So we took a camping trip and I had a bunch of photos so I thought I'd put them on the blog since I haven't done very much of that lately. It makes for such a good landing spot for holding on to special weekends and stuff.
I also realize I have not paid tribute to my father on here or written about him to help with my grief, but please know it is still there and I hope to find the words soon. It is so hard losing a father as there is much to wrap your head around.
Anyway, we planned this weekend camping trip for the HOTTEST weekend in July. Real feels were nearly the 120s with high humidity. Heat warnings abounded. I stayed optimistic and honestly, it was fine.
We had a lovely camp site in the shade and it had plenty of room for our tent and boat. It was just a short walk to the beach which we enjoyed the first evening. The lake breezes were nice and cool!
The heat did not affect the kids any, minus the fact we kept providing them with delicious beverages that are a treat to them like Gatorade and it resulted in endless trips to the bathroom (which was a short hike away). At first, we made an adult go with the girls but later we relaxed and let big brother be a fine chaperone. We spent so much time in the bathroom!
(see exhibit a: bathroom sauna time while waiting for little girls)
The girls were excited for their first time sleeping in a tent and it was cute to see even though the constant in and out and jumping on the air mattresses and who knows what they were doing in there (WWE match? I have no idea) did wear on my nerves a bit. We had a big box fan that did actually keep us cool at night as it evaporated the sweat off us enough to warrant using a little blanket to keep us warm.
The next morning we hit the lake bright and early! Lake Rathbun has an awesome boat launch and it was not busy at all so early (9:30ish). We enjoyed the low traffic on the lake immensely and swam for hours!
Boat princess Brynn!
Our new tube and lily pad were so fun to play on in the water and it was just perfect. It felt great and was so relaxing!!
Anna learned to swim by herself in a lifejacket at her swim lessons earlier this month and she was so dang proud of herself. She motored around like a little turtle all morning by herself!
Brynn was not as confident in her jacket but was still brave and floated on the tube a bit! I think she was most scared to leave all the snacks by themselves on the boat (the best part of boating, of course!)
We saw another family with a cool wakeboarding boat....who also anchored it so all the kids could get out and swim and tube. I think it must be inevitable that all young wakeboarders eventually have to use their boat for dad stuff. :) It's not so bad!
We headed out of the lake to eat lunch at the campsite and take a rest in the shade. We were pretty tired of being in the hot sun so we took the kids to the indoor waterpark that was part of the hotel at the state park resort. We felt a bit silly for being indoors on such a beautiful day but honestly, just to be out of the sun was so helpful. The girls LOVED this little slide and went down it 200 times at least.
Honestly, it was a good call we decided to visit the waterpark because while we were in there a huge storm decided to roll through. We had known it was going to storm, but it was predicted not until later that evening and even then it seemed like it might miss us altogether. Once Scott saw the radar, he hightailed it back to the campsite (along with Josh and Kelly) to pack up our things while I was safe with the kids in the waterpark. It was high speed winds and Scott even saw a little tornado. One of the docks blew away on the lake and it was a mess of all the people trying to get their boats out of the water.
The crazy thing was that we didn't even hear a thing inside the pool area. It was probably the safest place we could be and I was thankful for that.
We made the decision to head to Centerville for the night at the Super 8, where we could get supper at McDonalds and still be close-ish to the park.
It was a really nice hotel, and I was thankful for the AC, shower, and comfortable bed to sleep in. We even found a Starbucks in the morning and I got to check out the courthouse in Centerville on the way out of town.
Once back to the campsite, we packed up our tent and organized everything in the car and boat so it would actually fit for the ride home. It was a nice morning with the high temps finally broken after the storm.
Of course, we had to stop at DQ on the way home for some lunch and ice cream!
Overall, it was a fun weekend. I am happy we got to spend it with our friends and make some mutual memories. The morning on the boat was perfection. I know life does not get any better than beautiful mornings like that spent with ones you love. Life lies in those little moments and they are little jewels you have to hold on to.
