Bad Luck Couldn't Bring Us Down

Keri (my SIL) and I have been trying to put together a family weekend trip for a few months now ... we were thinking beach or something similar, but when the invitation from Tim's grandparents came to visit them at their campground this past weekend, we couldn't pass it up. I've been talking to the kids about going camping for some time now, but we've never actually taken them. I figure they are old enough now that even if they only get to sleep for a few hours, we can manage. So we - meaning Tim and I with the kids, Tim's sister and her hubs, and the in-laws with their birds - all decided to make the trek to Lake Lanier and the Lockheed campground for the weekend.

Early in the week I began worrying about this trip simply because they kids were so out of whack with school starting. But they were raring to go on Saturday morning. We had our bags packed, the boat packed, and they were awake at 6 AM (yes, after telling me that they didn't want to get up early on Saturday). I made sure I left food for Sugar and Snickers (Snickers spent the weekend with Nana), and we prepared to leave.

Now usually if there is a little bad "luck" right before a trip, I blow it off. Things happen -- you can't plan for everything, right? But this trip was just oozing with bad omens from the get-go! First, Tim tried to crank the boat on Friday night (and thank God he thought to try it), and the battery was dead. Apparently a light had been left on or something. So he had to fiddle with the boat battery all night long, and eventually we just left it plugged in all night to charge. Then Saturday morning Charlie (FIL) called at 7:45 AM to tell us that they were going to be late because the battery in the motor home exploded when he cranked it. After all of this, we were on our way, excited about the fun to be had and the quality family time.

Upon arriving we set up camp. While the grandparents and parents had RV's, the children decided we would sleep in tents. I mean, it is camping, right? Of course, Tim and I must have some luxuries from home -- he packed our portable air conditioner (kinda like a window unit, if you will) and we used it in the tent. We borrowed a massive tent from some friends (and I'm glad we did) so that we could put two air mattresses in for all 4 of us to sleep together. It took 6 adults to get that darn tent up, but it was well worth it. Then the men set up Keri and David's tent (which they borrowed from us), and staked it right into a huge ant bed. Yes, more bad luck. After getting all the tents set up it was time to hit the lake. So we all sunscreened up, loaded the coolers, and headed out.

It was a lot of fun to have the whole family on the boat. We anchored in a cove and floated and swam for a few hours. Kendall and Tanner got to spend some quality time with their great grandparents, grand parents, and aunt and uncle. We lived a life of leisure for the rest of the day, went back into shore to eat dinner, and then decided to head back out for another ride on the boat. By this time Tanner was a complete wreck because he was so tired. I allowed him to bring Lovey because I thought he might want to close his eyes and take a little nap while we were out. If Lovey wasn't in the glove compartment, he was secured inside my swimsuit cover-up, except for the 1 milli-second when Tanner tried to pull him from my dress ...

And ...

You guessed it. Lovey went for a swim. A deep, dark swim. And he sank fast.

By the time we spun the boat around to go back and look for Lovey, he had found a new home among the fish.

And it was the most painful cry I've ever heard from Tanner. It was as if we had removed an appendage. The desperation in his tears was unbearable; I sat there and cried with him, right on the side of the boat while everyone else scanned the lapping water. But Lovey was nowhere to be seen. With a devastated baby boy, we headed back to camp, trying to convince Tanner that Nemo needed his Lovey more than he did. And also trying to sweet-talk big sister into letting Tanner use her lovey for the night (which she did).

The night ended with S'mores, which Kendall and I loved, but Tanner was only interested in the chocolate. We turned in around 10 PM, and the kids slept like champs on their air mattress on the other side of the tent, even without Lovey.

Day two went much more smoothly, with an early wake up at 6:45 (trying to keep the kids quiet in the tent was a waste of time). We packed up the tents, which was much easier than pitching them. Grandparents, kids, and grandkids headed out on the boat again, and this time we headed ashore on one of the beaches. Tanner was in his element then, and he played and built sand castles. Kendall explored and swam. We had so much fun ...

So even though there was some trauma in this "vacation," we're glad we did it. My phone died the first day we were there, so I had no connection to the outside world. Thought I would die, but it was actually relaxing not to check Facebook statuses and emails. We also had no clock, which you would think would make us crazy, but we just kinda went along for the ride. We ate when we were hungry ... we drank when we were thirsty ... we slept when we were tired ... and we played when we were awake. Great family time ... no TV, no computers, no work, no pressure.

Can't wait to do it again ... minus the bad luck!