Your Friendly Neighborhood Crazy Lady

It was quite the wet weekend here in Western Pennsylvania. We had some pretty incredible thunderstorms roll through with lots of rain, wind, and lightening. What do people do when they are faced with such a weekend ahead of them? I don't know. I am not people. I am just your friendly neighborhood crazy lady. Friendly neighborhood crazy ladies look at a weather forecast like that and decide to go camping. With two toddlers. A big dog. And a tent.

When I originally looked at the forecast there was just a chance of a thunderstorm on Saturday. That all changed but Greg and I had dedicated the better part of this week's free time to getting all packed up and ready to go and I wasn't about to change our plans, come hell or high water, literally. Shortly after Greg got home from work on Friday we headed off to Raccoon State Park, about an hour drive from here. I was a little anxious about how the kids would be without their toys and cartoons for a couple of days. Just before we headed out the door Will fell in some dirt. He was completely unharmed but when he looked at the dirt on his hands he had a complete and total freak out. I got myself prepared for a long weekend.

Things started out great on Friday evening. We arrived at our site and started setting things up. The boys were great. I brought a few toys with us but mostly they were just so fascinated with rocks and sticks and dirt that they could care less about toys. They didn't wander out of our campsite and even sat back to relax for about 2 seconds.


Greg did most of the work to get the tent set up while I unpacked some other things. Marcus and Will chipped in a hand at getting the sleeping bags unrolled.



Greg and I have an air mattress and the kids were sleeping on these "instant beds" that I had picked up at Target. Greg (and the pooch) got to work at getting everything inflated and I took the kids to a nearby store where we always get our firewood. Only problem was, the store doesn't carry firewood anymore. We had brought a little bit with us so we knew we would be fine for the night, but it was still frustrating knowing that a firewood hunt would need to be included in the weekend plans. While we were gone, Greg had about as much luck getting our air mattress inflated as I did with the firewood. There was air in there but the thing was still quite squishy. We were all starved by then and didn't have a chance to really think about it because it was time to cook.

I was really worried about having that open fire with two little toddlers running around. From the minute we got there, we kept the kids away from the fire pit and told them over and over it was hot. It still required a very watchful eye. Oh, and we did some childproofing too. See, crossing the big branches puts you into the ring of fire and in BIG TROUBLE.

At last the hot dogs were cooked and we were all stuffing our faces.


We had just finished up our dinner when the sky started to open up. We did the best we could at getting things put away and we herded the kids and the dog into the tent. What an insane storm! The wind was blowing and the tent was flickering with constant flashes of lightening. Our tent was under some trees but the trees did very little to shield the rain. The rain hitting the tarp that we had put over our tent was so loud that we couldn't even talk. Will got a little scared at first but after a few minutes of holding and telling him it was just loud he was fine. The kids were actually having a complete blast rolling around on the air mattresses that they barely even noticed the storm.

Our kids usually go to bed around 8 o'clock but it was a semi-vacation and I think we were still eating dinner at that point. It wasn't until around 10:30 that the storm had settled down enough for it to be quiet enough to sleep. We got the kids into their instant beds and turned out the light. Will was having none of it. There was nothing we could do either. The poor kid was SOOOO tired. Maybe co-sleeping could have helped but with a partially inflated air mattress and a tent that had to be about a million degrees, it was neither safe or desirable. So we all lay there and listened to him cry for quite awhile until he finally fell asleep. Marcus slept like a rock, despite the fact that he rolled off his little bed a couple times. Will escaped from his little bed a few times and Greg had to get him out of one of the corners of the tent and return him. Greg and I were pretty much completely uncomfortable, being eaten up by the squishy air mattress. Good times.

Saturday was a nice rainy day. There were periods of time when it wasn't raining and other times when the rain was light enough that we didn't get too wet as long as we were under trees. We were quite a little walk from the bathrooms and I got in a habit of getting the kids to walk all the way there with me anytime I had to go or even to brush our teeth in an attempt to wear them out. Plus, the kids really liked the freedom of getting to walk through the campground on their own two feet. (Will particularly enjoyed all the people he got to say hi to.)

After breakfast we headed out to locate some more firewood. I was driving since it is MY car and I took a little detour. I figured if we have the big rugged SUV, we better use it! I did a little exploring through some of the back roads of the campground, splashing through puddles and snagging a couple tree branches on the roof rack. Eventually I did stop at a place to discover they sold firewood there. Even better was the fact that this firewood was cheaper and closer to us than the place we usually would buy it.

When we got back to our campsite, we decided to see how the kids would like our back carriers. Marcus has been in his carrier a few times but Will hasn't been in his. Marcus was so excited when we got them out of the car that he wanted in right away. This of course meant that Will was super excited too and couldn't wait to see what this contraption was all about. I am not even sure we needed to actually walk anywhere. They were so content just hanging out in the carriers!


But we did walk. We just went for a short little stroll around the campground.



At last it was lunchtime.


The kids got their first taste of mountain pies and actually really enjoyed them! The pooch looked on in envy.


Normally Marcus and Will take naps after lunch but I was being a mean mommy. They weren't acting overly tired and I also figured that the less they napped, the better they would sleep at night. Besides, I just didn't have it in me to try to fight with Will to take a nap. He isn't a fan of naps in the comfort of his own bed so I knew that napping in the discomfort of a hot tent would not be appealing. Instead of napping, the kids ran around the campsite.


