Camping Adventures

How can it be July already? Where is this summer going? Time is flying by and we don't seem to have a minute to spare. Well, I have a few minutes to spare but I'm generally not spending them on the computer. But we've had so many fun little adventures lately that it's time to catch the blog up. Two weekends ago, we traveled to Lake Minatare in Nebraska with Aunt Vicky and soon-to-be Uncle Matt. We camped on the lake and played in Uncle Matt's boat. The mosquitoes were the size of robins and Will was munched on by many bugs but we all had a great time. It was only our second trip in the camper and this time nobody spiked a fever or threw up. Yeah for small miracles! The kids did pretty well actually. They enjoyed splashing around in the lake and fighting imaginary bad guys in and around our campsite. On one slightly alarming note, Reina loved the boat and threw a few fits related to (1) not wanting to get out of the boat, (2) wanting to get back in the boat, (3) wanting to go fishing with Daddy and Matt, (4) wanting to drive the boat and (5) not wanting Will to drive the boat. There was also one well-placed crying jag when she was not allowed to submerge her upper half in the lake while the boat was speeding across the surface. With Reina's recent interest in "Big Trucks!", Vicky's convinced that Reina is only going to date guys with four-wheel drive and boats. Shudder.
Here's a little trivia for you. Lake Minatare is home to Nebraska's only lighthouse. It's a pretty little structure (only about 39 steps, yes, I counted) and you can see the entire lake from the top. We all took a few short hikes to the lighthouse. Except, when we were there, it wasn't a lighthouse. It was a castle, Rapunzel's tower, a jail and some sort of ninja den. Very popular place for 4-yr olds and 2-yr olds who want to be 4.
So a few things we learned on the trip. Glenn looks intense when he's eating celery. Reina has curly hair in Nebraska. Will is possibly immune to bug spray because he came home with about 50 mosquito bites even after multiple attempts to spray him down with Deet. I guess I should point out that he was in and out of the water so much that there's a pretty good chance none of it stayed on. What a fascinating sentence. What else? I need to wear more eye make-up, specifically when I'm riding in a boat. After two nights in the camper, most of us were ready for our beds at home. Except Trigger. He was allowed to sleep in the trailer with us and luuuuurves to snuggle. Buying a 3-day out-of-state fishing license practically guarantees that I won't have a chance to pick up the fishing pole one single time. (Glenn wants me to point out that it also doesn't guarantee that he will catch any fish). Finally and most importantly, camping with two kids is not as hard as I thought it would be. As long as they have a few toys from home, a book to read at night, and a bag of marshmallows, they are pretty happy. Oh, and a boat. They need a boat and a patient uncle-to-be.

Tomorrow - a detailed and fascinating account of our Fourth of July weekend. Here's a sneak peak - Glenn tries to blow up applesauce!

P.S. Special thanks to Aunt Vicky for taking some of these great pictures of the crew. We can't wait to do it again!