight again. It was hard!! But I liked the challenge. Plus, it reminded me just how far I've come! I'm sure my feet and knees thank me. So when I had her on my back, she was chomping on her beef stick in my ear, then playing with my hair, kicking my bumb, telling me about her toots and her burps- HA! and my favorite part- she asked to get out and run towards the end of the hike, so we let her. She would run up a little ways (because I told her to stay where she can see me- so obedient right then!), like 10-15 feet, turn around and stop, and then swing her little arms like she was waiting for us to catch up. Then she'd turn back around and run some more. It was ADORABLE!! I loved it. Made me smile. She did pretty good- probably walked a good half mile. She got back in so that I could have a really sweaty back when we got done. After the hike we ate lunch and then headed down to the lake for some fun. This was probably my favorite part. I loved just watching everyone have fun. I loved making sandcastles with Molly. I loved walking out to the middle with Nate. It was fun to see Erika and Kate out there, bouncing in and out of their tubes and on the mattress, laughing and carrying on. And once I found Brad and Noah with Josh across the lake and knew they were alive- that was fun too :). I couldn't get enough of Luke and his entertaining Molly and Jonah and Jack- what a sweetheart! And Kelly, enjoying herself rather than obsessing over the dirt and mud, while she talked with Rachel was priceless! I enjoyed talking with Emily and Charity on the beach. It was just a really nice and relaxing time. I could have stayed there all day. We did have to get back for dinner though. We had our tie dye reveal at the water spigot, that was exciting! Then that night Nate and some of the boys went fishing. We had the Maughan kids over for some ice cream cone goodies. Then that night Emily came up and we finally got to really visit! It was great! I loved that! It was nice that we had that time. It had to come to an end of course, and it was eventually time for bed. It's always a bummer when the camp out has to come to an end. That last night was probably my best, sleeping wise. I had finally figured out what to wear. I was almost sweating at some points. But it was good. In the morning, we had our oatmeal and packed up camp. I loved the new addition to the camp out- the Maughans brought marshmallow shooters and we all had a big war for an hour or so all over the woods! What a FUN activity! We loved it. There were a few injuries and for some reason, well, probably because she was exhausted from camping for four days, Erika was not in her usual spirits. She did eventually get into it though. Poor Kelly and her ankle!! Even Lacrosse players get hurt once in a while. We had to say goodbye to the Maughans and our camp out. But what a fun time we had!! Hopefully they'll be up for one more year of this favorite tradition of ours!! 7-11-18--7-13-18
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