Monday, November 14, 2011

Early October Camping Trip - Ray Roberts, Isle Du Bois Unit

We took our first camping trip of the fall in early October. It was a 4 day weekend for the boys, and Todd had a 3 day weekend. The weather was supposed to be mild. There was rain in the forecast, but it was supposed to go above us and into OK. Now we know where this post is going!

Oh, and I'm going to post some pics of some burns on my arm. I don't think they're that gross, but you should know that if you're squeamish.

The boys had a 4 day wknd, so we headed up to the park on Friday morning. We stopped at DQ for an early lunch on the way. A big treat for the boys!


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This campground seems to be totally sold out on every weekend with halfway decent weather, so I have learned that we must get there early on Fri to get a good spot that will fit our tent, gear, etc. I set up the tent by myself this time! Woot! I bought a little tent for the boys, and Leo was ReALLY proud to mostly put it up by himself. He has to have some helps bending the poles and getting them in the pockets....but *I* have to have him helping me to get it done, and I've told him he is basically doing it himself as much as he can. He has said several times that he wants Todd to be impressed....a little living example of all those things I learned in child dev classes.


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The tent that I put up. This was its swan song. Or maybe the weekend the tent turned on us.


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OK, so for the first part of the trip, we had a FABULOUS time. Now that Henry is really independent on his bike, he and Leo could ride on the little trails near our site by themselves. SO NICE for ALL of us! We did have to go in to Denton on Sat morning and buy Leo a new bike at WM....his had been having tons of problems, and it finally bit the dust on the trails. But they were mostly just active and playing and exploring....and I got to sit!!!


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Everyone notices how often these pictures involve boys wielding sticks, right?


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The boys ended up sleeping in the little tent that we had bought for them to play in, and this was a big camping discovery. We are NOT cosleepers (kids and parents in the same room/bed) at our house...and it turns out that everyone sleeps better in separate tents while camping! The first night, I slept beautifully!

So this is my last pic...

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Saturday was wonderful. The first round of rain came in that night, and we gathered everything up and put it under the canopy or in the tent. That rain went to OK just like it was supposed to, so we went on about our business. THEN...The next round broke through the dry line and hit us. In the chaos of getting everything BACK under the canopy, my arm touched the metal rungs on the propane lantern. It hurt, but I didn't think it was that big of a deal.

The dangerous lantern:

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So we get the boys tucked into their tent, and Todd and I go to get in our tent. When Todd tries to close the zipper, it breaks. There is no repairing it. The teeth are all messed up. I had no sewing kit. I even tried band-aids to hold it closed. Nothing. It was a BIG storm with lots of wind and rain and lightning...and there we were in a tent with a BIG door open. It was pretty miserable. The next morning we vacated in a big hurry, and the tent went in the dumpster!!!

My arm was really hurting by Sunday, and by Tuesday I really couldn't focus on anything else. I outlined it with a sharpie like the pediatrician's office told me to do on mosquito bites that the boys scratch. With the outline, I can tell if it is spreading or getting better. Sure enough, it was spreading quickly. Within thirty minutes, the redness was outside the black outline. Off to the Dr. I went! I ended up with three prescriptions and a bunch of hassle of doctoring it and babying it to keep it happy. BUT it was so much better by even the next morning, thank goodness.

This was on my way to the doctor's office.


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A week later. The red square around it is my skin reacting to the bandage adhesive.


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And here it is at three weeks. Much better! Camping battle scars! I'm hardcore, baby!!! hahaha.


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