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Making Memories!

A moment in time...that's all this weekend will be...but a moment NONE of us will forget anytime soon!

It started with a plan to go camping with some friends of which none of us really had much experience with, but what the heck. We planned some really fun meals, got the tent ready, and packed a few items and were headed to a campground for some fun.

But not until I ended up going to the hospital for an ultrasound on my ovaries and finding out I had a ruptured ovarian cyst. Nothing too much to worry about, except that the pain was intense and I had to be fairly careful of what I could do. I also have to have some extra blood work done as my grandmother passed away of ovarian cancer and so they are going to watch me a little more closely now. I should find out some of that information this week I guess.

So that put us a couple of hours behind to time we wanted to be there, but Jenny and Paul got there, got their tent sent up and waited for us patiently.

When we got there I sat on a chair while everyone else pulled items out of the van. The tent was up and a dinner of roasted hot dogs was cooked. As Jenny was making our dessert of smore sandwiches the lantern feel off the table and she caught it on the hot part and got blisters on 2 fingers from the heat.

By 8:30 I could hardly take the pain anymore and decided it was time for me to go to bed. I don't know what the temps actually were on Friday night...but I can tell you it was fucking cold! My fingers, toes, and nose were the coldest, but everything hurt. Plus the air mattress seemed more like a water bed as the air was not staying in!

Saturday morning we were all up around 7 and started a fire. I had added a second pair of socks on and another shirt by this point...and everyone else was cold, but not as cold as me apparently. We had an amazing breakfast of plain donuts, that you put brown sugar on and a pineapple slice. Put it in aluminum foil and heat over the fire. It sounds nasty...but it was totally awesome!

Next we drove into town and went to the Pumpkin Fest. We saw pumpkins that were over 1300 lbs. It was amazing! And of course we had some wonderful pumpkin pie! We walked around downtown for awhile and after a quick trip to Walmart went back to the
campground.

We thought a hike was in order and thought geocaching was the way to go. There were 2 sites within the park and 1 just outside...we opted to stay inside the park. After walking for what seemed like forever we were within steps of the box. However, we couldn't find it...6 of us walking around and around and around! I did however find a plastic snake that was curled up in a tree and if anyone knows me, they know that I'm terrified of snakes. A deep and loud scream was heard among the quiet of the trees.

The girls opted to quit, which was when we noticed that we were covered in burs and that I had been bitten by something on my wrist that was itching like crazy. More pain in the ass for me!

Joe was listening to the Iowa game, so he was no help, and I started to wander and took some amazing pictures of the area we were in. Jackson and Paul found the box up a hill, in a cave, on a shelf. We were all very excited! However, the next clue was on a rubrics cube and none of us really had the patience to figure it out. Jackson took out a toy bear and they added the plastic snake I found earlier.

We started the long walk back, which was starting to get harder and harder for me as the pain was getting more intense in my back. The kids went ahead with Jenny and Paul while Joe helped me back up the hill.

We started lunch, of chicken pot pie which was amazing...but it didn't get done for an hour so we played Frisbee and ladder ball for awhile. My parents arrived at the campground...which I think is very cute as they were just concerned (and yelling at me) for going camping instead of staying at home taking care of myself. It was funny!

After dinner we drove to Palisades for a barn dance with a church we are thinking of joining. None of us were hungry (except for dessert). We did some dancing, the kids got to play some games and get prizes, and we went on a hay rack ride.

Around 7 we headed back to the campground and sitting around a fire. We had some very annoying boy scouts show up around 10. They blocked our entrance out of the lot and so I got loud and annoying. (little ole me) We started looking online and found out it was going to rain...like 87%. So we started packing everything away that we could and parked our cars right in front of the tents. We decided to just stick it out since it was so late and the kids were sleeping. (stupid decision)

This night was a little warmer, as I had on 2 pairs of socks, 2 pairs of pants, 3 shirts, a jacket with a hood, an ear warmer, and gloves. So, I'm not really sure if it was the weather or that I took more precautions this time! lol

At 3:20 AM it started raining and boy did it rain! Around 4 I thought we'd be leaving for home...but thought we might let the kids sleep as long as they could.

At 7 AM the rain stopped and so we quickly got the tent and sleeping bags put away and that's when the trouble started. i got in the van and started to drive...and that's the place were the van sat for the next two hours.

You see the rain had softened the ground and I could get no traction. That was when we noticed that Jenny and Paul's car was also stuck. We decided to get theirs unstuck first which was fairly easy, except that I fell in the mud tracks...Paul says, "we lost Jenni" and I'm screaming "keep going."

Back to my van...we try pushing...nope.
We try reverse...nope.
We try first gear...nope.
We try putting boards under the tires...nope
We try jacking the car up to put something under it...nope.
We try putting floor mats under the tires...nope.
We called for a family member to help...nope.
We thought we'd go out for breakfast and get some help...nope.

Finally...I found a man staying in the campground...and would you believe he had a truck AND a towing hitch? Along with the truck this man also brought along 3 friends who helped us figure out where to put the towing hitch on. Paul drove and Jenny, Joe, and I pushed the van all the way to the parking lot! Finally after 2 hours the van was on the move. It was the most exciting moment.

We finished the last moment packing and took off to Hardees for breakfast. Joe and Paul are covered in mud from putting the towing hitch on. I was muddy from falling down pushing Jenny out. Jenny was muddy from standing behind the van as we took off. So when we walked into restaurant they were all staring. I could have cared less!

At 10:15 we started the drive home which was a blessing. We brought everything in and laid it on the floor before taking warm showers. This afternoon I plan on sitting on my ass, watching some movies, and enjoying the warmth of my house!

Wanna go camping? HA!