these are the days of our lives

day 1: pack every thing but the kitchen sink. literally. bring buckets instead of kitchen sink.

cram it all into and onto van. belatedly realize you must also fit four children and two adults into said van.

rearrange.

shoehorn necessary.

success, after a fashion.

(not pictured: the massive amount of stuff under everyone's feet, between and under the seats, and strapped to the roof. also not pictured: little man, who was buried somewhere) ***

day 1, cont.: unpack, organize campsite. engage in much of this:

making it all worthwhile.

day 2: enjoy yourself so much that momma and children wage campaign to get googiedaddy to stay an extra day.

start to win the battle.

evening of day 2: start to feel a few raindrops before heading into the tent to sleep. throw rain cover and tarp over tent. toss some stuff in back of van, "in case" it rains harder. congratulate selves on pre-planning and forward-thinking.

2 am: wake to sound of massive downpour. the heavens have opened. rearrange tent to make sure nothing is touching the sides.

day 3, 8am: wake to continuing massive downpouring and large puddles inside tent. clothing, blankets, sleeping bags, towels, suitcases~~all soaked.

lament fact that waterproof technology DOES exist, rain covers do exist, yet tent-makers consistently make these rain covers approximately 50% of the size of the tent, conveniently leaving the area where you are sleeping exposed to the elements. why why WHY????

put wet items in dryer and head out to find diner for breakfast. cooking is impossible. spend an hour at wal-mart trying to decide what to do.

1 pm: return to campground, having spent $20 on ponchos, to find the entire place deserted. EVERYONE else has packed up and left.

more rain than you ever thought possible continues to fall from the sky.

decide to cut losses, begin haphazardly throwing all remaining items into and onto van. everything is drenched, including googies and googieparents.

5 pm: arrive home, unpack drenched items. begin washing washing washing drying drying drying.

10 pm: realize tiny tim, who apparently was bitten at some point by ???, is beginning to look less like this:

and more like this:

10:30pm: head to ER, on advice of doctor

2:30 am: stumble in, carrying one heavy dead weight child, knocked out by massive doses of steroid and benadryl.

day 4, 10 am: wake. wash, dry, repeat. begin to plan next year's camping trip :0)


***side point: once we got in the car and i went to take that first shot, i pulled out the camera and realized i left my SD card at home!!! i managed to find an old one buried at the bottom of the camera bag, and when i put it in the camera it had a bunch of this:

which has turned into this:

such a lazy child :o)

but again, what is not pictured here? my uterus, aching. (which would just be a gross picture anyway)