Friday August 18 was another sick day but not too bad. We managed our morning trip to the park. It was quite successful. We had quite a few moms show up that don’t normally come. We came home, had lunch, naps and cleaned. Scott got home, we had dinner and then we all crashed. We had a busy week ahead of us.
Saturday morning started early. We had arranged with some friends to go boating with them. We dropped off Niah and Afton at different babysitters and were on the road by 9 am. We arrived at Kris and Erika’s by 10. After loading everything and everyone we were off by 11. We were on the water by noon and loving it!! We did swimming, skiing, tubing and LOTS of laughing. It was super fun. We were very aware of the blazing sun and came home with no sunburns, yay. We got off the water by 6:30. Grabbed some dinner at a local diner and were home by 10:30. It was an AMAZING day. We were so glad we went.
Sunday morning was hard on everyone since we were so tired from the night before. But somehow we managed. We came home and ALL took naps. It was much needed. Since we wanted to keep the Sabbath day holy, we tried really hard not to do too much camp packing. But we did do a little. We all went to bed early so we could get up early the next day.
Monday morning started at 5:30 am with a shopping trip to obtain the rest of what we needed. I was home by 7. We did a quick breakfast and clean up. Scott ran an errand while I finished packing. We were packed and in the car by 10 am. We got to camp about 2 (that was after turning around 3 times!!). The kids were pretty hungry so I went right to work making sandwhichs and cutting fruit. Scott went right to work putting up the tent and Joey and Gayle went right to work entertaining the children. After about an hour worth of set up we explored the camp site a bit. The kids built a “fort” and we just chilled. We had a wonderful dinner of bbq chicken (marinated in an awesome sauce), rice and brocolli. It was all cooked over the fire, it was a yummy meal. We all did smores and other yummy not good for you stuff. I bathed each kid in the local sink and tucked them into bed. The adults stayed up talking till nearly midnight and then we retired. Had we known how the night was going to go, we would not have stayed up so late. I had put the kids across the tent with Niah at everyone’s feet. However, we were on a slight decline so by 2 am everyone had slid and was on top of Niah. We spent the next four hours comforting crying, confused children. It was quite the night. Even Joey and Gayle felt bad for us, they heard it all.
No one got up till 8 am. We had a wonderful breakfast of sausage, bacon, eggs and toast. It was yummy. We had decided to take the kids on a “hike”. The first one was to the ranger station to obtain a map of all the trails. It was 1.1 miles all uphill to the ranger station. It was so blasted hot too. By the time we got the map we just walked back to camp and were too tired to do any more hiking. So we made Hobo dinners for lunch. After clean up we headed to the river. We camped at Lake Oroville but the water level was so low at the camp we were at that we had to drive 9 miles to get to water. That was fine though, we found a nice spot near a river. It was VERY cold though. Scott couldn’t even get in because it made his once broken bones ache. Poor guy. We were next to a park so after some cold swimming we went to the park and the kids played in the water and sand that was there. We left in enough time to go home for dinner; hotdogs. So yummy. They taste so much better over an open fire. After that we again indulged ourselves in camping favorites. We even made popcorn over the fire. Then it was bath and bed. This time the adults went to bed early!! I had rearranged the sleeping arrangement hoping for a better night. It was better, but we still had a super rough night, kids still sliding, just not into each other this time.
Wednesday we once again got up and had a wonderful breakfast but this time we made pancakes too! It was awesome. We again agreed to head to the river. But we had recieved information about a part of the lake we could go to. So we decided to check that out. It was AWESOME!! It was green and shady and the water was MUCH warmer than the water in the river. The kids had a great time. We lathered them up with sunblock and let them go. We had decided to stay all day and cook lunch and dinner there. It was fun. About 4 pm we watched a group of boys ride their bikes to a bridge across the lake. They took off their pants to reveal swim trunks and started jumping into the lake. They looked like they were having tons of fun and we laughed and watched them and reminised about how nice it was to be a kid. The next thing we know they are by us. One of the kids says ‘go for it’ and another one rides his bike as fast as he could down the boat ramp and goes flying into the water. He comes up with his bike, his friends help him pull it out of the water and boom, they have their new fun activity. The next kid goes and when he comes up, he comes up without the bike. They spend the next 20 minutes trying to retrieve the bike from off the bottom of the lake (lucky them it was shallow, only about 8-10 feet). Well, Scott had pitty on them and took a full water bottle attatched it to a rope, helped the kid tie the rope to his bike and boom, they were off again. We must of spent a good hour watching these maniacs try to kill themselves and all the while enjoying every minute of it. Since they had the rope and water bottle they headed to the other boat ramp that was in deeper water and had tons of fun there too. We finally realized we needed to make dinner. We bbq’d up some Carne Asada (thanks gma and gpa Thompson) and had some mighty fine burritos. After filling up on burritos, we did smores and then cleaned up. As if that wasn’t enough, we decided to get some ice cream at the local Dairy Queen. That was fun. We finally got back to camp about 8:30, bathed the kids and got them to bed by 10. The adults had a little nightlife but then off to bed. This time I put all the kids across the tent and I slept at the bottom, that way if they fell into me I could just put them back. We also moved the tent slightly hoping that would help too. It all seemed to help a bit but two kids woke up wanting drinks. I need to be more prepared!!
