Nocturnal Spider Migration

Kregg and I came home this evening to find three of our four munchkins out in the backyard. Since it was after dark, we were wondering what on earth they could be doing. Initially, I guessed they were hoping to spend the night on the trampoline again. But no, that wasn't it. In fact, you would never guess what they were doing if I didn't tell you. I certainly never would have guessed. 

Elizabeth was standing up on the top deck of the fort with a flashlight. She was shining it down on the grass watching for spider eyes!!!! EEEEKKK! (I have a serious case of ARACHNOPHOBIA!!)

When they would spot one, they would jump down and catch it. 

As if that's not bad enough, Elizabeth then informed me that the yard was covered in spiders all walking across the grass. She thinks they are migrating!! Why MY yard??  Is this an annual spring event? How have I missed it all these years? Or is it that they have all finally figured out where I live and have converged on our peaceful little corner of heaven on earth?

She also told me the babies have enormous eyes. Why did she have to tell me that? Now guess what I will be dreaming about tonight.

They are planning to put them together hoping they will fight.

Where do they come up with these ideas????

 

Hannah and the Pirate Gold

This falls, once again, under the "You just never know what they will do next" column. 

When Mackenzy was born, Hannah was two years, two months, and two days old.  As noted in a previous post, however, her verbal prowess even at two years of age was formidable. As Marilla Cuthbert would say, "She could talk the hind leg off a mule." I seriously wondered at times if my ears could become numb from the constant assault of incoming sound waves. 
Mackenzy was only three weeks old when I contracted a lovely UTI. Not being fond of doctor's offices, when I say I need to go to the doctor, I really need to go to the doctor. On the afternoon in question, I had made myself an appointment and asked Kregg to come home and stay with the girls. I was in so much pain, I wondered if I would be able to drive myself to my OB/GYN. I certainly couldn't take the girls with me.

Kregg arrived at the house while I was preparing to leave. Hannah had been following me around telling me all about her latest flight of fancy. One of her favorite toys at this age was Legos. She had a new set that had a pirate treasure chest with little, tiny pieces of "gold". Yes, she was too young, according to the Lego box, to be in possession of this particular set. But, we were still rookies. I'm sure the Lego people never anticipated how Hannah would use their product, or they would have included an appropriate warning to cover it.

I was almost ready to leave, when she came in to my room and told me that she had put the pirate's gold in a cave.  Drum roll please . . .

She had stuck it up her nose! 

It wouldn't come out!!

I tried tweezers, the nasal bulb, everything I could think of. Nothing doing. All the while, I am almost doubled over in pain. Kregg and I were both at a complete loss. We ended up calling our pediatrician, and they told us to bring her in. Kregg was going to take Hannah, so I ended up taking Mackenzy with me.

When I got there to the doctor's office, I thought of one more idea. I called Kregg and suggested he let her sniff some pepper and see if she would sneeze it out. Wanting to make sure she got a good whiff, he took the lid off the pepper shaker! Hannah, never one to do anything half way, sniffed for all she was worth and ended up not only getting a big snort of pepper, but she also got it in her eyes! Thankfully, the pirate's gold was successfully excavated from the cave and, after thorough flushing with water, the pepper was removed from the eyes. 

It is a good thing the Good Lord gave us a good sense of humor!! :)

My Daughter Ran Over My Husband

When Hannah was a young driver, her vehicle was Grandpa Audie's old pickup. Old Red was with us for many years as a faithful, reliable vehicle. No power windows, locks, or foolishness about this truck. It was a five speed, extended cab and the odometer quit after 140,000. That was years ago. No telling how many miles it actually has on it.

Anyway, Hannah drove it for the first couple of years after receiving her license. During this time, the air conditioner gave up the ghost. The heat of summer would force her to drive with the windows down. To anyone who knows Hannah: you can just imagine what her hair looked like after driving very long with the windows down.
Our driveway often looks like a used car lot and so parking requires thought and planning. Beside the garage, there is a portable basketball goal that receives a good deal of attention. Hannah kept parking right under it or beside it.

