A Camping We Will Go

The Vincent Family goes to Lava Ranch every 24th of July. Grandpa Burt bought 5 acres of beautiful forest property up there probably 40 years ago. Unfortunately he passed away before ever being able to enjoy it. Each year the entire Vincent clan gets together for a reunion. It is absolutely amazing to me how close Brian's family is. Not just his immediate family...his extended family also. There are the occasional squabbles, of course, but all in all it is one great big happy family.

We stay in a tent most years. However, this year was a little different. With Ryker being so little Scott and Anne offered to let us stay in the trailer....us being Ryker and me. Anne, Becky, Ryker, and I stayed in the trailer while Scott, Brady, Brian, and Jaxon stayed in the tent. (Thanks again Scott and Brady for sacrificing your comfort for the small child!)

I was really nervous about how Ryker would sleep. I am always so nervous when I sleep with a baby. For one, I am not a very still sleeper (just ask Brian or any one of my family members). So when they are with me I usually don't sleep because I am so afraid of falling in to a deep sleep and rolling over them. The other concern was Ryker sleeping period. Turns out I should have only been afraid of giant ultra-creepy bugs.

Sometime in the middle of the first night I was up feeding Ryker. What I thought was a moth flew past my head and into the curtains next to the bed. Not being overly afraid of moths, I didn't pay much attention to it and eventually laid back down to go to sleep. I could hear what I thought was the moth beating it's wings (should have been my first clue) against the window. I began to feel a little concerned that this "moth" would bother Ryker. It was only a few short moments later that Ryker began squirming in bed. As I reached over to rub his head I felt something HUGE and HARD on his head. I swatted it away and flipped on the light. It was the most disgusting bug (biggest too) I had ever seen in my life. I snatched the fly swatter and went total kamikaze on this thing. The adrenaline was so intense. It was then that I understood the superhuman strength parents get when their children are in danger. I could have lifted the trailer off my baby that night if I had to.

I thought that I had killed the gross insect, so imagine my concern the next morning when the bug was not where I left it. In the night it had crawled back on to the rug. Eeeww!! Scott came in shortly after, agreed that the bug was huge and disgusting, and heroically removed it from the trailer. HOURS later it came to our attention that it was still alive.....injured, but alive. I'm not one for animal cruelty, but something had to be done. Brian finally finished it off with a bb gun. Yes, we had to shoot it to kill it. I hope to never encounter such a bug for the rest of my life. Jaxon had a great time playing with cousins and getting dirty. He mastered climbing the rope ladder into the tree house and eventually could do it without assistance. (I never realized how camoflauged he was until this pic...I could barely see him!)
Brian's cousin Tyler gave us their old battery powered 4 wheeler. Jaxon loves it! He was very timid at first but after practicing a little bit he has gotten the hang of it. It will be nice when we have grass and he can drive around our yard.
Brian and I also enjoyed going out with Jaxon on the 4 wheelers. We didn't go out as much as we usually do, but it was fun the few times we went.
Ryker was spoiled rotten! There were so many willing arms to hold him. I really only had him when he was hungry or when it was time for bed. He was completely content being passed around and around and around.
We went down into Lava one day and went swimming. Grandma and Grandpa took Ryker and Jaxon to the pool while the adults rode down the river on tubes. Becky, Emily, and I all took turns being tossed from our tubes into the river. We all walked away with scrapes and bruises. After riding the river twice, we called it good and joined Jaxon and Ryker at the pool.

Brian and I have decided that camping is a lot more work the older you get. It's going to take a lot of work to make it as fun as it once was. We played a few games of Yahtzee and Rack-O. We also had a little game of horseshoes with Rex and Julie. Our horseshoe skills were pretty pathetic, but in the end we came out victorious....barely!