Memories....

Camp. What can I say except that it was WONDERFUL! I shared some pictures in an earlier post, those were some of the best. I'm not sure how to write about all the great things that happened so I am just going to highlight/list them:

• Left home at 10pm on Wed.
• Hit a skunk on the ride up - threw my back out in the process
• Arrived at camp at 4am after taking one wrong turn and stopping for a few bathroom breaks
• Yard at camp was not mowed - some places were taller than A

• Found a lone pair of underwear in Tom's bed...women's...
• Biggest thing anyone hooked all week was me...OUCH! Fish were small but they put up a fight

• Boys canoed with dad

• A broke my glasses the second day there...thankfully the general store had super glue
• A used the outhouse (although there is indoor plumbing as well)

• Saw a beautiful sunset at the lake

• My camera battery died the second day...glad Kirby brought his as well
• Hiked in the woods a bit - NEVER left the path - we learned our lessons last year
• Founds TONS of raspberries and blackberries and even a few blueberries.

• Picked enough to make pancakes with cool whip and berries for breakfast

• Saw both moose and wild canine tracks - though never saw the real thing

• Z learned to use a slingshot AND a hand saw
• Kirby to remove a rather large thorn/splinter from my foot
• Boys built a "drum set" out of logs and sticks and performed "shows" every night

• Roast hot dogs and marshmallows by the fire every night

• Heard coyotes and loons at night
• The boys burned their sneakers in the fire
• Z and Tom played tons of wiffle ball and had a great time doing it - never seen them have so much fun together without arguing

• Saw a woman driving a motorcycle with her man on the back on the way home...HYSTERICAL
• Learned that Kirby and I can be friends
• Arrived home at 7pm on Tuesday....wanting to be back at camp

Did I mention that Kirby and I learned that we can be friends? More on that in another post...

Please don't let the bears eat me...

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, last time we were up at camp we had a bit of an adventure in the woods.......

At the camp there is a journal. Before you leave you can write down your memories of your visit. I love it. It is a great way to see what everyone else is doing up there. It is a great way to share memories and remember things that you had once forgotten. It is also a great way to remember the neighbor's names (cause I am SO bad with names). And last year, it was a great way to discover new adventures.

In the journal someone made mention to the fact that Uncle Bruce had built a bridge somewhere on the land for Mad Max (Mad Max was one of my Uncle's creations...a cross between a bulldozer and a tractor with a plow on the front). They also mentioned that you could get to the bridge by foot following the logging path. Tom said he had been there and that he could lead us through.

So off we went on the trek to the bridge the Bruce built...

I had forgotten my sneakers so I was hiking in flip flops which wasn't a big deal until the "path" became a jungle. At first the path was nice and clear. Every few feet more brush would appear. Soon we were hiking in thick brush up to my waist. A had to be carried on Kirby's shoulders because it was taller than he was.

I was getting eaten alive. The bugs were horrendous and the brush kept ripping at my skin. After about 45 minutes I was done. Irritated, tired, hungry and hurting. I wanted to turn around. Kirby wanted to keep going. We argued (shocking, I know), I won.

There was a problem, however. We turned around and, somehow, lost the path. It could have been that the brush was taller than my children so the "path" didn't really look like a path. It could have been that in my bloodless, starving, delirious state I got confused. Whatever it was, we were lost. Badly.

I must say here that Kirby has NO sense of direction. He believes he does and for the sake of the next 10 months I would never tell him otherwise. But he doesn't. North, South, East, West do not make sense to him.

So Kirby kept telling me that the path I was choosing was wrong. "We couldn't have come from that direction" he kept telling me. "It must have been this path"...

I didn't freaking care which path we came down to begin with I just wanted OUT! We were walking by piles of bear and moose crap...the bugs were eating me...the kids were whiny...it was starting to get dark...I WAS SCARED.

Z was scared and kept blaming Tom for getting us lost...I was scared and kept blaming Kirby for not letting me turn around sooner...and I think a small part of Kirby was scared that he may not be able to get us out. And poor Tom was scared because he was the one that lead us out there to begin with...and did I mention that we kept walking by PILES OF BEAR CRAP?

This was about the time that Momma went PSYCHO. Between the lack of food, low blood levels due to mosquito bites, the dwindling sunlight...the whiny children and pissy Kirby....and the fact that I was TERRIFIED that we were going to be lost in the woods forever and get eaten by one of the bears (that I am sure were rather large judging on the size of their crap)....well, I lost it.

I don't remember what was said. It is too humiliating to look back on. I am sure that my complete meltdown did not help matters. I am sure that I only succeeded in terrifying my children more....but I couldn't help it. I lost it. Completely lost it. I am ashamed of the way I reacted in an emergency.

Then, in a moment of sanity, I regained my ability to function like the sane, rational, smart, independent woman that I am.

I stood in the forest, caught a glimpse of the sun and realized where I was. I remembered that sitting in the camp I faced the sun in that direction. I realized the way that we needed to go. And I started walking.

"This isn't the path we took to get in" Kirby kept saying.

I told him that I didn't freaking care what path we took to get in, this was the path that was going to take us out...

And it did. Because I am amazing!

This year we will be much better prepared for a hike...IF there is any hiking. I'm talking bug spray, water, sneakers, loaded pistol...whatever...

Too many happenings, not enough pictures!

First off, we bought a new camera. The old one...well, you know, took crappy photos, was over 2 years old and, most recently, took a dunk in the river.

Unfortunately, I no longer have possession of the camera. Kirby has taken a new love of photography and the camera stays with him. He also has been too stinking lazy to upload the pictures of the past week...which means no photo blogging for me >:( (that's me, really angry - but I can't show you that because KIRBY HAS POSSESSION OF THE CAMERA AND HASN'T LOADED THE NEW SOFTWARE IN AND HASN'T LOADED UP THE NEW PICTURES YET EITHER).

A quick update on the MANY happenings of this past week and a half:

Tom turned 18. Holy crap. Way to make me feel old, Tom, thanks!

Tom graduated high school. So, if turning 18 wasn't bad enough, we added a graduation to the mix. I laughed, I cried...I was completely selfish and thought only about how old he makes me feel...great day! Seriously though, I am incredibly proud of him. He has worked very hard and is the first offspring to make it!

Baseball season is over. Thank freaking GOD! I am SO done with baseball. I have decided that working with the team (and the crappy parents who scream at their kids the whole game or ignore them and allow them to act like complete hellians) is not for me. Next year I will not be volunteering. I am sure there are a few cheers from the peanut gallery - go ahead and cheer I am cheering right along with you!

My office is going through a complete revamp! New paint, new furniture, new attitude. We will be having an open house at the end of the month and I am SO excited to show the place off!! The painter is less than neat...but he did a really great job on my walls (and the carpet and the tables...ugh). He promises that the mess will be cleaned up today...let's hope!

This weekend we are throwing a huge surprise party for Tom's birthday and graduation. Of course, today he got a job and the first thing they did was schedule him for Saturday. Being a surprise I couldn't tell him. So, I had to call his boss and be all like "this is Tommy's mommy and I'm really sorry but he has a family event this weekend and can't come into work on Saturday." He seemed cool...but Tom may kill me if he ever finds out.

That's it, that's all, folks. Someday I will take possession of the camera back and my blogs will, once again, become much more interesting. It's going to take a few weeks for my ADHD "husband" to lose his interest in the camera...bear with me!