Rather than packing for our intended scouting family camp out, we all sat around periodically checking the weather report, which called for a high probability of rain. It was an easy decision to delay our departure by one day, and the fact that it is hard to watch a Texas Ranger playoff game from inside a wet tent may or may not have influenced our decision a dozen little bits.
Taking advantage of an unexpected night at home, we called up Calvin and Nichole to come meet us for Mexican food, then we came home and cheered wildly for the Rangers....from the warmth and comfort of our very own home. (It was partly as consolation for missing the first night of their camp out that the boys got treated to the late night Academy run, and they seemed thrilled with that, so it was all good. Plus, the way I saw it, Academy actually sells camping equipment, so we were in the presence of much gear and it was almost exactly the same as being stuck at a state park in a wet tent, except without the part about actually being at a park or in a tent.)
We snuggled into our beds that night all toasty warm and comfortable, and didn't feel even the slightest tinge of guilt.
The scene on Saturday went something like this...
The weather report was still dismal, but we were in competition with friends who have a highly tuned sense of adventure. We ruled out the possibility of pitching tents and spending the night, but since the campground was only a few hours away, we decided to go for the day and cook a big meal and hang out with friends until after the big bonfire. So, I prepped a meal and loaded coolers while the boys packed up the van (in the rain) and Buzzard checked every available radar site, then we all headed east (in the rain).
We got to the site and semi-unpacked (in the you-know-what) and assembled soggy sandwiches for lunch while the boys headed out in search of mammoth mud puddles, which were in great abundance. I could hardly BELIEVE, as we all wandered in rain ponchos, that my camera battery was completely dead. Of all times! I couldn't stop laughing at the absurdity of it all, and the photo ops were plentiful!
We huddled under a pine tree with our good friends, taking shelter under a tarp that was loosely secured to drippy branches by old twine and a pair of jumper cables! This was decidedly NOT the caliber of pine tree palace to which I have grown rather accustomed! :-) We stayed an obligatory hour - maybe two - then waved goodbye to our drenched and adventurous friends to haul our cooler home and cook our camp food in a real pot on a real stove in a real kitchen; all of which were dry.
We snuggled into our beds that night all toasty warm and comfortable, and didn't feel even the slightest tinge of guilt.
Uh oh. A pattern.
It is rather safe to say at this point that no one is going to accuse our family of being official campers.
**I hope to update this post with a few pictures that Hannah managed to get on her camera. I have a cute one of Emma wearing a gigantic lily pad on her head, but I need to figure out the high tech logistics of transferring the photos from Hannah's computer to my blog. I'm like Bill Gates and Jane of the Jungle all rolled into one, I tell you - - my computer prowess combined with my killer outdoor instincts -- the talent simply astounds.
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