Last weekend we went camping in Mountain View, MO with Shiloh and a few friends. The weather was perfect and the company was fabulous. Mountain View is about 4 1/2 hrs from KC so when you are going that far it takes a while to pack everything up. We were taking the camper so that made it a little easier to pack and prepare. I started packing on Monday night just so I wouldn't forget anything. There is a walmart in Mountain View, but that is no fun when you are supposed to be roughing it. We got everthing loaded up on Wed night and Steven left on Thurs morning to get the spot and set it up. I went to work Thurs and was able to get someone to cover my shift for Friday so that I would be able to leave earlier. It just so happened that one of our friends that was also going camping was taking his motor home. He said that if Shiloh and I could leaver early than we could ride with him. SWEET!So you know by now if you have read my blog at all that I always have lots of little mishaps when I try to go ro do anything. It is God's little way of humbleing me and keeping my speech pure. So this trip was no different. Thurs night when I got home with Shiloh I got a letter in the mail that was terrible news. It hit me so hard I wasn't able to concentrate or do anything but cry and go to bed early. The next morning I woke up a little earlier to get the final things ready and packed to ride with our friends. Shiloh was not her happy self so that was drama enough. Got her fed and dressed and then needed to conccetrate on packing. Yeah good luck. Shiloh didn't really want to watch TV so she followed me around pulling out everthing that I was packing up. Nice.. So I finally got some bags packed and ready to go when I realied that it had been quite for about 5 mins. OMG>>>> where is Shiloh. I just knew that quite meant trouble. I found Shiloh on my bed with my little jar of Vasoline. Yeah, it was everywhere. So now by this time I have about 30 min to get to the house of my friend. I called one of the guys and asked if he could come and get me so that we would have a car in our driveway. He said no, but that they would wait for me to get there. I went to IHOP and found my friend Jonas loading into his truck and basically begged him to take me to Grandview to meet up with the motor home. He did and off we went. We pulled in and I realized that this motor home was HUGE. I was so happy. This meant that Shiloh could play and not be confined to a chair for 4 1/2 hrs. It was awesome! I got all my stuff loaded and in a matter of minutes we were off.
This motor home was loaded. It had recliners, a couch, a dinette set, a bathroom, and a bedroom. Not to mention a fully loaded kitchen with refrig. It was awesome, much more "accommodating" than our cute little camper. Shiloh was in heaven as she scoped the place out, laughing all the way. We stopped about 30 min.into our drive for some food. I got into my purse and realized that I had left my wallet at home. "Are you freaking kidding me", I exclaimed. I was so mad and just done at this point. The morning had been me running around and I was exhausted. My friend loaned me some money and I felt like an irresponsible teenager. Who forgets their wallet when they are going 4 1/2 hrs away with a toddler? Needless to say I was really ready for Shiloh to take a nap. In order not to annoy our friends, Shiloh and I shut ourselves into the bedroom and made it our little playroom. She finally laid down and we took about a two hr nap. When we woke up we were 60 miles from our camp site. That was by far the best way to travel with a toddler in my book. I am currently taking applications for someone with a nice motor home to be my personal driver for all my trips. "-)
Camping was lovely due to many factors. 1) I love the outdoors and the smell of fresh air. 2) our friends are amazing! 3) I love our little camper and am excited to start making family memories with it. 4) I needed a break from reality. Our lives are a little stressful lately and being away from it all was just what I needed! Our campsite was about 100 yrds from the river that had clear water that you can see the bottom in. The trees provided shade and I love the sound of the leaves when the wind blows.
Anna and I hit the water on Saturday morning and it was a little chilly at first. But after swimming in the spring the feeds the river (it is about 40 degrees) the river felt like a nice warm bath. We took Shiloh in the river with us and she loved just floating. We would let her flow with the river for a little ways and she was just laying on her stomach very still letting the current take her. The river flows like a lazy river where we camp so she was very safe. I didn't let her flow down the rapids of anything. Then Anna and I along with Steven our guide :-) climbed a huge rock and jumped off. It was awesome although I fell at one point and bumped my knee. When took a break and ate some lunch and all laid down in our tents and took a nap. Steven had set up an extra tent so I laid down in it since Shiloh was in the camper taking a nap. During the day we set up the pack -n- play for Shiloh so that she wouldn't just play in the camper.
When I went to go get Shiloh from her nap I heard her awake and I felt in my stomach that she was up to something. Sure enough, when I opened the door there is my child covered in gel candle wax. She had been able to reach this smell good candle that we had on the counter and it was everywhere. All over the walls, the playpen, the floor, and all over Shiloh. As funny as it looked I was a mess because I wasn't sure if it was poisonous or not. I looked in her mouth but couldn't tell if she had eaten any. I freaked to say the least and loaded her and my friend into the truck and started driving towards town to get cell phone service. I was trying to call poison control and couldn't get through. Meanwhile Shiloh is just sitting there so quiet and I wasn't sure whether it was because she was reacting to poison or to her freaking out mother. Since I couldn't get through to poison control I called 911 and asked them to patch me through. Then stayed on the line till they heard poison control tell me that it would be alright. The candle according to there database was made of mostly mineral oil, which when ingested acts like a laxative. Yup...we found that to be true later that night. I was so relieved, I thought I would just vomit from the over production of adrenaline. Man what a mess.
So we got back to our campsite and Steven was preparing for our canoe trip. (Side note..he was worried, but once he saw us coming back he knew it was alright.) So off we went to float with our friends and a 2 yr old. Brave I know. Shiloh loves to get into the boat and we want her to love doing all the things that we enjoy outside. So we got all the boats in the water and set out for what we thought was a 2 hr float. It was something out of the funny papers for sure. I would need a whole post just to go over all that occurred, but here is a little run down.
* Shiloh talked and whined a little, non- stop the whole 2 hrs.
* Shiloh wanted lean over the side of the boat and play in the water. I just sat a little more to the opposite side of the boat to level it out and let her do it. Why not?
* Steven got frustrated. You who know him can imagine
* We had 5 adults plus Shiloh in one canoe and it was funny. That makes it a little difficult to steer and paddle. But all in all it was super fun!
* One tump in a kayak and we had to back track to help find a paddle after that tump.
* Thought we were lost and wouldn't make it back by dark only to turn the next corner and be at our camp site.
** It was so fun!!!
So we ate dinner that night and all slept after our adventure. All in all it was such a fun time and the start of what I hope will be a wonderful family tradition. The camper was a life saver in that we just climbed in and there was our nice comfy bed and when we get it all ready our bathroom and shower will be working. It is so nice! That is the basics of our little family camping trip. I am so tired now, so I am going off to sleepy land.
Blessings
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