Happy Campers

Here it is Tuesday already, the 22nd of July. How did that happen?! This summer is FLYING by. Too dang fast. This happens every year! I run around like my hair's on fire for three months, then suddenly it's October and I'm left standing there, wondering where the heck the summer went. Throw in a little building project and life starts assuming speed-of-light velocity. To be honest, that's probably why summer is my favorite time of year. The days are long and warm, there are multitudes of fun to be had, FAIR WEEK, berry-picking, BBQs....need I go on? I LOVE being busy and on the go. Especially in warm, sunny weather.

This last weekend we went berry-picking. The raspberries and blueberries were ready so I packed up the Hubby and the kids and we met Brooke and family at the farm for some picking. The kids all had a great time climbing on the tractors, eating ice cream and even picked a few berries.

When we got home, there was a message from Josh's cousin, Rob, informing us that he and his girlfriend had just bought a house out in our neighborhood and saying that we should get together. Josh called him back and ironically enough, it turns out that Rob & Meg live practically in our backyard. To drive to their house, it's about 1.25 miles, but as the crow flies they are just up the hill behind us, through the trees. Anyway, Josh talked with them and they invited us up. We whipped up some guacamole, grabbed some beers and headed over. I've only ever met Rob & Meg maybe twice, but we had a great evening, laughing and telling stories. Once Zoë started to melt down from being away from her beloved blankies, kitty and "poke" (aka pacifier), we invited them down to our place to continue the evening. So they grabbed their cooler and followed us down and the party continued. We laughed and talked until 11pm, then promised to get together again soon. It was a surprisingly nice way to spend a Saturday evening, considering they were virtual strangers to me. But strangers no more!

Tomorrow I will be doing some final preparations for our upcoming camping trip. Every summer, a bunch of families that I grew up with in Eastern WA get together and camp over the weekend. We started this annual campout 10 years ago and it's always something I look forward to. I'm especially excited because we didn't get to go last year, so it's been two years since I've see this part of my "family". And they truly ARE my family. We all were such a tightknit group in my growing-up years - we met thru our church, and most of us kids attended the little two-room church school next door to the church. My parents and many of the other "adults" agree that it really was a special time in their lives, and they've never had such close friendships since. We all formed such a strong bond because of our similiar situations: small kids, single income, and simple life-styles. Just good Christian people living a simple, country life. It really was rather idyllic. So to go back and reconnect with these people, and spend some quality time is just so special. I catch myself smiling contentedly for days after coming home, and just have such a warm, peaceful feeling after being with these special folks. I'm reminded of where I came from and what's important in life.

Linda & Lawrence, in particular, are the organizers of this tradition and two of my favorite people on earth. Their son and I were the same age (I had an ENORMOUS crush on him for years) and our families spent alot of time together, and even though we moved away when I was 14, I've always kept in touch with them. I consider them as my second set of parents and they consider me one of their kids. They've known me since I was 5.5 so to now be able to have my kids spend time and get to know them is priceless. I talked to Linda the other night and it's hard to tell who she's more excited to see: me or my kids!

The kids are practically turning themselves inside out they are so excited about going camping. Unfortunately, Daddy is staying home because we're leaving on Thursday and he has to work. I started pulling out all our camping stuff on Sunday and going thru it and every day since, I get asked repeatedly by my short people "Is it time to go camping?". We were driving home from Costco today and Zoë asked "Is this the path to camping?" M'kay, first of all, what kind of almost-3-year-old uses the word "path"? And second of all, how many times do I have to explain that we aren't leaving for "two more sleeps". Sheesh. I sounds like a broken record.

Sure, it's a task getting everything ready and organized, and all possible situations and scenarios prepared for, not to mention the 5-6 hour drive it will be, but I couldn't be more excited. There will probably be 30-50 people that camp, including a host of kids, and another 30+ that will come up to the campground on Saturday and spend the day. I'm anticipating coming home on Sunday exhausted, over-fed, smelling of campfire, extremely dusty, and perfectly content.