I woke up at 6:15 Saturday morning to the sound of Dec running to the bathroom. To pee. I had been worried it was something much more serious. Whew! I tucked him back into bed for another hour or so and then he was ready to be up for the day. His fever had mostly broken and he looked much better. Once he woke up a bit, he ate a good breakfast and really perked up. After a few hours, I sent Cheryl a text that he was bouncing off the walls and driving me crazy.
While it was cloudy and gloomy in S-town, it was raining up at the campground. We coordinated with Mike and when he told us that it seemed to have let up enough that the group was emerging from their campers, Dec and I loaded up and headed back. I figured worst case, we just went home again - and this time, we'd have our own car. Dec was pretty tired so he took a short nap on the drive, woke up as we pulled into our site, and never looked back. He was like a new (or the old) Declan!
Everyone was gathered on camping blankets playing with toys (Dec joined a pack of boys and proudly shared the monster trucks he'd brought along) or playing cribbage at the picnic table (which is where I went). After lunch, we sat around with the Ps and played giant Yahtzee for a while. It was even chillier than the day before, but nonetheless, mid-afternoon found us putting on suits and heading down to the beach.
And as always, it was exactly what we needed (someday, I'll stop doubting that!). The kids were in the water more than I expected based on the air temperature. But mostly, they had a blast wading into the water and playing in the sand. The six Ps and Vs play so well together - especially when it comes to water.
We headed back at dinner time and ate with the Ps. Then had some bike riding adventures around the loop. This year, for the first time, the girls were allowed to bike the loop on their own (usually with friends). It's a mile around and they were very proud of the freedom. Quinn determined that she rode it close to ten times between Saturday and Sunday. It was really fun to see them join the bike gang and hold their own with all the kids.
I owed Dec a s'more, so we got the fire going while keeping an eye on the weather. It was supposed to storm all day, but the radar kept changing and pushing the time of the storms back. Tiff brought out popcorn for the kids too (several of the big kids went to one of the campers to watch
Happy Gilmore. Our big kids did not. Fiona was not happy with me until Jack and Coop described the movie the next morning. Then she decided it sounded stupid and was glad she didn't watch it).
We sat around the fire after the kids were in bed (or watching the movie) and marveled at the fact that the rain held off for most of the day. We really didn't expect to be able to have a fire - and instead, were out until the early morning hours once gain. It was another tough night of sleep in our camper and my 3 mile run at 7:30 was
rough. But I did it and didn't die. Or quit.
After breakfast, we did let our crew join some of the others in Phil's camper to watch
Frozen. Then Mike and I packed everything up without trying to entertain or redirect or yell at people. It was very peaceful and confusing. We left the bikes out because Declan had a goal of making it around the loop. He keep doubting himself and turning around all weekend. So before the camping trip officially ended, all five Vs biked that loop together. Dec was so proud and can't wait to ride it again. Then the kids and I hopped into my car and headed south while Mike finished breaking camp. We got home just in time to eat lunch and start on the mountains of laundry.
As usual, the sites are already booked for next year - which will be the fifth annual camping trip for this crew. Worth mentioning - it only took us
four years to get a picture with all the kids in it!
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