Thursday was much of the same. An amazing breakfast followed by getting things ready for the lake and then packing up and leaving. We did make a little jaunt to the Oroville museum of history. It was AMAZING. They had made a “village” of what went on when the Indians occupied the area. The people looked so real it was scary!! We were there about an hour and a half. Then we decided to take the kids on the dam road to see what it looked like. They had watched a movie at the museum about how the dam and dam road were constructed and wanted to see it for themselves. They all fell asleep and missed the dam road, but that was ok, it made for a better time at the lake to have rested kids. While at the lake we decided to rent a paddle boat for an hour. What an amazing time that was. The kids thought it was the coolest thing and wanted us to go faster. That was not going to happen. They had fun jumping off of it in the middle of the lake and then trying to get back on, oooppps!! But after 40 minutes of constant peddling, I jumped off! I was so sweaty hot you’d think I was in an excersise room, not the middle of a lake. We gave each kid a chance to peddle and then we took it back to dock. The kids LOVED it and it was well worth the $12 spent. We left the lake early to do dinner at camp. It just seemed easier that way. We had hamburgers. Again, they tasted so good over the open fire. Again we did smores and then the normal bed time routine. This time I filled 4 water bottles and put them by me. The kids all slept AWESOME and when they woke up I would give them a bottle, they would drink and go right back to sleep. Scott on the other hand had a horrible night sleep. He finally caught the bug that Niah and I had. He was pretty miserable. But seemed chiper and happy in the morning.
Friday August 24, our final day at camp was much like the rest, but more fun. Each day just got more and more fun. We did the breakfast usual, got ready for the lake and headed out. We went and saw historical landmark #1043 the 150 year old orange tree. THE orange tree that started the orange business in California. That was educational. Then we went into the main office of tourists and they suggested we go check out historical marker #70 The Chinese Temple. Ok, so we do, or at least we try. They wanted $2 a pop. We were just too cheap!! But we did get to drive by some very nice houses and one of them had thier front hedge trimmed in such a way that the bushes spelled out their house number. It was pretty cool. I wish we would have gotten a picture! The lake was once again a blast. The kids did more fishing on Friday than on any other day. They seemed to be interested in that a little more. We relaxed and played and ate and relaxed some more. We did have three interesting things happen to us. First, a caravan of Fire trucks (the kind that haul fire fighters, not the kind that hold all the equipment) pulled up. We thought we were going to see some training or something and were pretty excited. Much to my disappointment it was a group of convicts stopping for lunch. I don’t know why it bothered me but it did. They seemed nice enough and stayed on their side of the grass, but it bothered me. The second thing was during this time. One of the correctional officers started walking toward us about 20 minutes after they got there. I was sure he was about to tell us to leave. He asked Scott if they were his kids in the water. Scott said yes. The C.O. said ‘Just thought you should know there is a snake in the water right there and you might want to get your kids out of the way’. Of course I freak out and start yelling their names. Scott just rolls his eyes at me and the C.O. walks away. The snake hung out for a little while and then swam away to another part of the lake. He didn’t seem too interested in us and left us alone the rest of the day. Last but not least, toward the end of our day an OLD couple shows up. She’s in her bathing suit and him in his. They had their fun noodles and blanket. They both got in the water, complained of how cold it was and pretty much left after that. They kept trying to talk to Joey who was asleep in his chair. It was pretty funny. A great day though. We packed up in enough time to head back to camp so the kiddo’s could do Jr. Rangers. It is a program they do every year since we camp at State parks. They had a great time doing that and even learned which berries they could eat. We got back to camp in enough time to smell the steak cooking on the fire. Joey is a great steak cooker! We also got some neighbors too. We had been the lone campers for most of the week, now the campground was filling up for the weekend. It was nice to have some company. We had steak and potatoes and enjoyed every bite of it. We had TONS of smores to get rid of what was left. We had popcorn too. It was a great night. We put the kiddos to bed and the adults stayed up a few more hours to burn down the last of the wood. Everyone seemed to be sleeping really well now and so I opted to sleep in the hamic Joey had brought. I wasn’t planning on sleeping in it but on the way to bed I told Scott I hadn’t even sat in it all week and now was my only chance. It was so comfy I didn’t want to get out. So I just slept there. It was the best night sleep I got all week.
Once again, this is long and I am tired. I will post more either tomorrow or the next day. Much love to all.
Well, it sounds like you guys had tons of fun. I haven’t been camping in 5 years or maybe more. Your post gives me the itch to go! Miss you!!