Watkins Mill

The bees chased us out of Wallace. 

And a few followed us to Watkins. 

But we were grateful that they seemed to only want our apples and peanut butter, not our blood and tears. 

This was one of my favorite camping weekends ever. Not because the campground was special in any way, or because there was lots of fun things to do or because we made amazing pioneer food. 

It was because we had such a fun time together laughing and taking pictures and enjoying the fact that we could just sit and make fire and watch the moon and sleep in and slow down together. I love these kids. Even though this year they didn't really feel like kids. They stepped up in monumental ways to do the heavy lifting that comes with camping...planning, packing, setting up, cooking, dishes, watching over each other. I am the luckiest mom. 

Setting up the tent with very little help from mom

Rainbow sleeping bag straps make the best holders for the string lights. 

Friends coming for a visit and a chat.

Tinfoil dinners will always be the best meal on our first night. 

We love the new camping lights!

The first night was in the low 30s. Our tent was also sloping downhill. The combination kept me perpetually sliding off the bottom of my air mattress to start the propane heater so we didn't freeze our buns off. 

We stayed cozy in our sleeping bags and listened to John Mayer until the sun came out and warmed us up a bit. 

Meg is turning into Ethan. Boots and Carhart and ready to whip up some breakfast burritos for everyone. 

Delicious!

We had to kill the fire because the wind forced a burn ban for the day. We found a sunny spot and let the that ball of fire do it's job.  

AJ figured out that she could use the concrete barrier to sand the soft seed of the acorns into flat beads. She got right to it. She inhereited my "I need a project" gene. That gene has gotten me through many long vacation days....collection mini seashells, painting rocks, making stick dolls, firing clay pots.....need I go on? 

Megan and Laney spent the afternoon drawing in the sun.

Megan rallied us all to go down and check out the lake. I wanted a "picture in front of the water". No more room for the water, but I love these faces!! Listening to them laugh and take silly pictures of each other filled my heart right up.

AJ tried to give us each a rock to throw in the water but when we realized that two of them were an L and a V, we knew these rocks had a destiny. 

Our whole group (Flynns, Petersons, Jensens, and Leitheisers) walked down to the lake 15 minutes before sunset and stared at the western sky like a bunch of idiots, waiting for a glimpse of the Atlas comet. We thought we had spotted it at least 5 times, only to realize it was a just a shiny plane, leaving a tail in the clouds.  Bored, AJ offered to give me a ride in the wagon and, to her surprise, I accepted! 

We finally peeled our eyes away from the comet-watch and we were stunned by the gorgeous moon on the water right behind us.  

We all agreed that the fabulous moon put the no-show comet to shame. And I got to enjoy watching my girls from the comfort of a wagon, haha!

Back at camp, Megan made pies for everyone. I wouldn't be sad if she takes over pie-making duties permanently. 

Our second and final night wasn't as cold. But we still burrowed into our sleeping bags until almost 9 am. That's got to be a camping record. 

We headed home early to spend time with Mark. He's not having happy times at work right now. And we're missing him. So we had our oatmeal breakfast and nacho lunch. The kids honest-to-goodness packed up the entire camp with almost no help or direction from me and we were on the road back to Olathe. 

Luckiest. Mom. Ever. 

Here's a special treat....just for fun. 

Girls camp 2024

We went to Lake of the Ozarks with the girls from our original Olathe 3rd ward. They have been split into two wards now, so it was nice to be together again.

A few highlights:

Starting out fresh and clean!

Taking a tour of Ozark Caverns

I spent all my time filling this table with food

It was HOT....so so hot. I borrowed this AC unit from Bobby, my favorite chiropractor. It saved our lives. It was the best thing I brought. 

This truck was a close second...I used it to haul everyone and everything up and down from the water. When AJ and I got to a a point where we couldn't handle the heat or the drama or the human interaction or the mosquitos one more second, we would escape to the truck and let the AC bring us back to life. 

Everything in that kitchen was BIG. Big bowls, big ovens, big appetites. Cooking for 35 people is a full time job! 

We made floating lanterns

The final morning devotional

The last photo, a little worse for wear, but lots of love and memories made!

Greer's Ferry

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!