One day, we went outside and the windshield on Old Red was broken. As the story unfolded, the boys confessed to shooting hoops with the truck there. The ball must have hit just right for it to break like it did, but we still reminded the offenders they had been told not to play basketball when a vehicle was in the way. We had also told Hannah not to park under the hoop. After having the windshield replaced, we again reminded everyone of the "rules". 
Several days later, Hannah once again parked the truck under the basketball goal. Kregg was home from work and about to ride his bicycle. I was standing outside watching him after telling Hannah she needed to move the pickup. I don't remember what I said to him, but Kregg turned into the driveway as Hannah was backing up. He was looking one way, she was looking at something else. When he glanced her way, she was on him. He fell off his bike, and I screamed at Hannah to stop. She had no idea he was anywhere close to her.

Thankfully, Kregg was not seriously injured and Hannah didn't have a heart attack. He did, however, break his wrist in the fall. 
On the insurance questionnaire that arrived in the mail concerning the accident, Kregg honestly answered that his wrist was broken in a fall from his bicycle. He did not, however, give any more details than were required. Thankfully, there was no blank on the form asking if one of your teenage drivers was involved in trying to run you down with a twenty-year-old pickup truck.

Lord of the Flies

Having been a mother for more than two decades, I would have thought I had seen it all by now. And I would be completely wrong.

Our boys belong to a very "manly", politically incorrect Boy Scout Troop, for which we are deeply grateful. The range of activities and experiences available to them because of this troop has helped make sure they are extraordinarily well rounded. Once a month during the school year, there is a camp out with differing themes. They go canoeing, skiing, backpacking, orienteering, hunting and anything else they can think of. During the summer, there is a week long extravaganza that covers dozens of merit badges and skills, all while living in tents.

Caleb received his Eagle Scout rank last year, while Josh and Ben have been in Scouts only a year or two. In scouting, the older scouts help lead and teach the younger ones. For each of the camp outs, patrols are set up. Each patrol is made up of some older and some younger scouts. They eat, sleep, work, and play with their patrols.

The last trip they went on was the backpacking and orienteering camp out. The scouts are expected to be able to use a topographical map and a compass to trek through the wilderness and find the points on the map assigned to them. Their hike was 10 miles long, carrying their backpacks. 
Josh and Ben were in a patrol with a couple other scouts not much older than themselves. The patrol leader had planned the meals and assigned each scout a list of things to bring. You can imagine how hungry these boys become after a day of hiking. They decided the food they had brought was not going to fill them up so they thought they would try and find something to supplement the menu.

(Thankfully, I found out about all of this after they were safely home.)
They can climb almost anything, and so Ben was up a tree when he spotted a raccoon. To them, it seemed a perfectly sane, rational task to use this raccoon to round out dinner.  They tied Josh's pocketknife (yes, our boys own knives--really big ones) to the end of a stick and Ben's plan was to use it like a spear on their poor victim. 

The raccoon didn't think this was such a great plan and so he was pretty uncooperative. Ben worked and worked and worked at trying to stab it, but finally decided he would have to knock it out of the tree. Not an easy task, either. The battle raged from one tree to another to another. Persistence did pay off in the end, however, and he dislodged the coon from it's perch.
Josh, meanwhile, was waiting below with a shovel. When the raccoon landed, he conked it on the head sufficiently to daze it. While Ben scurried down from the tree, Josh succeeded in pinning the raccoon with the shovel. Ben then swooped in with his "spear" and swiftly dispatched it. They accomplished all of this without ever coming closer to it than the length of the shovel or spear handle.  

Thankfully, one of the adult leaders suggested it would be poor eating so the original menu did not include a new meat course.

The hide is in the freezer waiting to be tanned.

Of course, my first question after picking my chin up off the floor, was, "Did it bite you or scratch you at all?"  They assured me it never even touched them.

Lord of the Flies was fiction, wasn't it?  
 

The United Socialist States of America

Dear Future Generations of Americans,


May I extend my deepest condolences on the untimely death of your prosperous futures. Effective this evening, we have bequeathed you an insurmountable debt, a Constitution rendered null and void, and an ever increasing erosion of your personal freedom. Gone is the incentive to excel. Mediocrity is the new standard of excellence. 

Government has haughtily declared itself your supreme lord and master, believing that you have absolutely no say in your representation. As lemmings to the sea, we are led by those whom we have placed in positions of power and they are now able to herd us off the cliff. 

We have squandered the inheritance we received. But we didn't stop there, we also spent the inheritance that was to belong to you, your children, and their children. 
We have sold our freedoms, those selflessly won for us by previous generations, for convenience and comfort. Counting that freedom cheap and easily attainable, we have bought the lie that we are victims. We aren't responsible. It is the fault of someone else that we are not happy, healthy, wealthy, etc.

