First, Mike acts the same way my dad does right before vacation.  Grumpy and mad because things arn’t happening as fast as he would like. The only differance is as soon as my dad gets on the road he actually enjoys the vacation. I think Mike’s problem is he doesn’t like the beach thing.  Next time we go camping we will go to the mountains close by with no lake and lots of hiking and bike riding. I think that is his idea of fun camping. Me on the other hand grew up in the water and therefore can’t get enough of it.

I had a great time and would love to go to pineview every year if my hubby liked it as well. I guess we will have to compromise and venture out to other things. We also went to the dinosaur museum in Ogden. It was like the zoo except with dinosaurs instead of animals. The dinosaurs were fake but they had good sound effects. We were able to pretend we were in Jurassic Park!  We also went to see the Monks at a little church. They chant seven times a day starting at 3:30 am. They also sell honey that they make and Jam that their other monk friends make from another state.  We bought some jam we ate it within the next week. It was good.

I also found out that I love to cook even when camping! That was nice because my mom hates to cook while camping and I thought I might be like her. I also didn’t throw up once while on this trip! It was a nice break. Although right when I got back I started up again. aarrggg.

We did not spend as much time on the beach as Mike would make you believe, instead we had a nice balance.

It was fun.

Firstly, Johanna would kill me if I didn’t mention that I was grumpy from the start. That’s mostly my fault, but I think we both contributed to the rocky start. My idea of camping and packing the car is vastly different from hers, and as I rushed about that morning, it became clear to me that this was going to be an experience in compromise. We finally got everything packed in Mom and Dad’s Jeep (BARELY) and set off for the campsite.

Upon arriving, I set up the tent while the kids competed to see who could ask “Whe are we going to the beach?!?’ the loudest. When we finally got to the beach, we discovered that while Aiden loves to scream bloody murder every time he dives into the water – out of sheer excitement, James loves to scream bloody murder every time the water chases him – out of sheer terror. Yes, James suffers from hydrophobia, and here we were at the lake. Great.

Can you see where this is going? My Dad told me years ago that vacations are for the kids, not the parents. He couldn’t have been more right. The kids enjoyed themselves tremendously. I was stretched more than I would like to admit, but in the end I think I finally calmed down enough to have a little bit of a good time out there.

Without making this narrative any more boring, here are some selected highlights:

• The air mattress we borrowed from Mom and Dad comes with a pump that hooks up to the car cigarette lighter. But the pump was missing the electric cable…so I ended up filling it with lung power anyway. Twice.
• The kids LOVED learning how to play “Kick the Can” – and I am glad. It was one of my favorite games as a kid.
• Johanna can toast marshmallows so that the bottom is still white, and the top has mushroomed like an atomic explosion.
• Aiden likes to stand in the middle of the road at night.
• James likes to eat fruit snacks that have been left in a hot car to melt into liquid-sugar. When he does this, everything within reach is covered in a sticky film.
• Johanna is better at keeping a fire going than the only Eagle Scout on the trip. This is embarassing.
• James is really close to being potty trained. So is Aiden. One day he got into the tent to change, and started screaming. I opened the tent only to find him running in circles peeing all over the place because “he couldn’t hold it anymore!” I threw him into a bush outside the tent and screamed “go there!” but the damage was done. Johanna says it’s a good thing urine evaporates.
• If you sleep next to a really stinky outhouse, and already smell like two days worth of camping, a tent that was peed in doesn’t have any noticeable odor.
• Johanna knows how to cook amazingly good meals, even when camping. But she does forget things once in a while – like ketchup and mustard for the hot dogs.

A whole lot more happened, like when Johanna’s brother’s boat broke 5 minutes before they had promised to take the kids out onto the lake. Or when I showed Aiden and his cousins how to clean out a dutch oven using nothing but dirt and water (yes, it really works, too!)

I think it’s safe to say that the next time I have vacation saved up from work, I will take four days for a trip with the kids, and another four to recover from the trip with the kids.

Okay okay okay…so it’s been almost a month since the last post on here. Life has been busy. We’ve had a vacation to Pineview Reservoir (and we forgot to take the camera…GAH!) and some really good days at work (any day with a $500 bonus is good). I plan on making a more detailed post tomorrow, but for now, I am obligated to put up some pictures for my siblings.

You see, Mary has taken my advice and stopped sending everyone huge attachments. Instead, she is emailing me the pictures, and I post them on the blog for the family to enjoy at their leisure, without cluttering their inboxes. So a number of these pictures are from her.

In addition, Sam is flying out to Washington DC for his internship, and as part of the trip he is making a stop in Oklahoma to see Sarah and family. Of course, Leah is in the “everyone needs to play princess tea party with me” stage, and Sam is no exception. So there is some real quality stuff on here from his visit to OK.