RAWDEADFISH

woah. ever been in a really strong wind storm with only an old canvas tarp protecting you? we just were! overnight into day 3, this crazy storm, that thankfully dumped rain onto some other town, passed through. it was crazy. you feel like the next big gust would knock your tent over!

after that storm passed, my headache, that i had for hours, got worse. and i couldn’t find my motrin! oh! it hurt so bad, i was getting sick to my stomache and i couldn’t fall back to sleep either. then my son falls off the cot. i jumped outta bad, startled by the noise but i don’t initially see him. oh crap! he fell right off the platform, outta the tent. the best part? still sleeping! i put him back on his cot, half in his bag, and he just keeps a-snoozin’ on. too funny!

but i wasn’t in the mood for funny. of course, now i really could’t sleep, with my head pounding and all worried that he would fall out again. ugh! who invented camping and/or scouting!! hate you!

i finally got some sleep, about an hour, 5:30 to 6:30, and i was looking and feeling ragged. once the natural light came, i was able to find the motrin, and popped a couple. it still took almost 3 hrs after that to feel somewhat better again. my neck was real sore and my back was still killing! and then the rain came! uuugh! nasty cold and heavy!

and with all that rain coming down, what did the boy want to do? fish. so we fished… and the rain subsided to a light drizzle. but when it was his brother’s turn to fish off the pontoon boat, we got to go along! in the middle of listening to the boat rules, the skies opened up again so we waited for the rain to slow down, and eventually it did enough to go out and have a go at some boat fishing.

but just as we got to our fishing spot and put ojut the lines, the thunder began to pound, so we had to head back to land. uuugh! and dodge ball it was until lunch! let me tell ya, those dodge ball kids are vicious! it’s just a game kids! geez!

during lunch the rain finally passed over us and the sky cleared up and my headache was completely gone and the day started looking up and the afternoon consisted of more fishing and another fishing boat expedition. this time, we had fun! lots of it! wahoo! and the boy even caught something!

i am writing this update as someone who has survived another day of camp. this full day began at 6:40 am, with a massive urge to use the bathroom. we then went fishing at 7 am, and proceeded to fish until breakfast time. breakfast included the epic taunting chorus of “there ain’t no flies on us, there ain’t no flies on us, there might be flies on some-a you guys, but there ain’t no flies on us!” and of course some tables responded with an equally taunting chorus that sounds the same, but includes bugs and slugs.

after breakfast, we were supposed to start our activities, but my wolf cub refused… so we went fishing… until lunch.

after lunch, guess what we did? fishing! but for only a little bit, because it was only 92f degrees out and for some reason, the fish were not biting. so we went swimming! well, not really. we went to the beach and played in the sand. since i had to stay with my buddy, i couldn’t just go swim by myself. so i baked some more.

finally, we finished off the day with some boating and some more sand play. the boats were fun. paddle, paddle, paddle. i’m so glad i walk 4 mi/day or that paddle boat woulda kicked my butt!! here’s some interesting shots of playing in the sand. one boy, a bucket, and a shovel, and big dreams of a big hole in the ground. my son and i set out to dig a deep hole. why? who knows! er, i mean, cause that’s what ya do in the sand! and he was minding his business too. then one other boy wanted to help, then another, then a pair, then some of his friends. before we new it ther was a pile of kids working on this hole and a river from the hole back to the lake, and a dam, and filling the hole with water. it was pretty neat to watch the whole thing unfold. enjoy the shots.

pictures not up yet… gimme a day or 2…

here is my synopsis of day 1 of 4 at camp. we were early birds. that means that we left home at 6:45 am to be the first ones to camp. that way, we got great parking spots and went through the tour of all the activity stations first to get it all out of the way. then we decorated our camp site with our khights of the round table themed stuff. one of our moms is really creative and designed this huge castle front that we had to figure out how to string up between the trees in our entry way. it turned pretty impressive.

we then did afternoon activities. boating, outdoor skills, and swimming. of course my younger boy was not interested in following the schedule. he tried the boating and loved it, until the heavens opened up on us. boy did it pour!

beyond that, all he wanted to do was fish. so we did. for 2 hours… fish, fish, fish. we caught pearch and blue gill. this other kid caught the beast under the dock!! a large mouth bass that is about 15″ long. that kept us planted on the dock for the rest of the day.

after dinner, we watched the staff do a boat load of skits, that were pretty funny, and sing camp songs. we then ended the day with our own site camp fire and lots of shmarshmellows and chocolate!!

hopefully, we don’t get any more rain. the puddles are massive and deep!

ok here we go. my “stylish” teen needed new sneeks bad. real bad. the old ones were worn and torn and a good 1/2 size too small for him. so he and i treaked out to get some new sneekers. of course, we couldn’t get just any ol sneek, and we certainly weren’t gonna be caught at target or payless. we had to go to some hot place in the mall, zoomers. so i bent a little and went inside a mall.

eew. i hate those places.

we headed over to zoomers and started looking at the selection. believe it or not, his eyes immediately gravitated to the 2 ugliest pair ‘o sneeks on the rack.

how does every teen generation find uglier crap to like then the teen generation before them, and the one before, and before that, etc.

so anyway, he really liked the green and yellow pair, on top, but the price was too high and they didn’t have his size, so he settled with the bottom pair, the banana shoes. but they are shiney!! oh that is so ugly…

my daughter and i were just sitting down for an afternoon snack and she picks through all of the nice buttery ones for specific ones that look like the one in the picture. she said it was a hat popcorn and that they were her favorite. wow, the things that go through that little girl’s mind…

wife was in philadelphia and went to so museum and caught the last day of some star wars exhibit. it was a pretty big deal and there were several live characters present. for the kids, of course, she got her picture taken with boba fett. sweetish!

ah yes, it is spring and the weather is wokderful and the frogs are out in force! the kids found one last night and another this afternoon. see!

so these 2 young ones, for the first time, have total control of the captured wildlife. the older brothers are gone so there is no one to tell them how to hold it, how to take care of it, or how to keep it safe. of course the next thing I hear from the front window is, “don’t throw it, you will kill him!!” I guess the older brothers were good for some level of control.

i l o v e m y w i f e ! !

if you have a wife or husband, got tell them now. you probably don’t do it enough.

my 7 yr old asks grandma… how does she keep such a straight face, when the rest of us bubbling over with laughter? but he quickly realizes what he has said and rephrases his question, “no, ha ha ha, i mean the ones you can eat from a bag.”

i am so excited! just got the annual tax return back. i would love nothing more than to pack it away in a bank account to collect some interest for a year or 5. Yet my wife and i have been getting real bad sleep for weeks and weeks. we both have been having trouble getting to sleep as well as waking up totally sore around the neck and shoulders and straight down the center of our backs. it’s crazy. and we can not flip the mattress because it is only one-sided. the crazy part is that the bed is only 6 years old. so, can the mattress be shot already?? i only weigh 238. how could i have ruined the thing in 6 years… maybe it’s the box spring? how can i tell which is it? or maybe i will just spend that tax return on a new bed. i think that is the direction i am headed, cause i can’t get a good night of sleep to save my life. or just pass out on the couch.