We have focused on our rights instead of our responsibilities. We have trained up a generation to believe they don't have to work to eat; someone else will feed them. 

We have said that the fruit of the womb is disposable for any reason whatsoever.  After all, it's not really a person, because that would be inconvenient. And, of course, if life is meaningless than so are liberty and the pursuit of happiness. 


We have found every possible means to avoid the consequences of our actions. We have told you that you are not to be judged by your behavior or the fruit of your labor. You are only to be judged by a standard that says, "It's okay. Whatever you do is okay. Because if we tell you you're wrong or not good at something, that might hurt your feelings." You have known all along that we were lying to you, but because we did it out of "compassion" you should forgive us. Now that your dreams and ambitions are effectively rendered impotent, you will still need to act like we did it for your own good. 

We have declared Truth to be relative and without that foundation upon which to stand, the best we now have to offer is, "Good Luck."

Galatians 6:7
Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest, if we do not give up.


2 Chronicles 7:13-14
"When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain,  or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land."


Psalm 11:3-4
"When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?" 
The Lord is in his holy temple; the Lord is on his heavenly throne.


Psalm 94:15
Judgment will again be founded on righteousness and all the upright in heart will follow it.


Psalm 46:10
Be still and know that I am God

Hannah's Senior Trip

We had been saving airline miles forever when we realized that you can't actually take a family of nine on a trip for free. The airlines don't allow you to redeem that many free tickets on one flight. Having tried traveling in shifts once, it became painfully obvious that it just wouldn't work. So we then came up with the idea of taking each of our children on a senior trip when they graduate from high school. This would be a chance for them to be an only child for a few days and Kregg and I could go on seven wonderful trips.

We took Hannah to Banff. Kregg was there on business, so we just combined trips. Hannah and I arrived at the airport in Midland, only to learn that our flight had been delayed. We began to be nervous when the delay stretched longer and longer. They finally put us on a plane, but told us we had missed the last connecting flight out of Dallas for the day. We finally arrived a day late, but just thankful to be there.

We stayed in the Banff Springs Hotel the first night. Spectacular doesn't do it justice. It was completely breathtaking. Funny thing happened, though. After exploring the grounds and having dinner, we went up to our room. It had been a long day and the next day promised to be filled to overflowing, so we decided to get some sleep.  During the night, the hotel alarms went off. It scared us to death! We tried to find out why, but were told it was just a false alarm. We climbed back in bed and tried to doze off again. All of a sudden, the alarm went off again! Once more, we checked to see if it truly was an emergency and were told everything was okay. Back to bed we went only to be awakened a THIRD time by the alarm sounding off. I started packing up. Kregg checked on the situation and told us that everything was fine. Eventually we calmed down enough to go back to sleep.

Daddy and his sweet little girl!

Every evening the bag piper plays.

Behind the hotel, this river served as the setting for an old Robert Mitchum and Marilyn Monroe movie.

This was the trip when Hannah started becoming a serious photographer.

Inside the lobby of the Banff Springs Hotel

The town of Banff is quite picturesque.

Out walking, we saw several deer and elk.

These big horn sheep were not concerned at all by our presence.

We left Banff the next morning and headed north toward Lake Louise. Along the way, there was a trail that followed Johnson Creek. We stopped and explored. It was so beautiful, we were very thankful we hadn't decided to just drive on past.

Kregg and Hannah on a walkway overlooking the creek.

Isn't he adorable?? He was so tame!

Lake Louise has to be one of the most gorgeous places on the planet!

Next we went to Moraine Lake.

You can see along the edge of the water that there is ice floating. We kept hearing a musical sound like little bells and it took a minute to determine that it was actually the pieces of ice jingling together as the water gently moved them.

The ice was crystal clear just like the water in the lake.

From there we headed north toward Jasper. Our next destination was the Numtijah Lodge. It was completely different than the Banff Springs, but it was just as wonderful. Very quaint and rustic, but I could easily live there!

Mr. Raven surveying his domain.

The Numtijah--isn't it wonderful?

We went as far north as the ice fields and rode one of the big snow cat buses out onto the glacier.

After seeing the glacier, we turned around to begin making our way back toward Calgary. Going back through Banff, we rode the gondola up to the top of the mountain. The views from the top are almost not to be believed. 360 degrees of mountains encompass you. It feels like you really are on top of the earth!

