Scott and Melanie organized a family campout for the weekend before the 4th of July. They invited all of us to come up to Rexburg; they had a campground right in the middle of town that they were thinking would be a great spot for us to camp.
It was quite an eventful camping trip for everyone else. Mom and dad, Scott and Melanie, Brian and Sammy, and Schpuck and Houston all drove up and set up camp on Friday. They had a lot happen. First, mom and Schpuck we both upset about the arrangements: there was no real bathroom, no running water, and the campsite that Scott chose was overrun with tall weeds and right upwind of the hole-in-the-ground bathroom. They insisted on camping in a field close by (that was technically not a campsite). Then, Ava drank lighter fluid while the adults were setting up camp and/or getting dinner ready. So Brian and Sammy left their kids with Houston and Schpuck and rushed Ava to the hospital, where she had to stay for, like, more than 48 hours for observation. Also, on their way up, Sammy discovered that Summer and Ava were sick, had sore throats and swollen glands, and when they went to an urgent care to get it checked, they were sick with strep throat! Then, after all this, they went to bed... only to be awoken in the wee hours of the morning by the sprinklers. They were up most of the night, trying to keep the sprinklers from getting everything wet and destroyed. No one slept much... except some of the kids.
We weren't planning to go up until Saturday, because Daniel couldn't get work off. And, honestly, I'm glad we missed all of that. Mom and Schpuck called us early on Saturday to fill us in on what was happening and to tell us to hold off on coming up, because they weren't sure they were going to stay. We got up and got ready anyway, and decided to drive up just after lunch. We drove the 4ish hours to Rexburg, stopping only one to use the bathroom.
When we got there, we set up camp and started making dinner. Our family was in charge of dinner that night, and we did campfire pizzas, which I had learned how to do at girls camp last year. Everyone loved them! It really is a genius idea: pita bread, topped sauce and cheese and any toppings, wrap it up in aluminum foil, and stick it on the fire for a few minutes on each side. Delish! The wind and weather kicked up right as we were trying to get dinner started, and the wind was so strong that it was blowing things everywhere. It made the dinner o'clock hour very difficult.
The weekend was just lovely. The kids loved walking down the hiking trail that went right past our site, and exploring the wilderness. We did crafts, and Sammy put tinsel in some of the girls hairs; some of us went to Sacrament meeting at Scott and Melanie's ward; we had Sunday church lessons, scripture study sessions in the evening, and family home evening; we ate a lot of good food and spent time making the food together; we also ate a lot of junk food (Aunt Lynne came to visit nearly every day and brought a ton of homemade treats); we played games and sang songs and took walks; we sat around quite a lot while the kids wandered around, and talked. We roasted marshmallows and made s'mores.
On Monday afternoon, we drove a little ways up the freeway to Rigby, to a little man-made lake. We went kind of late in the afternoon, so we didn't have a ton of time there. But we swam in the lake and went out on Schpuck and Houston's paddle board that they brought. We had a great time at the lake. The kids went to bed super late that night, because by the time we all got back and started dinner, it was already bedtime. 😬
I'm shocked at how well our kids did camping for that many days. We used melatonin to help them fall asleep, and they all handled it well. Of course, we staggered everyone's bedtime, and the girls went to bed super late every night. But it still went really well! It's encouraging to think that we may be able to start doing longer camping trips now!
On Tuesday, the 4th, we started off our day going to the town's Independence Day parade, such was so fun. The kids came away from that loaded with candy. Then Daniel and I packed up and left. Daniel had to work Wednesday, so we couldn't stay overnight again.
We got back into town just in time to go to David's house for the annual Holbrook 4th of July celebration with fireworks. I'm glad we went (even though certain members of my family were put out about us leaving early. They felt like we should stay and spend the time with them, because they drove all this way to be with us. I can see that, for sure. But they don't see how demanding Daniel's job is in July, and how much he works. And also, I felt like Schpuck and mom and dad did drive all this way... but they came to see the brothers, too, not just me and my family. It's not as if it was a waste for them to come), because not much of Daniel's family ended up going to David's house. Which made me kind of sad. I've always liked that tradition. We still had fun. But I love it when everyone goes.
After our weekend camping, Schpuck and Houston came for a visit as well. They stayed for about 6 days, and we had the greatest time! We went to the butterfly biosphere and the Dino museum with Brian and Sammy's family. We had dinner with them as well. We hung out. We went to a splash pad with Sammy and the kids. We got a ton of swig. We had a movie night with the kids. We watched Korean shows. We went shopping a little. It was so fun to hang out with our cousins again.
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