In Between Camping Trips...

Months ago, before we knew how camping-heavy this summer was going to be, we had also agreed to our usual Manassas campout, but in July this year.  When we realized that it was the day before we were going to a wedding, we decided to just go and visit our friends without actually spending the night.  And then Craig felt stressed out about the wedding (since he was conducting the ring ceremony) and asked if I would hate him if he backed out?  The kids also begged off, since they were all sunburned and sick of being outdoors.

I called up Sarah and asked how busy she was and if she wanted to visit a couple old friends with me?  And she was able to come!  To sweeten the deal, I went and picked her up at her house (there aren't really any good meet up places between us if you're heading north), and that meant we also got to catch up during the drive!

Unfortunately, it was POURING rain for a good portion of that drive-- you know it's bad when I drive slow for rain!-- including when we arrived at Matthew's Arm.  So we sloshed our way through the trail-turned-creek to where Emma and Christina had a shelter set up and then spent a lovely couple of hours gabbing away with our friends.  

Sarah, Christina, Emma, and me!

Normally I would have stayed longer, but those benches are the WORST and I was so damp.  (I'd brought camping chairs so we could sit more comfortably, but unfortunately I'd left them in the truck bed and they were also very soggy.)  When there was a break in the rain, Sarah and I splashed our way back to the truck and began the drive back.  We stopped in Harrisonburg for dinner at Five Guys and after I delivered Sarah back to her home and finished my drive alone (I mean-- I still had Taylor Swift to keep me company!).  It was a long day, but I was so glad to get to spend so much time with my friends!

The next morning we were up bright and early for this crazy wedding:

That's my friend Amy Patchett, now married to our previous bishop, Steve Morgan!  That was nothing I could have ever predicted, but I certainly wish them all the happiness!  Those two have been through a lot, and they definitely deserve it!

And here's Camille dancing with her best buddy Peter at their reception (which was lovely, and Craig did a great job!):

Mini Vacay

School is starting earlier than normal this year, so we're losing two weeks of our summer vacation.  Between that and all the camp outs, it didn't really leave us any time to go on a family vacation.  Which is kind of okay because I feel too busy for much more than we've had going on.  Except Camille is too young to go on any of the camp outs, so it seemed like she was getting cheated even more than the rest of us.  So Craig figured he needed to fix this.

His solution was to plan-- you guessed it!-- another camp out!  But he added a twist that made this one awesome: jet skiing!

Yup, we camped out near a lake just so we could spend the following day jet skiing on it!

Things are complicated right now, because Bentley works Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday until 6pm.  So we had to wait for him to come home after his Wednesday shift before we could finally leave.  We knew we'd be getting in late, so we didn't even bother trying to make dinner over a fire or anything like that-- Chick-fil-A was good enough for this night!

 

Sure enough, by the time we got to our campsite it was dark and most of the other campers seemed to have already gone to bed.  We managed to set up two tents and two hammocks in the dark, and then Craig helped Ryder build a fire and we did at least roast s'mores.  And then it was bedtime!  Craig and I were about to turn off our flashlights when it began raining and Camille hightailed it out of her hammock and into our tent.  One of these days she'll actually get to sleep through the night in that hammock!  Kendra had a tarp over hers and slept quite peacefully.

In the morning, Craig made breakfast (pancakes and sausage!) and then we threw everything into the car.  No need to carefully pack up a wet, slightly muddy tent.

The hammock makes for a pretty good swing, too!

My sons all waiting for breakfast!

It was a very short drive to Claytor Lake (which is a weird name-- shouldn't it either be Clayton or Crater???) and got our jet ski.  We settled everyone on the beach and got our pop-up set up with camping chairs under its cover, and then Craig and I took turns and swapped kids around so that everyone got several turns.  It was a long day of people getting sunburned (especially Ryder, of course), but ohmygoodness I love zipping across the water so much.  It was seriously the best time!!!

At one point during Bentley and my turn, it started pouring.  I wasn't too worried-- we were already wet after all!  But we quickly discovered that when you're racing around at 40mph that rain hurts!  So we reluctantly headed back to the dock and waited until the storm passed.  Fortunately that didn't take too long!

Kendra liked to create wakes and then drive through them trying to get air.  Of course.

Giving those extremely red arms and legs a little break

Playing on the beach until they get another turn

We had a cooler with sandwich stuff, which the kids dragged over to a shady picnic area where there wasn't any sand to enjoy their lunch.  Smart kids!  It was a pretty chill day.

Swimming out to the cool rock formation

Camille looks ready to star in a Mission: Impossible movie!

This was shortly after I lost my sunglasses-- so sad!

We had the best day!  I'm not too into grown up toys, but if I were ever rich and lived near a large body of water, I would definitely consider investing in a jet ski or two!

Kendra and I got the last turn, and while we were out playing, Craig had the kids shower off and get dressed.  Then we drove home, stopping at a Taco Bell for dinner.  It was a great mini-vacation!  Craig has awesome ideas!