The Great Outdoors

Camping is an annual tradition for us, so we found ourselves in the lush green Catskill Mountains this year. We booked a site at North-South Lake, and headed up right after Sam's baseball game.  We knew it might be an iffy weather situation, but I wasn't mentally prepared for the downpour and thick fog that met us at our campsite.  Shawn and I threw the tent up in record time, in the pitch black night with only the car headlights to see.  We threw the kids in the tent, put everyone to bed without a brushing teeth, and prayed that we would wake up to better weather in the morning!  Luckily it had stopped raining the next morning but it was still a little overcast.  This didn't stop the kids from getting out and exploring.  The one who surprised me the most was Lyv.  She seemed to be totally at one with nature - she loved romping through the trees, climbing the rocks, and getting good and dirty!  We hiked a short hike to Ashley Falls, and then made our way back to camp for a yummy lunch of hotdogs. 

I do have to say, that the biggest disappointment besides family, is not having the scrumptious, delicious food that we've grown to know comes when Memorial Day camping is happening.  Our hotdogs and tin foil dinners are no match for dutch oven potatoes, fried chicken, and scones!

The next day brought much warmer weather and we head for the beach to play before heading home.  We ran into our friends the Weston's and I was able to take their kayak out on the lake for a little spin.  That is definetly more my speed of boat.  Shawn wanted nothing to do with something that didn't have a motor.  

Throughout the camping experience Jack had been battling a fever that never seemed to go away, so a quick trip to the doctor resulted in a positive Strep test, and antibiotics for Jacko!  He refused to let something as little as strep throat stop his camping fun!  Overall it was a really fun experience - even sleeping wasn't too bad which was my worst fear.  

As we headed home I was looking forward to a much needed shower and washer and dryer for our stinky, wet camping clothes and gear.  We pulled up to the house only to find the electric company outside working on the power lines!  You can imagine how happy I was to see that - Shawn ran down and got the 411 from them, and walked back up and told me it might be a few days!  A curse word or two may or may not have crossed my lips, then he laughed and said that we was joking.  I gave a quick hit and told him that jokes about power going out are no joking matter here!  In 10 minutes I was enjoying a nice hot shower, and our marriage was saved!

  This picture of Lyv was just to funny to not post!  She thought she was pretty cool.