The Great Outdoors...

Well, when Karie and I got married (11 years ago this past June 7th) we talked about how neither of us wanted to have overly girly girls. If you've ever been to our house... you know that we have two of the prissiest and pink girls ever born. It is a barbie-wonderland with more diva-ish paraphanalia than you can imagine... and we would neither change a thing.

With that being said, we went camping as a family for the first time this weekend. June in Alabama and the fam is spending the night in the great outdoors... in a tent, with no AC, no running water (except for the creek) and my father-in-law(Jerry), his wife (Amy), and her 3 boys... Jake (13), Cole (10), and Ryland (8). I've had a crazy and sleepless week already. Three days in Colorado, a late night Thursday, even later night Friday and then we decide to pretend to be the Grizwald's. I am under-prepared for my trip to the jungle. I leave the house without a knife... any dummy knows better than that. I don't pack any snacks... any dummy knows better than that. I don't bring anything except my clothes... any dummy knows better than that. And please allow me to introduce myself... I'm dummy.

I wish you could have seen the tent I took with me. It was a tent that I have had since college and as I remember it... it slept three to four people. As it is in reality... it might sleep two (if they are both under the age of 10 and their combined weight is less than or equal to 75 pounds). I set the tent up and step back and immediately think to myself... "I'm sleeping in the van." Thankfully Jerry had an extra tent. After a day of hiking and grilling and smelling like a campfire mixed with sweat and creek water... I fall asleep in a chair and eventually make it to the tent.

Karie and I get everyone to the bathroom before bedtime and then it is lights out... sort of. Ella asks me "what was that?" To which I replied... "nothing, go to sleep." And then I saw it... it is lightening and then I hear the following thunder. So, I am so tired that I fall asleep in under one minute. Then, what I think is about two or three hours later I am awakened by pouring rain. I don't mean a shower... it is a downpour. About a minute after I wake up I sense that Olivia is awake. Then I hear her crying... she's got to go to the bathroom. I wonder if she realizes that it is flooding outside the 13 millimeters of cloth that we are now calling shelter? Obviously not... she's got to go. So, I dress again with sweaty and dirty clothes and grab my little princess by the hand and escort her to a hole-in-the-ground which some refer to as a restroom. Let me tell you... the only things resting in that place are flies.

So, we eventually get back to bed, finally wake up, eat breakfast, clean, hike, pack and drive back home only to be so exhausted that I am deliriously typing this blog like a dummy. And if you wonder what we'll be doing this coming weekend... we're going camping (the girls loved it).