Finding another family to co-camp with isn't always easy.
You need a family that will bring the crock-pot when you forget yours, and who will forget their cutting board and knife so that yours is 100% utilized. Amanda remembered wine, I remembered paper towels (not exactly an equal exchange, but you get my drift). The funny part was, we'd been too busy the previous couple of weeks to do detailed planning, so it was all providential. Or just a perfect match for the weekend, I guess. Together we made a complete camping unit!
A family with compatible children is best, of course, because they entertain each other by running around the campsite and playing. Bel spent Sunday morning leading Hallie and Kaiden on an umbrella walk (she had one of my umbrellas open). She would stop every once in awhile, make them all sit down under the umbrella with her, and sing them a long, made-up song about raining. It was raining, raining so hard outside, but under the umbrella, they were dry dry dry...
The older boys got along well this trip, which we kind of expected because they're close in age and they're both nice kids who like to get along. Late Sunday morning, in the middle of packing up camp, Liam got stung by a bee. Amanda came to ask if I had a first aid kit with Benadryl (I did, thank goodness). Her plan was to dose Liam when he came back from the bathroom where he and his dad were running cold water on the sting. Otto, though, wasn't OK with that. He picked up the first aid kit and danced around anxiously until I told him it was alright to run up to the bath/shower house and find Liam. And he took off like a shot, red bag firmly in hand. First responder in the making, maybe?
Later he gave Liam a one-armed hug and said "I really kind of, I mean I really like this guy."
And oh my gosh, the kids and the lake? HEAVEN. They spent hours throwing pebbles, piling wet sand on rocks and watching waves wash them clean, paddling in the shallow water near the beach, digging in the sand, splashing and running and having a good time.
And I don't know how they stood it, because that water is C.O.L.D. We adults picked up the kids and carried them out to the sandbar - maybe 20 feet from shore? - and hung out for a little while. I wasn't sure I would make it out there, the water was so freakin' cold. I'm a wimp, it's true, but still -- brrrrr! And the kids just thought it was a great lark, the water temperature didn't even seem to register. They were just thrilled to be out in the big blue.
We had a lot of fun. And almost every day since, Otto has asked if our next vacation can be a camping vacation. He's thinking a week, minimum.
I hope our camping buddies are up for it!
(thanks, Farr family, for a fantastic weekend)
