Camping/Float Trip of 2009

There was a lot of

Swimming, Jumping, and Downloading*

* A new term CAB came up with: Downloading~ Something that one might do in the river...And No, it was not always us;o)

For over 8 years now, Papa Harley has made an effort each year to get us kids together for our annual float/camping trip in Oklahoma. We took 3 years off while having the kids, but revived the tradition last year.

We always have an adventure and learn great lessons for the following year. Like last year, we learned Uncle Micheal doesn't do well in water. This year we made sure we provided him with a whistle and arm floaties, for his "facing death" moments. Unfortunately that idea backfired on us, as he enjoyed his safety device a little too much!!!

Last year we learned that we like playing travel games on route to our destination. We enjoy playing a name game of famous people. We also play the alphabet game, using letters we see throughout the trip. We've learned to pause the game going through Tulsa~ that's a scary ride!

Last year, we learned that Papa Harley doesn't always remember which way to take. So when we ?somehow? lost him, we guessed he took the wrong way and went the opposite way. Luckily Aunt Corie had her Iphone that came in very handy for moments like that. Unfortunately the driver, ahem...CAB, doesn't trust devices with directions!

Luckily they both ended up being right!

~~~~~
Even though we didn't get our regular spot, we learned that change is not always bad. It was a much cooler spot and closer to the bathrooms:)

Last year we learned that us girls are better at putting up a tent. Since CAB just used our new tent for his "guy time" early this year I trusted he knew what he was doing this time, and I learned to stay out of his way. Sometimes he prefers it that way;o)

This year Micheal knew what he was doing too!

Papa Harley doesn't ever have a problem with his tent. He gets his kicks from watching us!

You may be wondering about Nina...She's not much of a camper, and says she's saving us from the complaints. But we are always missing her! She is never plagued with boredom while we're out. Nina takes the kids the entire weekend and fills them up with pudding, love, and their own special adventures!

Just as we were dropping them off, the kids already found that Nina's house was filled with exciting things to play with~ like cool rollypollys!

That day Nina took them to a very awesome petting zoo!

Here's Nina's Post.

They built a nest of leaves and twigs for the very big and scary spider.

Mommy says~ Hmm. I still can't figure out if that's a real spider, and the red circle on the back can not be good! I think A~boy needs to go potty...seeing a spider that big would make me need to go potty too! Never mind, I just realized that is in Nina's back yard and I know about that spider~Gary and Alice...

You really can't get a feel for how dirty he was, but this was taken after 30 minutes of digging in the dirt in the backyard.

He had all the couch cushions gathered around him watching his dinosaur movie.

K~girl took right to it and didn't need any coaxing to get her to jump. A~boy was a different story...

Mommy says~ It looks like A~boy's losing a battle with the diving board;p

A~boy had three different jumps, each one getting a little braver.

In the end, he had it mastered.

Here's our water adventure. The rocks were our diving board!

Yes, I realize I'm not a bird and can not fly.

Here's Papa Harley being a daredevil...

Here he is trying to do a cannon ball;p

Don't worry A~boy, Mommy lost a battle with Papa Harley. Actually I lost many battles... Atleast there is always next year;o)

Here we are floating... and floating...and more floating...12 miles of floating-slowly.

~Another important lesson~

If the water is really up we get a raft. If it's not that high, get a kayak or canoe.

Last lesson of trip 2009, If we don't eat breakfast in the morning, we have more wood to make a very huge fire!!!

We learned so much this trip, and I did even get some vocab lessons in as well...Thanks Corie!!! We are already anticipating next year. We hope our tradition keeps going on, and may even be passed on to our children. A huge thanks to Papa Harley, taking extra time out of your busy schedule to get us together and always going above and beyond to make it extra special! And NINA~ Thank you for taking your time out to spoil the kids rotten with love and pudding(which I am constantly hearing about). Also, giving this time to CAB and I to refresh! We Love you both, so very much! We appreicate it always!!!

Our Love, CKKA