Council Grove Camping

We spent the weekend camping at Council Grove. Despite the weather, a good time was had by all. We went with a group this time - Blakes, Colemans and the Rushes. David was truly in his element - outdoors and fishing the whole time!!! Of course, Rose was having a great time as well - following David around and getting completely messy!

How is that I can bring 4 outfits and she can go through all of them in less than 24 hours??? She was a mess! David wasn't any better, but at least he wasn't soaked! That's her getting wet from the water dripping off the awning. Grayson is on the right - but at least he's wearing a rain coat...but then again Tara is the world's GREATEST mom - she's so TOGETHER!!! She would of course bring a rain coat when the weather is supposed to be nasty. Not me...Oh well. Live and learn, right? But I digress...Let's go back to the start of the trip.

We left Friday afternoon at 5. After listening to the "Are we there yet?" question for about 1/2 the trip, Rose finally fell asleep. David was busy watching "A Christmas Story." Kambren - THANK GOD - fell asleep as soon as we left. She does not travel well. She whimpered everytime Aaron slowed down. The funny part was that when we got closer to the lake, everytime she cried, Rose would cry in her sleep too. When we finally go there, Kambren was laughing at David and Rose started laughing in her sleep too. David and I could not stop laughing!!

It was our first night in the new camper - and of course, I have no pictures of that yet...I'll get there! Aaron went to the bonfire with the other campers while I stayed with the sleeping kids. Yes, I'm a paranoid mother and I refused to leave the area around my camper if I couldn't see the front door. However, Tara came to my rescue and we sat and drank some wine until 12:30am. Aaron was having so much fun with Keith "The Colemanator"/Sheriff Coleman, Barry and the Clydesdale that I finally had to go retrieve him at 2am. I would have left him to have his fun all night, but the kids were in our bed and I didn't know how to set the camper up yet - first night...but I'm all set now!!!

Rose woke Aaron up at 7am on Saturday by punching him in the nose. Not the thing to do ever, but really not smart when it's first thing in the morning after having "fun." However, after a shower and a cup of coffee, Aaron was good to go. He and Barry cooked us breakfast - yeah, Tara and I are thinking of living out of campers since they did all the cooking and even some of the cleaning! David refused to eat the scrambled eggs Aaron fixed. He just knows that Aaron doesn't know how to cook them because they taste funny. Aaron and are trying to eat healthier so we use Egg Beaters. They taste fine, but the consistency is a little different. When David complained, Rose refused to eat hers too...until she saw all the kids fishing. Didn't take her long to finish her meal! Took David a little while longer, but he choked the eggs down!

Kambren took everything in stride. She loves the outdoors, so she was bundled up and outside with the rest of us! And yes that is me and yes I am wearing the Goonies' Sloth T-shirt. It's a hit with kids! I love my Goonies!!!

We took a trip into Council Grove for some supplies and because the weather was oh-so-fun! Council Grove is truly a haven for the historical buff! I so badly wanted to send the kids back with Aaron and take a real "tour" of the town at my pace. For those of you who don't know, Council Grove was a last chance stop along the Santa Fe Trail. When we go back next summer I'm taking a WHOLE day to have my fun. If I time it right, you can even see the old wagon ruts from the trail days. See, getting excited already! They also have some stores that look really interesting and unique.

After we all got back, we took the kids to Grammy and Grumpy's new camper to check things out. The kids were so good while we were there (imagine that said with sarcasm!) that we couldn't talk them into keeping the kids. They were staying in a pretty quiet area of the lake and it was totally shattered when we showed up with the little monsters!! Ask Grumpy...

Saturday night we ate a quick meal and then had smores over at the Blake's bonfire. Aaron got the kids to bed and we hung out until midnight, but things were apparently much quieter than they were on Friday night as the park rangers didn't show up to quiet things down.

Sunday finally got better and we had SUN!!! The guys all got together and cooked everyone breakfast. Grammy and Grumpy came too. Some kids wanted pancakes and sausage, others wanted bacon and eggs (or turkey bacon and Egg Beaters). It was a feast! Pretty sure most of the dishes fell to Barry - what a man!!! Even though Grammy and Grumpy were the guests, Grumpy was still put to work. I don't know for sure how many turtles Council Grove has, but they were all out our campsite. Those kids had every hook, sinker and lure snapped by those pesky turtles. I think David said that at least 40 had gotten his! Grandpa had to restring Rose's Nemo pole and his work didn't end. Once the other's caught on that Grandpa was getting Rose's pole ready, others were brought to him to be fixed. He definitely earned his breakfast!

After breakfast, we relaxed for a little while and then the kids talked us into going swimming. The water was FREEZING, but none of them seemed to mind. Rose and David got their first ride on the jet ski. David was a pro and Rose just had a blast! There are no pictures of this yet as Tara and I both bought the good Dollar General batteries and our cameras only took about 3 pictures before pooping out!

It seemed to be really late when we got home last night, but it was only 6pm. We saved the cleaning for tonight...guess that means I need to go. With the wonderful wet weather, we have LOTS of fun cleaning ahead of us!