Almost Heaven

Last year my brother and some of his friends pulled together and got a campsite and trailer at a campground less than 2 hours from the house. K and I had never been there . . . until yesterday. It was fabulous. Mike and Jamie took my niece up Friday night and K and I followed Grammy, Pop Pop and Reggie (the dog) up yesterday so I would be able to actually find the place. The campground is named "Almost Heaven" and that's exactly what it was.

Even though the camper has two bedrooms and my folks were just making it a day trip, K and I decided to pitch our tent. My concern that our nylon "cabin" was too far out from the trailer was quickly assuaged when the new next door neighbors put their inflatable pool right in the driving lane and then dug permanent horse shoe pits even further out.

Lunch consisted of hot dogs over the campfire and my niece (who's 4) following K around trying to be just like her. Then it was off to the creek. I expected a shallow bit of water for the kids to splash around in. When I saw that it was deep enough for me to swim in on the far side, I hightailed it back to the camper for my swim suit and beach chair. Sadly, dinner called so our fun was short lived. After dinner we packed up Grammy, Pop Pop and Reggie, rustled up some twigs and got down to the serious business of making smores. Some of the more adventurous campers set off several fabulous firework displays and the rest of the night was spent sitting around the campfire. It's just don't get any better than that.

True to our adventurous nature, K and I snuggled in on the air mattresses in the tent at 10:00 and midnight respectfully. By 2:00 a.m. we were making use of the extra bed in the camper. K would have slept in the tent all night, but when I couldn't sleep and noticed she was cold from her nose to her nails, I decided to play the Mom Card and move it inside. I seriously doubt I'm in contention for the Mother of the Year Award, but I figured letting my kid turn into a Popsicle would definitely put me out of the running.

This morning we cooked bacon and eggs on the campfire grate, cleaned up the site and headed back to the creek. I'm not sure the two lonely fisherman were thrilled to see two rambunctious kids and their mamas come traipsing in, but if they minded, they didn't say. K had a blast with her cousin and the other kids and dogs that came later and I got to work on tanning the parts of my shoulder that don't usually see the light of day. I expected a full fledged fit when it was time to go, but K was a trooper . . . especially after I reminder her that we can come back any time we want to. I think she's expecting a two week vacation there at the end of June.

My sister-in-law and niece left the creek about 30 minutes before us and since I told them we'd be following along in about 10 minutes, I was surprised they weren't sitting in the car gnashing their teeth when we strolled back in. After swapping our wet bathing suits for clean underwear and dry clothes, we threw our last remaining items in the car and headed out. K kept me company for the first 30 minutes and promptly fell asleep for the last hour home. If I'm really good she'll let me take a nap once I post this.