A gorgeous shot up the main street in Banff. Kregg took this one. It's one of my very favorites!!

We drove back into Calgary and found our hotel. Because it adjoined the airport, we returned our rental car that evening. We made it home the next day and were eager to begin looking at all our pictures. To our horror, the wallet containing all my CF memory cards for my camera was not in our camera bag. We began retracing our steps making phone calls. The only place it could have been was in the rental car because we knew we had it right before we turned it in and it hadn't been found in our hotel room. The rental people search the car three times before they finally found it. The carpet in the car was dark and the wallet was black. Hannah had accidentally dropped in the floor and kicked it under the seat! I almost wept when they called me back saying they had found it.  Thankfully, it arrived safely and we had our digital memories back!! Our trips always seem to have the potential for disaster, but we still have so much fun! Never a dull moment is our family creed, after all. Ha! Ha!

The Roto Virus Goes Skiing with Us

The time is March 2004. We are in the middle of the adoption process. Mom is in the Alzheimer's unit in Midland and has been there a few weeks. Dad is living in his little apartment down the street from her. We are in the middle of our home remodel. Rebekah had just turned 4, Elizabeth was 5 1/2, Caleb had just turned 12, Mackenzy was 14, Hannah was 16. Having not attempted a ski trip for several years, we decided it was time. We could use a few days of relaxation!

Kregg's sister, Kristie and her husband, Mike had a time share in Breckenridge. They had enough time banked that we were able to buy a week from them. They were going to come, too, as well as Kregg's parents, Audie and Marlene, and my sister, Stephanie. We had done all the research about rentals and ski school and lift tickets, trying to find the best prices for each. Even including bargains, anything times seven results in a large amount. Adding it all up, we had enough saved and made all the reservations.

Piling in Kregg's Tahoe with the car topper stuffed to overflowing, we loaded up and headed out. The weather forecast was looking good, the snow was great and we had the highest expectations. 

Thrilled to finally arrive, we found our condo and moved in. Everything was wonderful and everyone was anticipating hitting the slopes the next morning. It dawned bright and sunny. After enrolling kids in ski school, we headed up the mountain for the first run of the day. It was absolutely beautiful and the snow was perfect.
We checked in on the kids and found that Mackenzy was feeling a little sick. She had thrown up but seemed to then feel much better. Thinking it was just a reaction to the altitude, we continued on our merry way. 


That evening, the wheels started falling off. Elizabeth fell ill and Mackenzy started back up. The next day, Rebekah was also sick so I stayed at the condo with my patients. Kregg took the kids who were still vertical back out on the slopes. Rebekah had a mild case, but Elizabeth was violently ill all day. By the next morning, we were becoming very concerned. We had been unable to keep her from throwing up for more than an hour at a time. Worried about dehydration, we found a pediatrician willing to see us. 


Arriving at the doctor's office, we were seen quickly by the doctor. She informed us that there was a serious outbreak of the roto virus in the area and she had been forced to hospitalize several patients due to dehydration. Apparently, the virus had been awaiting our arrival in the condo. We had never dealt with this virus before and so the doctor made sure we fully understood the seriousness of our situation. Very strict guidelines were given that we were to follow to the letter.


Glad to have seen the doctor, we took our little invalid back to the condo to convalesce. It wasn't pretty, but she slowly began to improve. The rest of the kids and Kregg and I each eventually succumbed; everyone, that is, except Caleb. Thankfully, no one else had a serious a case. Unable to use any but that first day on my four day lift ticket, we just gave it away. Out of the rest of our extended family, only my sister Stephanie became sick while in Colorado. (Unfortunately, she then took it home to her husband.)


By the time our stay came to an end, we were all very ready to return home. Elizabeth had gone probably a day and a half without throwing up. The pediatrician had told us that some people have a relapse after a couple of days, but we were hoping for the best. Deciding to drive the whole way in one day, we started out early. Somewhere in the panhandle of Texas after dark, we had stopped beside the road to change drivers. Thankfully, Elizabeth was sitting by the passenger door in the middle row. I glanced at her and recognized "the look", grabbed a big plastic glass from the floorboard and held it under her mouth just as she let loose again. As soon as it was full, I quickly dumped it beside the road and prepared for the next deposit. Bless her heart, she was miserable. 