I just love this look Marcus has on his face.


I told Marcus to go over by the trees so I could take his picture and he went over and struck up this pose for me.


I need to lighten this picture up but Will was off exploring the woods and looking so cute.


All good things must come to and end. The rain started to pick up so we headed to the tent to hang out and draw on our magna-doodles.


The pooch was not the least bit pleased with the lack of hiking and swimming that had occurred thus far.


There was a break in the clouds so we decided to head out for a little hike. Somewhere in the 20 feet between the tent and the car, it started pouring down rain again. We just jumped in the car and drove, not sure where we were even going. About 50 feet into the drive Will was fast asleep in his car seat. About another 200 feet later, Marcus had joined him in dreamland. Greg and I stopped at an ice cream vending machine because it is always important to do really cool things while your kids are napping so they miss out on them. We drove around for about 45 minutes, checking out other areas of the campground and eventually ending up at a farmer's market. We left the pooch in the car for a few minutes so we could check out the market and take a walk through the greenhouse. Greg noted that the humidity in the greenhouse was far more bearable than the humidity outside.

There was actually a spot of sun in the sky so we decided to go for a hike. The pooch couldn't be more grateful.

That was until about a mile into the hike and we heard thunder again. We decided we better turn around right then just in case. It never really rained too hard again after that but we didn't want to take the chance and be stuck out in the woods when another big storm hit.

We went back to the campground and took turns getting showered. Greg and I each took a kid with us to shower in hopes to rinse a little bit of the grime off of them too. Then it was back to eating again. I think the whole family agreed that we should start having smores as a side dish with our dinners more often.



After dinner I walked the kids all the way down to the bathroom with me. My hair was still soaked from the shower so I decided to try to dry it with the hand dryers in the bathroom. Will thought the hand dryer was HILARIOUS!! I kept turning one dryer on for the kids to enjoy while I used the other one to dry my hair. But all good things must come to an end. And more often than not, when you are having a really good time, something is bound to just jump out right in front of you and ruin it.

Surprisingly, he cried for less than a minute over that bonk to the eye. When we got back to the campsite he just wanted to show off his shiner.

The full effect didn't show up until the next day and now he has this nice scabby bruised mark by his eye.

Will's energy was pretty much gone. Marcus and I took a walk with the pooch around the campground to try to drain Marcus of any remaining energy that he might have left in him. It was 7:15 and I was tucking both very tired kids into their sleeping bags. Will did his best to pretend that he was not up for sleeping but less than 10 minutes later he was laying face down with his butt up in the air, fast asleep. Greg and I hung out by the fire some more, played some cards, ate some more smores. Eventually the lack of sleep that we had from the night before was taking its toll and we were ready to hit the air mattress too. We were able to get the air mattress inflated a little better making night number 2 even more restful.

Sunday we got up for a Happy Father's Day! After breakfast and tearing down the tent, we decided to try for a hike again. The pooch was off and running! I really was quite impressed with her energy level. My little furbaby will be 10 years old here in a week but she was acting like quite the puppy.


I've done a fair amount of hiking in my day but everything is different with kids. I used to hike for miles with 40-50 lbs on my back and never really think twice about it. Sunday I was hiking with about 35 lbs on my back and it was exhausting! During those hiking/backpacking trips that I remember, I do not recall having a pack that was constantly shifting its weight, yelled in my ear, kicked my butt, and poked me in the neck. I think that might have had something to do with the extra energy this hike took. At least Greg was the one stuck with the backpack that kept repeating, "Oh no!" every time we passed a tree that had fallen over.

At last we reached our destination. We hadn't even gotten the kids off our back before the pooch was diving into the water. The kids were great about staying out of the water and just observing the swimming skills of their big sister.


Even when we are all dirty and tired, we are still quite cute.


About 150 feet out from shore we could see a log apparently floating in the water. Our retriever dog spotted it too and once again seemed to forget that she is considered a senior dog now. There were some guys fishing on the other side of the lake and as the pooch started trying to drag this log in, they started shouting and cheering and snapping photos of her. She must have worked for over 10 minutes at getting this thing, turning and pulling and losing her grip and going back at it. I kept watching thinking that I was going to have to dive in and save my poor exhausted dog.

I thought the log was maybe 4 feet or so in length, although it was hard to see since one end was always under water. Once she got it to the shore, the pooch's fan club from across the lake let out a big cheer for her. Greg had to lend a hand at getting it out.

Then he had to lend two hands. Look at the size of this thing my dog pulled drug across the lake!

Greg said the thing must have weighed over a hundred pounds, being all water logged. He estimated that it was at least 15 feet long. I guess that is just the kind of thing your friendly neighborhood crazy dog does.

All good things must come to and end. Despite the weather, I still had a great trip. Greg... well, not so sure what he thought of it. We hiked back to the car and I forgot about all the weight I was carrying on my back and remembered just how much I love hiking. It was great to just have a weekend without all the distractions of life and just be. It was back to the car, back on the road, and headed back home where everything (and everyone) needed bathed and aired out.

Hmm... wonder if we can do it again next weekend!