Here's a little secret:
I didn't really want to go camping this weekend.
It's hot, my dears.
Arkansas hot.
But I simply CANNOT say no to the Flynns. They ask me to go camping, so, by dang, we were going camping. In Arkansas. In June. Only those that have done that thing know why that is such a crazy idea.
I accepted my fate and got after planning the meals and lugging all the camping gear out of the basement.
Mark had a brutal work week, Megan has 3 jobs and 42 pets to petsit, and if Laney didn't have a shift scheduled this weekend, I know as sure as I've ever known anything that she would have found a way to pick one up.
So it was me and AJ and Everly.
The Flynns numbers were down too, so with only Todd, Courtney and Aidan, we could all fit in one car! I was more than happy to sit in the middle and chat with my best friend for 6+ hours.
It gave us lots of opportunities to gawk at the beautiful clouds, knowing Laney would be geeking out.
We arrived about 7 pm and were thrilled to find a cool breeze coming off the lake. AJ and Everly got right to work:
With camp all set up and a quick dinner, we set off in search of the the bathroom.
We had no idea that there would be a welcome committee!
Ever heard of a Broad-necked root borer?
We hadn't either, but we became acquainted as Ipersuaded, nay, demanded AJ and Everly get in there and go to the bathroom while I stood in front of the stalls and kicked the scuttling bugs away long enough for them to pee. Better to deal with big bugs at 9 pm instead of 2 am.
Look at the size of those suckers!
Eventually, most of them were flipped on to their backs as we hurredly washed our hands, keeping an eye on all corners. As we were leaving, the girls felt bad that they could be stuck like that all night. Funny how fast compassion can take over when the initial disgust passes. We used our toothpaste bottles to get them all back on their legs and we made a break for it!
We settled in to our tent, screens all aglow. I was just happy to be there with a couple of my little women. Nevermind that the tent was on a hill and I spent all night climbing back to the top of my air mattress. That's half the adventure.
I woke up earlier than the others. Mostly from my long night of uphill battles. Also, the need to pee at 2 am left me keenly grateful that I wasn't currently murdered. Hard to sleep after the adrenaline dump I got from passing by creepy brown van guy...twice. Why are you awake and sitting at your picnic table at 2 am, sir? Park on a hill, perhaps? I know your sorrow.
If I was awake, I might as well sneak in a shower.
This time I came prepared. Armed with my hand broom and dust pan.
I set those Broad-necked borers loose in the wild, baby. I assessed the shower situation.
A button.
Little did I know that I shouldn't take for granted the generous 30-second increments alloted for all wetting and rinsing. Gratitude was assuredly on the horizon.
Nevertheless, a person could do worse that 20 minutes of broad-necked borer free silence in the deep woods of Arkansas. Especially with this darling moth to keep me company. I didn't know yet that she would be the first of the "Bathroom Beauties", The Lavoratory Ladies, Watercloset Women, the Toilet Tootses, if you will.
Thursday was boat day!
Here's another lil secret. If it were up to me, I'd never rent a boat or ride on a boat. It just isn't in my nature. It doesn't sound fun to me. But it is! Once I get out on that boat, it all seems like a wonderful idea.
I'm so glad we have friends that have that inner energy and rent boats and do exciting things so that my kids get to make these memories.
The girls were a little nervous, so Aidan went out first. Todd did his level best to get him tossed off the innertube.
Everly swore she wouldn't go out. Too scary!
AJ said she was worried about her shoulder and didn't feel it was wise to go out and risk further injury. I, being a person that wishes to stay happily in the boat, said, "ok!"
But before you know it, there they were....making deals and pep-talking each other into going out on the water.
Look at that! Todd even jumped in the water to stabalize the tube for Everly. No need to spook her before she gets a chance to feel the wind in her hair!
I snagged a quick photo, just in case Everly decided she "wanted off".
When I tell you that we started out slow.... I mean.....SLOOOOWWW.
Nary a wake to be had.
AJ had promised that she would only give us the "thumbs up" for more speed if Everly asked her to. And she was true to her word. Faster.....faster....just a little faster....
I was holding my breath and waiting for her to give us the "stop right now and get me off of this" face. The same one she gave us with the Redneck Waterslide and the acrobatic trampoline at the Renaissance Fair. I know that look.
But it never came.
Instead, I could see the girls mouthing words in sync and realized they were singing a song to keep Everly's nerves calm. It was a pretty awesome sister moment.
Right then a huge plane flew over the boat. It was so low!
Todd took a turn out on the tube and Aidan surprised us all with his boat driving skills!
I resisted all peer pressure to get me on that tube. I don't need any more broken parts. And I am happy crusing along, feeling the sun on my face and the wind in my hair.
Courtney went for a ride!
I love that her guys were so proud of her and taking video. Wait....who's driving the boat?
AJ and Everly took a second turn and you could see that they were ready to go for it.
AJ got the last five minutes. Todd did his best to toss her off the tube without injury. And much to her delight, he succeeded!
We spent the rest of the evening back at camp, lazing about on the paddle board, snorkeling and searching for lost lake treasure...diamonds and pirate coins, of course.
A gorgeous sunset, yummy dinner and the girls headed to bed early.
Day three was ushered in by this little lady in the bathroom. Isn't she wonderful?
AJ wasn't feeling like engaging with the world, a bit of the teenager blues....so Todd and Courtney took Everly cliff jumping!
Who is this brave girl??
About an hour after they left, AJ started feeling a bit of the FOMO that I was counting on and we had Todd come back to pick us both up.
This is way better that sweating it out in the tent. I really enjoyed the chance to spend more time with these two. They get along pretty well and sometimes get steamrolled when we are with the whole family. They surprised me with willingness to try new things and I was proud of how helpful they were with the camping chores. I give these two a 10 out of 10 on the Camping Companionship Scale! (More commonly known as the CCS)
We went back to camp only to find that we had inadvertently introduce our campsite squirrel to the addictive qualities of Nutella. Poor thing will have a hard time going back to acorns and pine nuts. Now you know what you are missing, little guy.
We took a quick drive over to Collins Creek to see if there was a little hike we could do. What we didn't expect was the steep drop in temperature as we got to the water. It was ice cold! I couldn't even stand to keep my feet in it, even though I was sweating just moments before.
Awww...isn't that a gorgeous natural waterfall?
Nope...that's a Exposed Pipe Water Feature, commonly known as a PWF. This is ARKansas. They specialize in the EPWF.
AJ is always down for a cold ice-water dare...even if she has to dare herself.
Are you even a little surprised that soon she was up to her neck?
Everly learned the joys of nature's toilet paper and the terror of praying you can finish peeing before a hiker comes around the bend. Next time, use the bathroom before we leave...even if you "don't need to go".
Courtney and I started on dinner and Todd took Everly down for a little paddle boarding. Those two are good buddies.
All that was left to complete the trip was one more shower with my nature friends. Luckily they put out the word that I would soon be leaving, cuz let me tell you, it was a party!
A quick 7 hours back to Olathe and we were home in our beds, dreaming of stick bugs and silky green moths.
Weelllllll there was that one part where I thought I had time to climb into the back of the uhaul trailer to grab my charging cord while we were getting gas and Todd started driving.
Guess how loud I can scream?
Next year....we AirBnB!
