FATHER WILL'S CAMPING TRIP

We spent the last week in the woods. It is our second year to go, but the trip is an annual thing that has happened for the last 20 years. Joe went a few years ago with Elijah but I didn't know what to expect then so I didn't made it. Now, with Naomi being so vocal, she wants to go too! It is open to the 3rd, 4th and 5th grade students but siblings may go if a parent chaperons. So, you know what we did. This was the only camp my kids wanted to attended this years so, here we are. And it is fun. I got off easy this year, Naomi loves kids and with so many to play with she barely noticed me. When she did, she was not happy because I was usually wanting her to do something that involved stopping play.

The girls in my tent were the older ones who mothered Naomi, would read her bedtime stories and played with her. One even gave her a beautiful purse with sequence and beads. I only had two request of the girls staying in my tent. 1. Do not leave the tent unzipped. 2. No wet clothes in the tent. They seemed to like that I didn't ask more than that of them and we got along well. Tent mates!
What we did all day. Except me, I got to stay on the shore line. I DO NOT like cold water and this was around 54 degrees. Father expects everyone to tube and if not, you better have a good reason not to. Being small helped, I told them I got cold easy. That is the main rule, no one with blue lips is allowed back in the water. So I pulled the blue lips card, I must NOT go in the water unless emergency. My plan was to walk the sides and help anyone who needs assistance and carry tubes back to the camp. My plan worked and I was a huge help, got lots of exercises and stayed warm.
Joe waving with tubers all around. After they get out of the water, they carry the tubes back to camp. Hot chocolate and hot kool aid are waiting for them to warm up the insides. The campers are instructed to lay in the hot sun and dry until the next run. The water was up enough to have several good runs a day.
After a day of tubing the kids are dressed and playing around camp. The boys mostly played ball and cards. The girls like to jump rope. They taught Naomi a new jump rope song that they would sing when someone was jumping. She loved it! It goes something like this with the words sometimes changing to suit their needs.

Going to a wedding, whach ya gonna wear? Dress, bikini, underwear, pajamas, dress, bikini, underwear, pajamas....You see why she loved it so much, especially if any guys decided to jump.

Poison Ivy. Hanging out on the sides I did see LOTS of this stuff. No one had gotten it by the time we left but we put the fear into them to stay away, I hope it worked.

We did notice one thing-no cicadas! I guess we left them all in Kentucky. The sound here can be deafening but there was not a peep out of them on our trip.