Ah, swine flu, how you have slowly sucked the fun out of life.
Instead, Tyler got to hang out with a bunch of women at girls' night at the Andersons' house. Thankfully, there was another little preschooler there for T to play with. (Girls' night outs have changed over the years. We bring our kids, wear pj's, drink hot tea and leave by 10 p.m. Before we know it, they'll consist of bingo, knitting, conversations about cold cream and a 7:30 bedtime.).
Anyway, I think he was impressed with Maggie's train playing skills. They played so well together and kept themselves entertained while the mommies played games and talked. After we got home, Tyler looked deep into my eyes and declared, "Maggie is so pretty." What can I say? He has a heart for girls. It's like I'm raising Casanova.
As for our camping men, they had a blast. This is Noah jumping around in the tent once it was erected. Pitched. Whatever.
This is the guys eating dinner (weiners and chips). After raining all of Wednesday, the ground was still muddy. I'm having such a blast getting the mud out of those jeans. Clorox 2...I heart you.
This is Noah making a smiley face out of chips.
I'm wondering if they also served some "special" brownies...
Noah thought it would be fun to make a bunk bed out of their cots. Not sure it worked out very well.
Brian noticed stadium lights not too far from their camp site (it's like he has an internal GPS for anything sports related), so they hopped in the car to watch some Van Alstyne football. Brian got to see several kids he used to coach and Noah scored a ring pop and some hot cocoa. Back at the tent, there were a couple of card sharks playing Rummy and Old Maid. Looks like Brian is going down. 
And even though they had extra blankets, thick sleeping bags, sweatshirts and knit caps on, Brian got very little sleep from being cold and hearing people snore. Somewhere in the night, there was a thief who stole his extra blanket. We are not sure, but we suspect it was a five year old thief, judging by they muddy tracks he left behind. The next morning, they awoke to some kids using their tent as third base.
This next pic is with one of the boys' buddies, Grant. I just love the mud splatters on his face. I'm sure his Daddy did, too. Poor guy ran out of clothes from all the falling in the mud!
Despite cold weather, stolen blankets, mud, special brownies and all, they still had a blast and Noah spent Saturday night seriously wailing about wanting to go camping again. THAT night. I mean, it was the ugly cry. For over 20 minutes. Or 30, I don't remember which. But, it was sincere and that's what counts.
I get it, though. The smell and warmth of a campfire, marshmellows roasting, sleeping outdoors, solitude, relating to each other with a lack of distractions, crisp air...I get it.
There is just something special about getting back to the simple things of life.
So, if the weather cooperates, I think the four of us will find ourselves on our own camping trip and dancing in a tent in a couple of weeks. Looks like I'll be buying some more Clorox 2. Oh, how I heart the Clorox 2.
2 comments:
You know, I've had plenty of mine own camping trips over the last few years and I gotta tell ya, wasn't too thrilled with them. Granted, maybe it's different when you don't have to dig your own foxhole, the revolving guard shifts, the guy yelling at you, throwing artillery simulators to blast you out of your hide sight, running/reacting to ambushes/sniper fire, lying in an ambush line for hours in the cold rain, etc. Oh, and no fires at all. Or marshmellows.
Okay, I think maybe his experiences with camping have been righteous. I wouldn't mind camping like that. I wouldn't mind camping like that at all. But sometimes, my kind of camping can be pretty fun and rewarding too. I wouldn't trade that either. =) Love y'all!
Oh, and he DEFINITELY had "special" brownies!
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