We made the best time we could and pulled into Midland, relieved to be home. Round two wasn't as bad, and she finally completely recovered. Caleb was the only one of us able to use all four days on his lift ticket, but after returning to Midland it was his turn. It wasn't until this last weekend, six years later, that we gathered enough courage to try another family ski trip. The boys have been, but this was the first time we all went. Happily, everyone enjoyed a wonderful virus-free weekend. 


Note to self: When making my packing list for trips, always include a large can of Lysol and douse any rooms before moving in!

Elizabeth, the Flower Girl

All four of our daughters were asked to be in the wedding of a dear friend of our family. Jennifer, the bride, asked Hannah and Mackenzy to be bridesmaids and Elizabeth and Rebekah to be flower girls. Understandably, the girls were thrilled. Jennifer and her family have been blessings to us since before we had children. In fact, her father Rick hired Kregg to work for the company he has now been with since we were expecting Hannah. 

The girls thoroughly enjoyed getting ready for the wedding that was to be held in Abilene, August of 2005. We drove in and stayed at Kregg's parents' house. All of the dresses were ready and we had planned and practiced all the hairstyles. We attended the rehearsal and everyone understood what they were to do. Knowing my children , I had reminded the little girls not to play too roughly. After all, we wouldn't want to ruin bridal portraits with stitches or casts or bruises or anything. 

Kregg and I ran into town for a few minutes. Upon returning to Grandma's house, Elizabeth greeted us with a big smile to tell us about some fun thing she had done. I don't remember what it was because in the very center of her forehead, there was a  huge, perfectly round bruise!! At least it looked like a bruise. 

When the initial shock wore off, I tried to rub it off. Nothing doing. I asked her what on earth had happened, but she had no idea anything had happened. I explained to her that she had a huge bruise on her forehead. Did someone hit her with something? Did she bump into something? Did she fall down? She still had no idea why there was a bruise on her forehead.

Mentally, I am running through my options: makeup, a new haircut that included bangs, a giant band aid? I had no idea how to fix this. All I could think of was a perfectly round bruise preserved for posterity in all the wedding pictures. Ugh!

I explained to Jennifer, the bride, what had happened, at least all we knew of what had happened. She graciously told me not to worry about it. She was so sweet. As always.

We applied a liberal coating of liquid foundation and powder and called it good.

The wedding went off without another hitch. The girls all looked beautiful and the bride was gorgeous! In our pictures, the mysterious bruise is hardly noticeable.

The following day at Grandma's house, Elizabeth walked in carrying a toy with a giant suction cup on it. She said, "Mom, watch this!" Then she proceeded to stick the suction cup to her forehead, where it just happened to exactly line up with the 3 inch wide bruise. Popping it off and on, she just stood there grinning while our mouths hung open. 

Mystery solved.

Into the Inferno

Kregg's brother and sister-in-law, Don and Shiela, invited us to go to Big Bend over the Memorial Day weekend one year. We told them that was really too late in the year to go; it would be way too hot. Shiela's brother is a geology professor at TCU in Ft. Worth and he was taking some doctoral students on a tour of the park. We were going to be able to tag along and listen in on his observations. The suggestion was made that it would be much better to go earlier in the year change the destination, but they really wanted to hear the geological lectures. And they really wanted us to go with them.


Against our better judgment, we agreed. :)


Hannah was about 6, Mackenzy 4, and Caleb was 2. An old pop-up camper was our home on wheels and we had just spent $700 to have the air conditioning repaired. Ignoring a growing sense of foreboding, we started planning our Wild West odyssey. The lure of spending time with Don and Sheila and their boys was just too great. After all, how bad could it be?

Boy, were we naive!


Don and Sheila, along with their two boys Tim and Austin, were going to drive to our house from Ft. Worth and then we would all head south. The night before we were to depart, God even tried to get us to change our minds. A terrible storm blew into Midland. Hail literally sanded all the paint off the trim on the back of the house. It broke windows and ripped shingles off the roof. Rain came in our bedroom horizontally through the broken window! The floor was wet half way across our bedroom. After pulling up the carpet, we set a fan blowing on it to dry everything out. I suggested that we might possibly reconsider our plans to depart the next afternoon. 

Silly me!

Kregg had to go into the office for a few hours the next morning. When he got home, he climbed on the roof in his dress pants to nail the shingles, found across the street in the ditch, back on. While he was finishing up, the Fort Worth Conders arrived. Like lemmings to the sea, our two vehicle caravan departed. What were we thinking?


