Children are not human...

Well, that's what Daniel said! Hmm... maybe he's on to something! He also said, "when I'm a person, like Daddy, I'm gonna smoke!" He said that with quite the grin on his face! I said, "You smoke, and I'll kick your butt! ...and I don't care how big you are by then!"

So, we returned a day early from our camping trip. We left Saturday afternoon, around 12:30, and made it to our campsite by 2pm. It wasn't the best campsite, that's for sure! It was very tight getting into the spot, and the giant rock to the right of the driveway made it necessary to navigate with great caution! There were also a few rocks in the campsite, which we found often as we stumbled over them. John and I rearranged things to our liking, mostly the picnic table, putting to the back of the site, rather than near the front. So, how was our trip? Well, the scenery was beautiful! We went to O'leno State Park, over in High Springs. Within this park is another state park, River Rise. Both are springs that feed into the Sante Fe river. If I can find the cord to my camera, I'll try to load them into this pc in a day or so.(that will be a story later on...) It was a little chilly during the day Saturday, but we managed to survive. We had a nice fire in the evening, and as promised the kids got to enjoy roasted marshmallows! Mmm... After we had dinner (hot dogs & beans) the kids were ready for a shower! They were so excited! They had seen the shower stalls earlier in the day, and hey, they had a handicapped stall which had a handheld shower and a seat! Cool! Their enthusiasm left them quickly as they each got a shower in the freezing bathroom! You know when the tile is so cold, it makes your feet hurt? Yeah.. that cold! Both of them hurried through getting dressed and ran back to the warm camper with the heated mattresses and space heater running! While packing Saturday morning, I was lazy and really didn't want to unplug our electric blanket and pack it in the camper, so I convinced John we'd be fine with a blanket and comforter along with the heated mattress on our bed. Not! We were sooo cold! I woke up Sunday morning with such a headache from staying tense all night! When we camp, I rarely sleep the first night, so I was awake.. and of course, the longer I lay there, I think.. I have to go to the bathroom. I really have to go to the bathroom. Then, finally.. I really have to go! Ugh! I told John, who was awake at this time too (somewhere around 11:45), "I have to pee!" to which he replied, "Have a nice time!" I entertained the idea, jokingly of course, that if I laid there and did it, it would at least warm the bed up for a few minutes! Haha. No, I got up, and grabbed my trusty "luggable loo" that sits outside the door at night, and sat their shivering in convulsions, just as the kids did during their showers! I jumped into bed, and slammed myself up against John who was toasty warm.. sort of. We all woke up around 7:30 Sunday morning, and got up and made breakfast. This trip, we decided to make french toast and sausage on the griddle. Mmm.. it was good, however, Daniel was so cold, he decided he didn't want to eat it all, and wanted to back to his warm bed and inside the camper! It was so cold when we woke up that there was ice on the dogs water bucket, and ice crystals in the bottle of dish soap. The kids laid on their bed and watched a movie while John and I cleaned up breakfast, and put together the chili that was going to cook all day in the crockpot!

Finally, we went for a hike around 11am, and the sun was warming things up. They didn't have a detailed map of the campground/park when we checked in, but gave us a hiking trail map. Sketchy at best! Well, what appeared to be a "quick hike" to the hiking trail from our campground ended up being a mile and a half itself! We decided once we finally made it to the park area/hiking trail to let the kids play at the playground, then we'd go across the suspension bridge (VERY AWESOME!) across the river, and we'd take the shortest trail, the "river trail" which was a 1.62 miles, and then we'd walk back. We were really wishing on our walk back that we'd driven to the start of the trail to start with! While down at the river, we let the dog swim. I know, you're thinking.. it was cold! She's a lab, and she loved it! We threw a stick that she chased into the river multiple times. This was her first real experience swimming. However, the one time she jumped in and was completely submersed, she quickly came back to the shore and sat for a few minutes. We laughed and thought that must have scared her a bit! We figured she was 'safe' in the water, free from risk of alligators, being that it was so cold, however, it wasn't until we returned to the campground, and John read the pet rules, that stated pets were not allowed in the waters at all in a state park. Oops! Oh well, she had fun, and it was a blast watching her. After what seemed like a ten mile hike, but was really only 1-1/2 miles, we headed back to the campground. The kids were whining that their feet hurt and they were tired, to which we responded, we were well aware, and our feet hurt as well! Finally, I told John to hang back with the kids, and the dog and I put it into double time, returned to the campsite, and got the truck!

After our hike, we ate the chili, which was very good after such a long hike. John and I sat there thinking it was getting too windy to have a fire, and thinking without a fire, it was going to be pretty chili (no pun intended). We also discussed the possibility of rain Monday morning, and both simultaneously agreed we could pack up and go home early! Our choices were pack up when it was still somewhat warm, or wait til morning when it would be cold and wet! We chose to pack in warmth! We were home by 7:00 Sunday evening!

This morning we were thinking were definitely glad we left early, especially since we had so much laundry to do. Daniel once again seemed to be getting sick, but seemed better for awhile. He returned home around 2pm, from playing with friends, saying he was tired. He laid down for a nap, and when he woke up was sporting a fever of 102. Hmm... guess he's sick! Motrin, quick! John and I both agreed we were tired as well, and very glad we came home early!