I have waited several weeks to write this post b/c I was too mad about the whole episode for quite awhile!
We watched the weather all week, and we knew it was going to be very windy on Saturday afternoon. But we decided to go ahead and go - it was our only free weekend for the whole month.
I made sure everything possible was packed up on Friday night. Then I ran 8 miles and Todd did his seven (in shifts) on Sat morning. We went to Academy to get a few last minute things, had a very light lunch at Jason's Deli, and then headed up to Lake Ray Roberts. The plan was to get there at 2, set up, and then have the lovely appetizers that I had prepared....grapes, cheese, triscuits, and homemade spinach dip. This was our "upgrade" after our last trip - we were starving after pitching the tent last time and only had Trail Mix.
We arrived at at the state park, and there were only two available camp sites. We expected this - people have told me it is really best to get there on Fri. One of the campsites was completely in the sun (it was almost 90) with no shade, and there was a big stump in the middle of the tent area. The other site was GORGEOUS....but it was checkout time, and there were still tents and food and gear EVERYWHERE. We went back to the front gate and talked to the Park Rangers, and they began hunting them down. They really did the very best they could for us. So while we waited for all this to unfold, we walked trails, played on playgrounds, and went to the Nature Center. It was all fine - but I was getting hungrier and hungrier and grumpier and grumpier.
They finally located the people and told them to GET OUT. We drove by to check progress - there were SIX of them. One of them worked, and the rest of them played in the lake. Ugh. They were not gone until almost 5pm. UGH UGH UGH.
This put us way behind. We immediately got out snacks as soon as we could get to them, and then began setting up camp. About that time, the wind started picking up.
Once we got the tent pitched, we walked over to the lake and watched the boys play. Todd and I sat in chairs and watched them splash. This was really the ONLY highlight of the whole ordeal. They had a great time and I got to sit.
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Sitting by the lake.
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Then we went back to our site and started dinner. It was starting to get dusky. All of the FAMILIES FULL OF GIRLS around us were finishing up their dinner and getting in their pop-up campers. We had yummy burgers with chips and homemade salsa. We also did S'Mores this time.
Because of the drought, we can only use charcoal or a gas grill.
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Roughing it.
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They love to play in the dirt. I believe the six little girls from next door were hiding in the trees and laughing at them at this point.
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We got lights up this time! That was fun.
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We have to leave our wetbar in the tent b/c you can't have obvious containers of alcohol at a TX State Park.
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The pop-up where the six fairy princesses played dolls and made up songs and generally frolicked quietly.
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Pretty sunset.
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I have never let Henry know that there are entertainment options on my phone, but he was driving me so absolutely crazy at this point by following me around and bugging me TO DEATH that I finally just started downloading ANYTHING that looked like a kid game. It worked wonderfully.
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Eating dinner in the dark. Generally just 3 hours behind what we had planned. The Fairy Princesses floated back to their pop-up in their Dora Nightgowns at about this time so they could listen to us yell at the boys. :)
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Henry played some more phone.
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Glow Sticks
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That night, the wind was gusting 45-50 mph. The tent was literally bending down over us as we slept. The boys were up and down and up and down. When we got up at about 6amish, Todd said..."I trust everyone had a horrible night?" You KNOW it's bad if wonderful Todd Stout says that!!! The wind ripped part of the tent and pulled many of the stakes out of the ground.
Another issue that I know we'll just outgrow with time is....they get up super early and are really loud. In our own house, this is just an annoyance we've lived with for 8 years. When we're around tents and pop-ups with open windows, it's really obvious that they are so loud and annoying. No one really starts stirring until 8am. When The Fairy Princesses got up next door, they filed out in single file and sat silently around the fire in their chairs for a good 30 minutes. The parents drank their coffee and woke up, and then eventually got to making breakfast. While the parents cooked and visited (3 couples), the girls tied hankerchiefs to sticks and played hobos on the trail between our campsites. They followed each other around in a line for 45 minutes and sang songs about their adventures. I am NOT making this up. Our boys ripped the horseshoe stakes out of the ground and chased each other around with them, kicked ashes from the old charcoal fire until we told them to stop, jumped off the table, fought, and called each other Poophead. It's just such a glaring difference. We celebrate that difference, of course! :) :)
We cooked breakfast as fast as we could while agreeing that we were getting the hell out of there as soon as we had eaten.
We took the griddle this time for pancakes - much easier than the skillet.
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They had to hold their plates down while they ate to keep them from blowing away. Henry kept forgetting, and then the sausage flew away at 40 mph.
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Fighting with horseshoe stakes.
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Using glow sticks to simulate...um, well....little boys are just fascinated by their bodies. What can I say? Leo told him to turn the light on so it could be on fire! So exciting.
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After breakfast, we strapped the boys in their carseats so we could try to pack in the horrible, unrelenting wind. It seemed to calm them for a few minutes - maybe like a straightjacket, I guess. Todd did the tent, and I threw everything else into boxes. I grabbed the camera and got a pic of this - at this point, Todd has all supports out of the tent, and it is standing up on its own b/c of the wind.
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I drove home in my purple flowery pajamas - that is how badly I wanted OUT OF THERE.
We would LOVE to meet another camping family with boys or rowdy girls about the same age. Of course they need normal parents that we can converse with....or we can just keep our separate camping sites and let the kids play! ANYTHING! Next time, we will cancel if there is wind. It is just too much of a beating. And we will definitely be going on Fridays from now on - I can even go early on Friday and reserve our space and pitch the tent and then come back in time for school to get out.
When we pulled in the driveway, Leo declared that it was THE BEST CAMPING EVER.
So stay tuned for more positive camping stories in the fall!