I was driving while Kregg slept; it had been a short night for him. Those of you who have read previous posts about my uncanny ability to get lost need have no fear, for I was following his brother. They had made the reservations for our campground and knew where we were going. We drove through some very remote, seemingly uninhabitable terrain. It looked a great deal like the surface of the moon; definitely not my idea of a vacation spot. Never having been to Big Bend before, I had no idea what to expect. Somewhere in my mind, I guess I thought we would come over a rise and see lush green landscape magically appear on the horizon. 

Unexpectedly, his brother turned into a parking lot. I pulled in behind him and woke Kregg up. Wondering why they had stopped, I asked him what we were doing there. Maybe someone needed to make a facilities check? Ask directions? Reconsider our fool hardy plans? 

Kregg said, "I think this is where we are staying." 

It was a dirt parking lot with a little 6 foot tall cottonwood tree beside each trailer hookup. This was our campground??!! 


Looking at Kregg I said, "This is what I imagine hell looks like." (I know I am very naive. Hell is much worse. But, I'm just being honest.)


Well, time to put on a good face and make the best of it. Of course, Don and Sheila felt the same way. The campground had advertised itself with the phrase "a tree at each campsite." Their definition of "tree" and mine differ considerably. Each of them had about ten or twelve leaves. "Sapling" maybe, "tree"? Not hardly. 


Time to unload and set up camp. And, boy was it was HOT! The thermometer said it was like 104 degrees. Thankfully, we could turn on the air conditioner as soon as the camper was set up. Dust clung to everything. The flies came in swarms. And the millipedes!! EEEKKK! Horrible black crawly creatures were everywhere. Caleb, of course, found them fascinating and continually tried to pick them up. Not a good idea. They sting! Of course.


Eventually the pop-up was set up and things were unloaded and arranged. Then the eagerly anticipated moment arrived. Time to flip on the air conditioner. Momentarily, we would be cool and comfortable and our brains would quit sizzling. 

It ran for 5 minutes. Then to our horror, it quit, never to run again. Now what??? 


Well, dinner time was upon us so Sheila and I got everything ready and set out on the tables. Trying to catch any hint of shade cast by the campers, we had moved the tables between the two pop-ups. The flies arrived in attack formation. While standing over the tables swinging a fly swatter back and forth as fast as I could, everyone scurried through the line and filled their plates. As soon as they finished, we grabbed all the food and through it back inside the campers; that is, what the flies didn't steal. We then sat miserably inside our camper while sweat dripped into our plates. Very appetizing. 


By the time it started to get dark, we decided to get in the pool. To say it was small  does not paint an accurate picture. It was about 15 ft long and 8 ft wide. Seriously. When everyone got in, it almost overflowed. But at least it was wet. The thermometer on the wall said 98 degrees! This was between 9:30 and 10:00 pm! Then the bats started swooping down, skimming the surface of the water. At first, it was alarming until we realized they were just trying to get a drink!! After our refreshing dip, it was time to get out and get the kids ready for bed. Laying in our beds sweating profusely, we gradually slipped into a heat induced coma.


The next morning, we got up and readied to leave on our geological adventure. Expectantly, we arrived in the park and met Sheila's brother. At least the drive into the park had been nice and cool inside the van. The tour was very informative and we enjoyed it as much as we possibly could. However, when we arrived on the banks of the Rio Grande, the temperature had reached 108 degrees!! At one point, I bent over to pick Caleb up and sweat dripped off my face all over his head! Okay, that is just ridiculous. We wimped out and headed back to the relative comfort of our campsites.


Thinking we could pass some time inside somewhere, we looked around the little town for any potential shopping opportunities. Choices were very limited and we ended up inside the rock shop. You would have thought we had seen enough rocks for one day, but the appeal of air conditioning was too great. Not to mention our three animated children couldn't really break very many things in a rock store. We stayed as long as we thought we could, without being asked to leave, and then returned to our home away from home. 

The only shade was between our campers when the sun wasn't directly overhead, but it was still too hot to be outside. The pool was boiling. The flies tried to eat us. So we sat inside the pop up and sweated. 


