The Last Hoorah

For several weeks my hubby and I had been debating whether or not to head to the lake for one final weekend before calling it quits on the 2013 camping season. We had our eye on this weekend for a long time.  The calendar was empty and there is no school on Monday, which gives us a day to recoup.

Then along came a little issue called government shutdown.

I am not complaining...the shutdown has not caused an immediate loss of wages for us as it has for many.  This was just a little hiccup in some tentative weekend plans.  The campgrounds we go to are all government run....therefore, all closed.

But I will say, what is bad for the government run parks, is good for the state run parks. 

The place was PACKED.

Due to waiting until the last minute to plan and pack, we arrived in the dark on Friday night.  We seriously could have made a funniest home video moment trying to find a spot and finally backing the camper in with our 10 year old standing at the edge of the driveway guiding his father with his flashlight app on his iPod.

We finally succeeded.  I really wish I would have taken a picture of the event.

Here is a Saturday morning pic of our cozy camping community.

 

The weather was gorgeous...between the hours of 11:00 and 5:00.  Otherwise it was a bit chilly! Too cold to swim, too cold to jet ski, and too cold for early morning bike rides.

However, it was not too cold for this.

I have no idea what it is called.

But we played game after game, running around like fools to push the buttons before our lights disappeared.

My oldest son and I consistently held the two-on-two family championship title.

Not that we are competitive or anything.

My husband may have had a slight disadvantage on his team.

Like the little guy barely being able to reach the top lights.

But a championship is a championship.


We also did a lot of hiking.  We have been on these trails before, and I must say that they are much more enjoyable at 65 degrees than they are at 95 degrees.

The little guy spent most of his time in this position, trying to catch whatever happened to be moving on the ground nearby.

 

Which means we spent a lot of time in this position.  Waiting, waiting, waiting...

The ziploc bag went with him everywhere.  He was on a mission to catch a lizard.  Unfortunately, the bag came home empty, unless you count the buckets of tears he cried at the end of the hike because he didn't catch a lizard.

Thankfully, before the tears, there were some happy moments.

We shared the trails with lots of horses, which made for beautiful scenery.

However, it created a new definition for "watch your step" while hiking.

I am so thankful for these memories with my kids.

On Friday afternoon at 1:00, I was whining about going for the weekend.  I wasn't looking forward to the work that it takes, to being gone from home for the whole weekend, and to the giant to-do list I had yet to accomplish.

However, then I would have missed the laughs...the joy my kids experienced when grandma and grandpa brought the boat out for the afternoon....the game time.....the moments around the campfire....and the minute-by-minute time that I spent with my family.