Last weekend at Shasta:
We left Klamath around A's nap time. The boys were eager for her to fall asleep so that they could put on Men In Black. A movie they were looking forward to watching but that wouldn't be appropriate for A. The drive is a little over two hours. About every 20 minutes the boys (who were sitting behind A) would query, "Is she sleeping." "Not yet...soon though," I would respond. About half way there I joked with Johan, "Watch, she will fall asleep when we are ten minutes away." Haha joke on me. She waited until we were fifteen minutes out, her eyes were droopy. But GENIUS...I decided to keep her awake so that I could put her down for a good nap when we arrived. So I worked hard those last fifteen minutes to keep her up, I ramped up my banter, and began to wonder aloud, "Did I just see a giraffe out there?" "Hey, was that a hyena?" So she scoured the bushes, and we made it to our campsite...awake. She didn't sleep though, she was excited to be camping, I spent the next two hours attempting to get A to sleep in the trailer.
Murphy's Law: If a sleeping toddler can be kept up, she will.
After I aborted my nap mission we went outside for a snack. I was cutting up melon for A when Rocky stopped by our campsite to visit. We were chatting as A munched on melon. A finished her snack and I wiped off her hands and face, as well as the long drips of melon juice that had run down her arms.
A wandered off exploring the campsite. Within eye and earshot of Rocky and I at the table. The boys had taken off for some geocaching. Soon Mrs. A proudly walked back to us announcing, "A found poo-poo, A found poo-poo!" (Yes, she refers to herself in the first person.) "A, that isn't poo-poo, just pine cones." WRONG! As she approached to show off her treasure Rocky and I both realized A did find poo-poo. Now Rocky has a very fine gag reflex so I quickly scooped A up, kicked the poo-poo into the bushes and took off to wash hands with soap!!!
Murphy's Law: If there is poo-poo to find, A will find it.
This weekend at Paulina:
So the plan was to head up to Paulina Lake on Friday afternoon early. However, the weather started to look yucky, thunderstorms were in the forecast, and I didn't get finished with work until almost six o'clock. As a result we decided to stay at home and go up to Paulina in the morning after participating in a 5K race. Needless to say, we didn't leave until after noon on Saturday. Which means we arrived at Paulina closer to 3:00.
We are absolutely horrible packers, and organizing all of us for a camping weekend seems a truly daunting task for me. The pressure of remembering everything for everyone from underwear to swim clothes plus meals and snacks is almost too much...
Murphy's Law: If I can delay packing, I will.
Not long after we arrived K was showing A the water spigot while we were visiting with our friends Heather and Squirt maybe 10 yards away. Seconds later we see A fall face first into the water spigot. Johan: "That is going to hurt." Heather: "What do we need? What can I do?' Me: "It's okay..." But it wasn't...A's teeth had gone into her lip and split it open. She recovered remarkably quickly, but she looks really beat up.
Ironic because only a few days earlier I had been thinking about how lucky we are that she isn't too accident prone. She really doesn't get hurt that often. That streak quickly ended.
Less than a half hour later, A fell face first down the trailer steps into the dirt. Johan and I both had been warning her about the steps. We both told her multiple times not to attempt the steps alone, that she needed to hold hands on the steps. We looked away, and as a consequence I was scooping her up out of the dirt. I hate hate hate the feeling between the moment when your child hurts herself and the moment when you scoop her up to clear away the dirt to find out how serious the injury is. After the steps, A's face was covered with dirt and blood. But she was overall okay, and again quickly recovered.
Murphy's Law: If a toddler can ignore her parents, she will.
Our first goal of the trip was to reach the hot springs on the opposite side of the lake. The boys and I hiked to the hot springs from the lodge about three years ago. It is about a two mile hike. The park ranger informed me that we could park at another campground and that from there the hike is "an easy mile." At the lodge I learned that we could rent a boat for a twenty minute ride to the hot springs. I was so excited! I raced back to camp to tell Johan, Phil, and Heather about our options.
We decided to do the hike from the campground. We met Phil and Heather there. They had already hiked in a bit and decided to abort. We were still feeling confident so we borrowed Phil and Heather's backpack for A. I carried K in the ErgoBaby. My mom and Hector were there too. We were off. But the temperature was already starting to drop and it was already nearly six in the evening. We walked for about a quarter of a mile before encountering another hiker who insisted that the hot springs were still quite far. I was getting nervous about the temperature (mostly for the sake of Miss. K) plus the rain clouds were ominous, and Miss. A is not petite...she was a lot for Johan to carry on his back.
Johan and I decided to abort as well. C and K continued on with Nana and Hector. The plan was for us to go back to the lodge, rent a boat, and meet them at the hot springs with the girls. Hmmmm.... sound familiar. This was my plan from the beginning.
By 6:30 Johan and I were on the water with both girls, headed for the hot springs.
It was chilly. The girls and I hunkered down in the boat, and I did my best to keep Miss. K warm. It took about 20 minutes to cross the lake. Lake Paulina is gorgeous! When we arrived at the hot springs the boys were already soaking.
Our plan was for Johan to leave the girls with me and the boys while he shuttled my mom back to the campground. The boat was to small to hold us all. But my mom and Hector wanted to hike back. So they left. Miss. A was quick to jump into the hot springs. She LOVED it. It was perfect for her. My pictures don't capture the beauty of the area. I just have close ups of the kids in the hot springs, but this is actually on the edge of the lake. The hot water bubbles out of the ground and warms up the lake.
A quick video of A in the water. Judge me... I forgot her swim suit. She is wearing a swim diaper and Tevas.
The rain clouds were approaching and looking more and more ominous so we dressed the kids and loaded up our little boat. A had to be coaxed out of the hot springs with the promise of Pirate Booty (snack) on the boat. C and K both volunteered to push us off, but K was first so he got to wade into the ice water... I had the girls on the floor in the middle of the boat doing our best to stay warm. The temperature was dropping, and then the rain began....with a vengeance. We were getting soaked. I had a blanket to keep A dry and I zipped Miss. K into my coat. C and K were EXTREMELY chivalrous. As they shivered their only concern was for the girls. They wanted to block the wind and do all they could to keep the girls comfortable. A didn't even know that it was miserable and rainy because she had the only blanket, C blocking the wind, and C hand feeding her Pirate Booty all the way across the lake. At one point the blanket slipped down over her face and all I heard was, "Where Papa go? Where Papa go?" We uncovered her, and C kept feeding her. She was content.
Murphy's Law: If there are dark rain clouds moving in, and you are wearing summer clothes, it will rain.
By the time we made it back to our camp it was after 8:00 and we still had to prepare dinner. I organized things in the trailer, bathed the girls, and prepared our side dishes while Johan got the coals for the grill going and cooked our kabobs. The coals took a while. C and K were happy busying themselves with fire prep. Finally at 9:00 I asked the boys to take Max for one more walk. At 9:15 Johan came into the trailer to update me on the kabob progress. They were almost done! My veggies and beans were ready, almost time for dinner. Minutes later C opens the trailer door. "Papa, Max knocked over the food." "What food C?" C's answer, "The food outside."
The boys had tied Max up to the table right next to the Webber and ALL OF OUR DINNER was spilled into the coals.
Murphy's Law: If Max can create trouble, he will.
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