Every summer, we go on 10 day camping trip to my favorite place on earth, Dale Hollow Lake. It really is like a second home to me. If I was ever forced to move, that is totally where I would go :). Just to keep the recap to a minimum, I thought I would just do a random bullet list. Pics will come in another post. 🙂 So here goes:
-Packing with a one year old is MUCH easier than packing with a four month old. 🙂
-I am SOOO very grateful we have a camper now. We have done this trip a few times (the whole 10 days) in tents (with a baby!), and now we are SOOO blessed to be able to have a small trailer. It makes the entire process about a thousand times easier and more enjoyable.Â
-I had to take Jack to the doctor the day before we left. I thought he might have pink eye, but he ended up having a viral infection in his eye and throat. Since we had Josie, we have NEVER been on our vacation without a sick kid, either before or DURING. Just part of having kids, I guess. He was pretty pitiful for the first couple of days. Until his fever broke, we just took it easy for him and hung out at the campground so he could take good naps in the cool camper and not get too hot.Â
-I guess because of being sick, Jack was a HUGE momma’s boy the whole trip. He was FULL of temper tantrums, too. However, we finally had a “breakthrough” towards the end, and our last full day he was AWESOME-I mean, beyond good. New popular phrase in our household: “Use your WORDS, Jack!” 🙂Â
-Last year on our trip, it rained every.single.day. This year, it only rained a few times at night-yay for pretty days!Â
-Jake and I were COMPLETELY unplugged the entire 10 days we were gone. Our phones do not get service there, which we think is a blessing. No phones, texting, computers, email, internet, TV, even radio, at all. Not even a weather forecast, except if we overheard it at the dock or something. Â It was absolutely awesome. It is such a wonderful break from reality, almost like we are living in a bubble.Â
-Probably because I was completely unplugged, I finished a Bible study I have been working on for awhile, and I read seven and a half books while we were gone. The rest of the City of Ember series, some more of the Shadow Children series, and some other stand alone books. I LOVE to read. When I was little, my mom would let me pick a book out at the beginning of a grocery trip, and I would have it completely read before we even got home. I am going to have to take more “unplugged” breaks, if anything just so I can keep with my reading :).Â
-My whole family was on this trip, at some point. Not all at the same time, though. Mom and Dad, us, Shshr, Nana, Ta and Tommy, and Andy and his family were there the whole time. Justin was there for the first part, Josh and Jackie came up for a day, Chad came up for a few days, and Casey and Kyle came up during the week. Lesa was the only one who didn’t get to come at all. Uncle Bill came and brought Brianna one day. Grandaddy even visited with his wife and her family! (They were staying in the cabins at Horse Creek).Â
-We also had some drop in visitors during the week. Cindy, Chester, the girls, and Kayla and Brandon came on Monday, and Mr. Steve and Mrs. Laurie came on Saturday and brought the kids. Josie loved getting to play with all the kids. One of her prayers every night is always “Dear God, thank you for my kids and cousins…” :).
-Josie was a MAJOR rock/crystal/shell collector this trip. She so reminds me of ME.Â
-Jack loves to “rye” (ride) anything and everything. Push car, stroller, bike, bike trailer, boat, kayak, you name it and he loves to “rye.” 🙂
-We went to Livingston one day to antique, of course. 🙂 What’s a camping trip without some antiquing thrown in, too?
-The guys went jugging for catfish a couple of nights. One morning I went with them to pick up the jugs. We caught one big catfish, and one HUGE snapping turtle. Needless to say, we didn’t keep the turtle.Â
-We got to do LOTS of kayaking this year. Between us all, we had a total of 5 kayaks, which Daddy pulled over with the duck boat everyday. One day Casey, Alec, Justin, Jake, and I kayaked from the dock all the way to the end of Irons Creek and went exploring. 🙂 It was really fun. Daddy picked up Casey and Alec in the duck boat, and Justin, Jake and I paddled all the way back. I can tell I am much more in shape than I used to be-I just have more endurance!
-I also got to slalom. I just went once, but it was good to know I can still get up, cross the wakes, and crash with the best of them. 🙂
-Jack LOVES the water. He loves going UNDERwater, too! He will jump off anything, all by himself, and by the end of the week, he was bending down and putting his face under the water, just for kicks. He is totally fearless. He was copying EVERYTHING the big boys did.Â
-Josie LOVES the water, too…but she does not like to go under the water involuntarily. No jumping for her. She does put her face under the water sometimes, though.Â
-Daddy, Jake, me, Casey, and Kyle took Jack and Josie over to explore the sunken island one day. Josie was so excited! She asked Pappy, “How did the island sink?” 🙂
-One day there was an ant invasion in my camper. I do NOT like ants. Thanks to some awesome spray Tommy shared, though, the invasion was brief.Â
-Josie LOVES to spend the night with people. On our trip, she spent one night with Nana and Shshr, one night with Grammy and Pappy, and one night with Katie Ann! She was so excited to get to stay in Katie Ann’s camper. This was her first time to stay overnight with anyone other than Nana, Grammy and Pappy, or Mee-Maw.
-Josie was so sad to come home. However, when we got home, she went straight to her room and did some HEAVY DUTY playing :). She had definitely missed her room, whether she knew it or not.Â
-I am always sad to come home, too, but always so glad to get back to my house-it always feel so BIG!Â
-While we were gone, Mama Judy took care of our garden for us. She picked 78 cucumbers, 42 bell peppers, 31 large tomatoes, and a plethora of cherry tomatoes. I think it is safe to say that my garden is NOT done yet.Â
All in all, it was a wonderful trip. We are so very blessed that we can take a vacation every year, especially one to my favorite place on earth, surrounded by family and friends. 🙂