The Rest

First off - My mom came home today. She is healing well and glad to be home. The Lord has really spared her a lot of pain through this illness for which we are all thankful.

Time seemed to be elusive for us. Everything took longer than expected and none of us cared.

We arrived at the campground hours later than we expected. The teenagers and our boys took it upon themselves to erect our tent. What a huge blessing.

I scurried around getting everything else ready while Perry unloaded the canoes and bicycles. The tent was up before we knew it. We managed to change the dinner plans since I didn't get the message that someone dropped out of our group and didn't bring extra hot dogs. Whoops!! It all worked in the end.

I felt like we were in a different state. The campground and the surrounding 26 mile lake was formed from the Grand Coulee Dam (we did go see the dam and watch the incredible light show). We climbed to the top of the Mesa. It was a really steep climb with a lot of volcanic, loose rock. We were told that if we went to the farthest point we would get cell phone service to call and see how my mom was. We did manage to get there, carrying rocks (Perry's idea because the people we were with were a bit on the fearful side of there being snakes and scared Little Miss half to death) to kill any unsuspecting snakes with.

We didn't actually see any snakes, but not for lack of looking. Nor did we mange to get enough cell phone service to call my mom. Oh well. We tried.

It was beautiful up there. Had J not poured a bottle of water in his eye attempting to cleanse it because it was stinging we may have hiked to the other side. As it was, we were all hot and tired and it was a very steep climb back down.

The days were filled with biking, hiking, climbing, fishing, canoeing and lots and lots of swimming. The swimming was awesome. We usually had a gaggle of different aged kids/teenagers with us wherever we went. S absolutely loved having girls around her all the time.

The water was really shallow near the shore in many areas. I would take a group of kids and see how far we could walk, always telling them to look for a dark area because there were a lot of sudden drop offs. We would either canoe or walk/swim across this little area and go get a mocha or ice cream from the concession stand.

The kids would jump the sand dunes, ride bicycles and scooters all around and visit from campsite to campsite. Each evening brought dinner together for all the families.

Night would roll around, our boys would build a fire and kids would gather around to roast marshmallows, potatoes, blueberries, biscuits, you name it, they roasted it. S'mores were made and eaten.

We would drop into the tent completely exhausted wishing for sleep, but instead would stay awake to the sound of people laughing, wood being chopped, partying being enjoyed. We were fortunate enough to be between two campsites, fathers/sons, that went to bed around 1-2.

Funny thing though...............the older two kids, Perry and I woke between 5 and 6. Every. Single. Morning. Not sure why, but payback being what it is and all................I'm sure the Party Guys appreciated it.

We did meet and enjoy them it was just funny the different hours we kept. Which forced both parties to adapt to the other. Hard to sleep when you're all of 20 feet from the other people who aren't sleeping.

We left a little early because Perry's air conditioner in the white suburban went out. We are all sporting new tans and/or sunburns depending on who you are, lots and lots of bug bites and sore bodies from the non-stop activities.

We all definitely want to go back again. For now though the battle of the sand begins. I, after awhile, just slept in the sand that wiggled its way into every part of the tent. It was absolutely every where. Much better than mud though. It did feel good squishing between our toes in the water. Not so much in the clothes.

Now, we prepare for two birthday's.