Been Busy Living

Life seems a perpetual fast forward.

It took about two weeks from the last post to get the floors done and the kids moved back into their rooms. A's kid party had to be relocated away from our house because of the mess and fumes. We barely had things back in time for the family party the following weekend. Now, the mopboards sit needing to be repainted (desperately) and the kids are itching for their room makeovers.

After the birthday and floor frenzies, we set about to accomplish a family goal that we have had for some time...go camping. We gathered what we thought were the essentials and reserved a campsite in southern Minnesota. Friday went smoothly and we got set up at the very nice and well-maintained RV resort and campground. On Saturday morning there was just enough time to walk the kids to the restrooms and back before the rain started. 7 a.m. and on and on... we had breakfast in the tent, hung out in the van, checked out the arcade and bemoaned our great luck with the weather. At 10:00, the resort had a kids' craft activity and we did that together. The sky was acting weird the whole time...rain, break in the clouds, a quick peek at the sun, dark clouds, distant thunder, rain again. Brave, brave Mark took the kids swimming in the heated outdoor pool. The water might have been 80 degrees, but the air was about 68. I had on long pants and a sweatshirt! After a wet lunch and more s'mores, the girls and their dad took advantage of a break in the rain to go fishing. It was short-lived, but they were delighted since they caught fish! Our plans to mini-golf never came to fruition...more rain. I napped while the kids checked out a movie at the activity center. They weren't very interested, so they played a bit of shuffleboard (or "shuffleboard war" as O wanted to shoot from opposite ends and try to hit each other!) Before we could build another fire and make dinner, it started in again with the heavier rain and the girls both conked out. We eventually did eat and made it to the family dance for about an hour. It was strange that the kids didn't last longer, but we would discover that two of the three were sick! After one more fire (and MORE s'mores) the guys hung out and chatted and we girls hit the hay. O was up sometime after 2 to use the bathroom...his stomach was just out of sorts. A was throwing up at 4 and then drifted back to sleep on my part of the air mattress. That left her dad sunken on his side and me on the hard, rancid, wet floor. Did I mention that it kept raining during the night??? Fortunately everyone slept til just after 8:00, waking to blue skies and moderate temps. Ahhhhh... We broke camp quicker than a New York minute and headed home for a noon meeting at church.

Life is good.