Camping on the Beach 2011

We went to San Diego to camp on the beach a month or so ago and it was AMAZING.  The weather was near perfect, the kids did great, I got to run every morning... The list goes on.  We had to move spots every night and that was a pain, but totally worth it.  The pictures are all in some weird order, but for the most part, we just had fun together, played together, and had a wonderful family vacation.  I really did not want to come home.  For 4 days we didn't think about FaceBook or check email or watch TV.  Seriously one of my favorite vacations.

There was room for the kids to scooter and scooter they did...a lot!  We didn't find out till the last day that wearing a helmet was the law in CA.  Stupid.

This picture is worth a story.  These were our first neighbors.  The hippy-mobile.  Not only does it look like one, they were.  There were about 8 kids in total with serious nature/type names.  I had written them down so I wouldn't forget and I lost the paper.  Anyway, the kids were in the tree and crazy all over the place.  The next day I saw one peeing from the top of the tree, pants around his knees.  Nice.

Glade bought a skim board for the kids to try.  Nick got the hang of it pretty good, but Rhett totally rocked it.  No one else could even stay on it.  We have a billion pictures of them trying but I only posted the wipeout fun ones!

Brooklyn and Stephen are my two that fight the most, but get them in the water and they are two of a kind.

Chelsey's wipeout

Why is it that all my vacations lately involve so many of these??

Brooklyn giving the skim board a try

They are all laughing because right behind me Glade was trying to skim board

Another one of Chelsey

This was the scene at our camp in the evenings.

Are we talented or what?!

Glade giving it a try.

Bo took his fishing pole and spent some time trying to catch a whale.

Whitley on her tush.

They were all good sports in helping out with the chores.  Funny story about Nick.  The big boys slept outside on airmattresses.  The camp has tons of squirrels that feast on anything you may leave out.  He woke up to a little squirrel curled up in a ball sleeping on his legs.  He didn't think it was so cute.

Glade spent the majority of his time doing work.  I guess that's the beauty of technology.  I would complain, but it's this that made it possible for him to be with us at all.

Some other memories of our trip:

-laughing around the campfire
-teaching the kids how to play euchre
-getting milkshakes at the Jack in the Box across the street
-watching the kids pull our trailer down the street to switch spots
-having everyone turn and look as all the kids sang a popular song as we walked back to our spot
-being able to just wander across the path and stare at the ocean at sunset
-watching my kids BE for four glorious days

Camping 2011

Fourth of July was on a Monday this year so it made for a perfect camping weekend.  We went to a place called Kinder Crossing Trail up on the rim.  In total, we had 9 families with us.  The area was really dry and the days were still pretty hot in the beginning.  The first day we got there around 1pm and had just enough time to set up camp and get dinner ready.  The next two days a monsoon storm had built and we got rain both afternoons.  It was wonderful!!  It cooled right off and settled the dust and made for perfect chicken noodle soup weather.  The second day it rained clear into the night. 

Glade bought himself a new toy and spent more than a little while "grunting" over its manly-ness

We had several teenagers and they all played really well together and made the time spent much less boring.

Most of Bo's best friends were there so he never had a dull moment.  There was plenty of exploring and card playing and hacking things up with an axe to keep them busy.

There is a spider peeking out of Glade's back pocket.  It's big and rubber and he had much fun trying to scare people with it.

This is the view from the creek we hiked down to and played in. So beautiful.

Sara, Becca and Brooklyn.  The water was too cold but not too deep so they could mostly walk around in it and actually jump and swim in a few spots.

Dalin taking a dip

There were plenty of crawdads to be found so lots of the boys spent their time collecting them.

Brayden and Bo

This is part of the hike to get to the creek.  It was steep and not that easy.

If you look right in the middle of the picture, you can see the green water, that's how far we hiked down.  The hike was 1.2 miles round trip.

Jono came and stayed a couple of nights with us and we spent a lot of time playing games.

Kylee and Ava keeping dry in the rain.

There was a deserted little home stead that we were able to visit not far from camp.  It was built in the early 1900's.

This was there food storage area.  A separate little hut with shelves.  From all that I've read, I'd guess it was the icehouse.

I just love this picture.  Katy and Tessa

Where's the Lesson?

I feel like I'm pretty good at looking for the growth or the "lesson" in the challenges that come into my life.  I want to learn from them, grow from them and then move on.  This weekend I had an experience that is leaving me empty on how this "works for my good".  I will spare you the details, but in short...I was the first one to arrive on the scene of a fatal head on collision on our way back from camping.  It was really awful and my little ones were in the car with me and saw way too much.  Once we were finally able to get through the wreckage and head back to Payson, I had time to contemplate all that had just happened.  Because we were heading to the park for our big 4th of July picnic and lots of people were there, I never had time to really process and be sad about all that had occurred.  I fought back tears most of the afternoon and evening and sometimes wasn't so successful, but it wasn't an appropriate time to deal with it.  I couldn't hold back, however, when as Katy lay on my lap trying to go to sleep, she mentions that she can't stop thinking about the car crash and that maybe if the fireworks would start, she would be able to stop thinking about it.

The next day (after a terrible nights sleep), I was busy and distracted and was feeling like I was good, I was past the emotional part of it and now I could just move on.  I was wrong.  At mutual, unfortunately with all my Laurels right there, it all came out.  We had an amazing presentation on patriotism and the flag and the story behind the writing of the National Anthem.  Then they played the most beautiful rendition of the song I have ever heard.  That song always bring my emotions to the surface but tonight was different.  I felt the pride and love and.... like I was going to puke.  It was so weird and confusing and by the end I really felt sick.  During the closing prayer, the tears started to fall and that was the beginning .

I quietly went out the front door out into the dust storm we were having and let it all out.  It was a little scary and I felt completely awful that my own children had to see me like that.  I guess I just needed to cry it out.  Whitley called Glade to let him know she was worried and ask him to come home.  He called a couple of our good friends who came over to give me a blessing.  I'm so blessed to have so many loving people around me.  It was a really long night and my head was killing me, but I think the worst is over.  I'm still plagued by the questions of why was it me and why couldn't I help someone and why couldn't I "do" anything.  Hopefully I can let that go, I'm sure it could eat me up if I let it.  Life happens and it's not always good.  My greatest relief is that it was not me with my littlest children in that accident, for a moment or two difference in time and it would have been.  I know there are so many who have experienced similar things, every accident has a "first on the scene", but it's always someone else.  I'll be fine and I pray that that horrible hour will seep out of little Katy's mind as well.  I'm comforted to know that as they cried and waited in the van, they immediately turned to the Lord, I shall do the same.