Back home a day early...

What a long drive it is all the way up to Augusta, Georgia! I have to say, the kids were exceptionally good! I am so thankful for the invention of portable dvd players! We have a dual monitor player for the truck, and it detaches and plugs into a regular power plug as well. I purchased three new dvd's just for this trip, 2 Scooby Doos and the newest Bolt. Those kept the kids pretty well entertained. One of the Scooby Doo movies was a double feature.. Yay! I'm beginning to wonder if other people have found Google directions to be "off" lately as well. It was beginning to be not unusual to hear Daniel as the question.. "Did you miss the turn?" We were within an hour of our destination when our directions were getting sketchy at best. We finally stopped at a truck stop and bought a Georgia map! The most questionable direction was turning onto GA-1 S, when we were in fact going North! The turn was correct, but the direction was not, so we decided we needed a map to confirm which way to go! We were in such "backcountry" we had no idea what was what! John and I both commented, the area was absolutely beautiful in full bloom, and must be equally as beautiful during the fall when the leaves turn color. We weren't in the mountains, but there were actually hills and valleys; not anything like we have here in Florida!

We left home around 11:00am Saturday morning, and arrived at our campsite around 5:30 pm. It took us quite a while to set up camp, and while John and I did that, the kids enjoyed looking at the lake that was right at the bottom of our site. Don't worry, it was a shallow cove, and it didn't appear to have any drop offs. Saturday evening was absolutely beautiful! John and I enjoyed sitting by the fire that night, enjoying the moonlight and the lake. Sunday morning, we awoke with a surprising "HONK". Not a car, but Canadian geese! There were several geese that inhabit this lake, and they come into the coves early in the mornings. I can now testify, nothing breaks through early morning silence like the sounds of half a dozen geese honking like roosters on the lake just outside a pop up. It certainly upset the dogs! The kids sat up with half a fright.. "what was that!?" After that, Hanna enjoyed pointing out the "swans" as she called them everywhere we went, and every time we heard them! Sunday morning we went down to the lake and tried our hand at fishing, but no luck! We found out after and early dinner that evening was the time to catch the fish on this lake. Just ask Daniel, he'll tell you all about it! Hanna on the other hand was very unhappy that she did not catch anything. The dogs enjoyed swimming in the lake, especially Callie. At one point, she was laying down in the water, watching the kids fish. Hmm, could this have anything to do with Hanna's lack of success fishing? Probably, but don't tell her! In the early morning, Hanna and I went and rented a canoe and started paddling across the lake. We had the canoe for 24 hours, so we paddled up to our campsite, and later Daniel decded maybe he wanted to go out in a canoe after all! John and I walked it back Monday morning. (State parks own light aluminum canoes, easily transported over head.)







Sunday evening was every bit as beautiful as the night before. The kids made a new friend after fishing, of course, and he came over and enjoyed roasting marshmallows with us. He was camping with his parents and one of his brothers just across the lake from us. Isaac was the youngest of five children, and was happy to find kids his own age to play with! We were happy to have a playmate for our children to be a neutral party. He was the cutest little kids! Not that it matters, but I think he was adopted. He seemed to be of an Arab descent, and neither of his parents did. I was watching him with my kids, and thinking how incredibly cute he was, when I almost laughed out loud. His appearance very much resembled the face of the "young" Grinch in the non-animated version, but of course he was brown, not green. I certainly do not intend to insult the little guy, I simply noticed how darn cute he was!



Around 2am, Monday morning it started raining, then a little thunder and lightning, and finally around 4am the wind started blowing through. Monday became a very windy day. So windy, in fact, we ended up taking down our dining fly, as the wind pulled up the stakes at one point. During the day Monday, Daniel was complaining of stomach cramps, and was plagued by lower intestinal "bug" symptoms. Being the little guy that he is, he misunderstood a few "signs" of troubles ahead, and we ran out of clean underwear for him! Thankfully, as is almost always the case, there was a Wal-Mart close by, and I was able to buy him a few more pair! We went for a hike, not realizing the severity of Daniel's symptoms, and I was forced to introduce Daniel to the "other side" of a log! He had cramps badly, and stated "I need to go potty!" So, having no other choice, I showed him how he could sit on a log and take care of "nature" as it were! It took him a while to be comfortable with the situation, but finally he managed! He thought it was pretty funny later on. That evening, John and I decided it was too windy to sit outside with a fire, and it was pretty chilly as well. We ended up laying on the bed with the kids and we all watched one of the Scooby Doo movies, and then Bolt. I think the kids enjoyed us laying there with them.

Tuesday morning, after laying in bed all night listening to the wind, Daniel broke the silence with a panicked.. "Mommy, I threw up!" Okay, that will get a mom out of bed pretty quick! Thankfully, since his tummy was a little off the day before, his stomach was empty, except for water. Not much mess to clean up. Plus, he sleeps with a fleece blanket. It was easily rolled up and put into a plastic bag! Daniel's color was very bad, and the weather didn't seem like it was going to improve much. John and I quickly came to the agreement that we didn't want to be couped up with a sick little kid inside the camper all day, only to run the risk of one of us becoming ill as well, and having to drive home the six hours today. We opted to pack up then, and hit the road.

It was very difficult packing around a sick little kid laying on the camper bed. Usually, I send them outside to play, while I pack up inside, and John packs up outside the camper. This time, since it was cold and he was so sick, he laid on the bed watching a movie (yep, Bolt again!) and eventually fell asleep. When I was finally ready to close everything up, I moved him and is sleeping bag and bucket to the truck. To no surprise, as soon as I moved him, he threw up again! During all the packing up, since it was cold, Hanna sat inside the truck listening to my Celtic Woman cd. Eventually, she too fell asleep! One last thing! If you recall, the vet recommended Bonine for Annie, and also prescribed sedatives for the trip! I'm happy to say, the combination worked very well for her, and she slept like baby for the road trip!