After dinner, I took the kids to the showers and got everyone clean. (All clean, all at the same time) The only way to keep them clean was to drive them back to the campsite, about 30 feet away, and carry them from the van depositing them directly into the camper. Walking across the campsite stirred up so much dust, I believe I know where Charles Schultz got his inspiration for Pig Pen. Once the dust was stirred up, it stuck to every sweaty surface, which meant your entire body was again covered.


When Kregg and I finally laid down in the camper for the night, he said, "We can lie here and sweat until 3 or 4 in the morning when it finally cools off enough to sleep. Or we can get up. Pack up. And leave now. We would be really tired, but at least we would be cool and clean."


Thirty minutes later, We were on the road. We had folded up, loaded up, and broken down camp in record time. The kids slept comfortably in their seat belts or car seats and I drove for the first leg of our return to civilization while Kregg slept. My job was to get us to Alpine. The air conditioned part was great. However, the amount of wildlife that comes out around there at night is unbelievable! Praying the entire time that nothing would run out in front of me, I would see 4 deer on one side of the road, then 50 yards farther there would be 5 more, then 3, then 6, then 2. There were eyes everywhere! Steeling myself against the natural reaction to swerve if something appeared in the road, I kept telling myself that the van and camper would be very easy to roll. At one point, I did smoke a large feline of some kind. No way I could miss it. It was just there. It didn't survive. Thankfully, that was the only thing I hit and when we rolled into Alpine, everyone was still sleeping peacefully! The good news is there was never the remotest chance of becoming sleepy behind the wheel.

Kregg took over at that point and drove the rest of the way into Midland. Exhausted but happy, we carried the kids in and put them to bed. They never missed a beat. 


The truly amazing part is: we still go camping!!

My First Ski Trip

The first time I ever went skiing, I was in high school. My sister, Stephanie, volunteered to take me, John, and Kerri and teach us to ski. Never one to do anything half-heartedly, she took us to Vail. What a wonderful sister she is!

We arrived at the resort and almost lost John right off the bat. They were filming the old television series "Charlie's Angels" right in the middle of Vail! He wanted to stay and see the "angels" in person. For his own good, we drug him along with us.

Our first ski day, Stephanie enrolled all of us in ski school. That allowed us time to learn some of the basics. Important things like how to put our skis on and how to fall down so we didn't go careening down the mountain, picking up speed like a giant snowball and ending up taking out the lodge. I thought we were doing well, but when Steph came to pick us up at the end of the day, the following conversation ensued:

Ski instructor: "Are they coming back tomorrow?"

Stephanie: "No, I'm going to take them with me tomorrow."

Ski instructor: "I really think they should come back tomorrow."

Stephanie: "I've been skiing for years and I've taught several people to ski. It will be okay."

Ski instructor: "I really think they should come back tomorrow."

Day Two dawned bright and beautiful. We, the pupils, had full confidence in our "ski master's" abilities to have us swooshing gracefully down the slopes in a couple of hours. We spent the morning, however, learning various ways to fall. By the afternoon, Steph decided we were ready for a little more of a challenge. Kerri could go down any slope because she never came out of her snow plow, even when she fell. All we had to do was go flip her back up. Of course, she never went over 2.5 miles per hour, but slow and steady wins the race, right? 

Stephanie assigned John to escort Kerri down a green "road" that would intersect the slope she wanted to take me down. We saw them off and then made our way to the lift. At the top of the slope, Steph wanted to double check just to make sure she knew which way to go. To her horror, she realized the only way to get to our meeting point  with John and Kerri was down a black mogul run. For non-skiers, a black slope is a really hard one and moguls are giant snow bumps. 

Standing at the top of the trail, I told my "ski master" there was no way!!!! I couldn't see over these moguls and the slope was almost vertical! She assured me that we would take it slowly and just traverse. Naively, I followed her. There is no way to describe the impossibility of the task we had set for ourselves. Stephanie is a good skier; without me, she could have managed. I, on the other hand, had no hope of survival.

I don't even know how many times I crashed. Hopelessly less than half way down, I once again lost control. I picked up speed and took another spectacular crash landing flat of my back. As I lay there contemplating the meaning of life and whether mine had come to an inglorious and abrupt end, I realized I had crashed right under the lift. As if an audience of strangers going over on the lift was not bad enough to witness my humiliated state, I suddenly heard a familiar voice shouting: "Hey, I know you!!"

It was the ski instructor!! 

Can you imagine what he was thinking of my "ski master" at that moment??