I wasn't so sure about the beautiful day for camping part of it though....it didn't seem beautiful when I was struggling to pack the right amount of food, the right kind of clothes, the right camping gear. Seriously - Randy and I received our sleeping bags as a wedding gift 13 years ago and this is the first time we are using them! That should tell you that our camping skills are extremely rusty.
It didn't seem like a beautiful day when we arrived and in the process of unpacking all the important "stuff" we'd thrown into the back of the van the blackberry cobbler I had just made landed upside down on the floor. When the cobbler fell it knocked over a jar of peach jam, shattering the glass and spreading sticky jam all over everything. Try cleaning up a mess like that in the woods before you have set up camp...where's the soap and water? Where's the dishrag I know I packed? Where's the beauty in that?
It didn't seem like a beautiful day when we tried to fall asleep on hard, camping beds . While trying to find a comfortable (or at least less painful) position I found myself wondering why I ever thought this was a good idea.
It didn't seem like a beautiful day when I had to walk down the road every time I needed to use the bathroom - Thank goodness the bathrooms we were using were new and clean. Or when I dropped a log on my toe and limped around for the next 2 days.
It didn't seem like a beautiful day when Jack fell over backwards while eating red licorice. We thought the big bump on the back of his head was the only real problem until we noticed blood on Amy's shirt and realized he had cut his mouth. I finally managed to peek into his mouth and hit the panic button. "it's bad...he cut his tongue really bad..." I can hardly breath. Michelle uses her hands to motion me "down" and says "stop. Mom. stop. calm down". I say I can't calm down, his tongue is in pieces. Then Amy has him spit into her hand and all the chewed up red licorice comes out. The tongue is intact. Who knows what he cut because by then he's asking for more candy.
My list of "it didn't seem like ...." could keep going, but my list of blessings is longer.
The beauty of camping was having all 5 of my grandchildren gathered around our p
icnic table for breakfast, eating pancakes as fast as they could be cooked.
icnic table for breakfast, eating pancakes as fast as they could be cooked.
It was spending an afternoon at the beach with 4 of the kids, watching David, Leah and Travis teach Jack how to catch eels, while Lisa tried to teach Rory that rocks don't go in his mouth.
It was taking Leah, Jack and Micah to the beach after dinner and watching 15 month old Micah try to throw rocks as far as Grandpa could. He wouldn't pick up rocks that were his size - he labored to pick up big ones that he could only drop - not throw!
The morning we left was the first day the sun really came out. The campsite was filled with sunbeams and when Jack came for breakfast he said "I love you grama....I'm so glad you came....it's a beautiful day for camping" and I knew that Jack was right all along.
I love you David, Leah, Jack, Micah and Rory...I'm so glad you came...it WAS a beautiful day for camping!
2 comments:
At least there was no threat of bears and we were able to eat whenever we wanted to! It was a little cold, a little crazy with 2 young boys, and very tiring, but Jack still talks about the eels and crabs he caught and how much he loves camping!
Ah, the joys of camping with kids...I might be crazy, but I love it. Love it more now that my own are older, but still, loved it when they were babies!
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