4th of July and Camping.

Well, I am a little behind in this post, maybe it's because I have trying to forget about the trip:). Every other year since we have been married, we go camping at Lake of the Woods. It's a beautiful place in Oregon, near where Peter grew up. And while it is beautiful...it's a 13 hour drive away, thus only going every other year.

This was our first year going all by ourselves...we felt very grown-up...and missed being able to relax while the "grownups" did the work.:)

We couldn't get the campsite reserved for the actual 4th of July. So our plan was to spend the 4th in Klamath Falls, Peter's home town, and then start camping on the 5th.

let me start by saying that we have been very blessed with the means and opportunity to take alot of vacations as a family and we are very grateful for that. but, that being said, this trip just sucked!!:)

The first part of the trip. I only need to say one thing....3 little kids plus 13 hours in a car! and between the screaming and fighting and crying...and that was just me! My feet decided they didn't like being in the car that long and decided to swell to the size of a grapefruit...ok, I don't know what fruit they were actually the size of...but I couldn't get them into shoes for several days.

We stopped our first night in Boise where we stayed at a super-fabuous hotel and I got to go to dinner with my dear friend Kim(highlight of the trip)

the next day was the long, middle of nowhere part of the drive.

The 4th, we got up with plans to go to the parade. Hadley is 8 years old and I am ashamed to admit, this was our children's first parade. But, we told them all about how fabulous it was going to be. with floats and firetrucks and everyone would throw candy! They were so excited. Well, the parade was lame. I mean, the local nursing home..pushing their tenants down the road in wheelchairs was the best part! and not one single person threw candy. We were all disappointed...and sunburned.

That afternoon we decided to go see Transformers 2. We went, the kids were behaving, Lexi had fallen asleep on my lap and the movie was about 30 minutes from being over...and their machine that plays the movie breaks. They tell everyone they will give them free tickets to come back another time. as much as I would love to drive 13 hours to go to a movie...I kindly informed them that I would like my money back and asked if we could sneak into the next showing of the movie to catch the end. well, that movie had just started so we spent almost 6 hours watching Transformers that day. Peter tried to tell me it was ok cuz it was free...I kindly reminded him that we had spent twice as much at the concessions trying to keep lexi happy for 6 hours!

that night we went to watch fireworks, we spread out our blanket (ok, the hotel's blanket) with the rest of the crowd. it did no good because apparently they didn't care that hundreds of people would be sitting in the park that night...they decided to water the grass anyway and the ground was sopping wet. so we sat there, wet and getting eaten alive by bugs..only to find that we (along with hundreds of others) couldn't even see the fireworks cuz of the trees...appparently they cant figure out how to get them higher than a tree.

Well, we were in high spirits on our way to camp...things had to get better! well, after setting up and the realization sunk in that we were the adults now...and had to actually do things like cook and wash the dishes *gasp*....we realized that it was FREEZING! now, if you know me...if I was cold...it was COLD! and we always have gone in July and never had a problem except it gets a little chilly in the evenings and first thing in the morning. so of course all we had packed was shorts and t-shirts and one pair of jeans and a light jacket for everyone. I spent half my time bundled up in anything I could find, beach towells, etc...huddled over the fire shivering, I don't think my spine relaxed the whole time we were there.

So, what did I do with the other half of my time you ask...well, our little princess aka Lexi..decided that she did NOT like camping and spent 98% of the time crying. The only time she didn't cry was when we walked her in her stroller. So Peter and I would take shifts with the stroller while the other did cooking or whatever needed to be done at camp.

The last day there we could see the sun had come out and it was warm...on the other side of the lake. So we loaded up the car and spent the day over by the lodge swimming. when the sun was out it was great, but it was really cloudy and when the sun went behind a cloud it was cold again. so we alternated between swimming and shivering. normally when we go, we spend the majority of our time hanging out at the lake. but it was just too cold this trip...the lake is also our "baths" for the week so I didn't get a bath the whole time either...not that I would have wanted to wash off a layer of filth that might possibly keep me half a degree warmer!

The last night there we decided to eat dinner at the lodge rather than cook. While eating, it started to pour rain outside. we got back to camp and everything was soaked. chairs and jackets and the stroller...everything. I sat in the car and cried for about 10 minutes. then I pulled myself together and we went to bed and got the heck out of there as fast as we could the next day.

Only to be stuck in the car for another 13 hours.

I do have to say, for as miserable and me, Peter and Lexi were..the boys were oblivious to our suffering and had a blast! so, I guess it was worth it.









This is one of Hadley's attempts to stop Lexi's crying during the long drive.

Watching the parade.

Having fun at the hotel pool.

Waiting for the fireworks

Lexi eating corn on the cob. she loved it and it was one of the few times she was happy.

Cold, but pretty.

The chipmunks eating our breakfast.

The boys playing ring-around-the-rosie with Lexi, they were such big helper's trying to keep her happy.

Peter got tired of taking his pants on and off depending on if the sun was out or not..so he just started doing this.

Our very first campsite all by ourselves.

Waiting for breakfast our first morning there.

Oops, put these in twice;)

Ok, I do have to tell a funny story about the kids on the trip. We went into town one day to do laundry. the boys were playing in a field next to the laundrymat that had tree's and what not. we went outside to check on them and Devin yells "There is a guys sleeping out here...and he has a BEEEEEEEER!" we walk out there and there is a homeless man sleeping in the bushes. I am sure he was pretending to sleep and ignore our rude children. I pulled Hadley aside and told him that we have no idea why he is there and we shouldn't judge other people cuz we don't know their situation. a minute later, Devin is throwing some sort of green seed things from the tree at the guy and Hadley grabs him and yells "stop picking on poor people!" I am sure the guy heard all of this and I was mortified! Please tell me this is just the brutal honesty/innocence of kids..not that I am an awful mom!!!