The day I kinda lost my mind

Say what??

'Doesn't that happen to you pretty much every day?' says my very sensible daughter.

Well. This was extreme even for me.

It all began on a mid summer Friday. The weather was delightful. It was warm but not stifling hot. There was a gentle breeze moving a very pleasing amount of air through the leaves.  It was the kind of weather that beckons you outdoors.

We were killing the cleaning in no time flat,  me and my 4 big kids and 1 toddler and 1 baby.

They were working so hard and so diligently that I felt like I should reward them somehow.

At noon we discussed the possibility of going to a few garage sales or the thrift store, both of which would have been a rich reward for my kids.

"Or we could possibly go camping" I said, kind of in passing.

"CAMPING!!!! Mom, do you REALLY mean it!!???!! Did you really say CAMPING??!!?"

{you see, they have become quite agile at riding the waves of my wild ideas, many of which often do not become a reality}

Suddenly every little adventurous nerve in my body was throbbing with excitement.

"Yes. We could.  WE  COULD go camping if you guys are into it!!!" *

{Sometimes being an adult is so much fun....you know, when you realize you have the freedom to make a crazy decision and carry through with it.}

"Jump in the Suburban and we'll drive out to Woodcock to see if any camp sites are even available."

So off we went just like a wild group of Indians.

On the road I had to process both positive and negative feedback for the entire 8 miles.

"Mom, you are SO AWESOME!!!"

"I can't believe this is actually happening!!"

"This is the absolutely stupidest thing you ever did, Mom"

"Mom, you're going to regret this. It is going to turn into a fiasco!!"

"Keep going, Mom!!! Don't stop now!!!"

"Don't listen to her, Mom!!"

"You got this, Mom. Keep going. Don't turn back now!!!"

{I had 5 supporters and 1 opponent}

We arrived at the campground and drove around until we found the perfect spot. We dropped by the office on our way out and reserved our site for the night.

"We will be back in an hour or so to set up camp" I told the Park Attendant.

For the entire 8 miles back home there was no time for either positive or negative feedback because I was wearing my Biggest Bossiest Mama Hat Ever. Everyone had a critical role to play in pulling this together and I was letting them know exactly what I was expecting from each and every person.

I dropped the kids off at home with instructions for gathering sleeping bags, pillows, blankets, chairs, tent and all other manner of camping paraphernalia.

I drove to the local super market -just one mile down the street- and picked up all the essential camping foods.

My list looked like this:

Hamburgers
Hot dogs
Bread
Bacon
Eggs
Chips
Watermelon
Apples
Carrots
Marshmallows
Graham crackers
chocolate
Hot chocolate mix
Soda
Ice

I was home within a half hour and there waiting for me in the front lawn was one enormous pile of camping stuff that was competing in size with our home.

The kids loaded the truck.

I packed the ice chests and lots of paper towel and coffee.

We loaded our 10 week old puppy and her food and cage.

We left a note on the dining room table for my husband that read "Meet us at campsite #32 at Woodcock. Please bring the sleeping bags on the porch with you" **

And just like that, we walked out the door and headed off again toward the campground.

We stopped and bought some wood along the way.

The Park Attendant nodded us right through when she saw us pulling up to the park office window. I guess we must have been a rather remarkable bunch.

And then we set up camp.

{with lots of sweat and groaning and some arguing}

When Amos arrived at 6:00 pm the tent was set up and the fire was blazing. We were grilling our supper of hamburgers and hot dogs.

We were all happier than he had seen us in quite a while.

Our personal satisfaction over pulling this together combined with Amos's pleasure and delight in this little get away all added together to make it one of the happiest days of our lives.

We had the loveliest time.

What is better than family time around a campfire?

Or s'mores after dark?

Or a family of 8 all snuggling together in a tent?

Kids are happiest when playing in nature. I am happiest when I get to sit and watch my kids enjoy nature.

The vacation was short and sweet, but that was a critical part of what made the planning and execution easy for me.

Less than 24 hours later with satisfied and happy hearts we were ready to head for home.

My kind husband helped us with packing up camp and unloading and cleaning up when we arrived home on Saturday afternoon.

My mantra that summer was "Work hard, Play hard".

I am thinking maybe we need to revive the spirit of that summer again in 2018.***

When telling this story to some of our friends, the man replied, "I would think my wife was on medicine or needed medicine if she pulled this number on me!!"

We are good friends and we all had a good laugh about his comment. It was not meant to be negative toward either his wife or me. It was a simple observation of the differences in people.

But I decided not to share this story too publicly until I had a few years of stable history to back up my mental health.

*I did put a little forethought into this before mentioning the idea to the kids. I checked the weather forecast carefully and thought through any plans or obligations we had for Saturday. On all accounts, I got a green light to go ahead.

**this was a big surprise for my husband when it actually happened, however, I had randomly mentioned to him one time that I thought it would be fun for the kids and I to take off camping sometime without telling him. His response was, "that would be cool".  I acted confidently in this situation, because I knew that he would love it. I made sure to check his schedule too before mentioning anything to the kids.

***just in case you are under the false illusion that I am this super energetic and creative mom who is always pulling off fun surprises for my family, you should know that my family just survived probably the most boring and uneventful 3 months of their lives this past winter. If want to get an earful of the real deal just ask my 13 year old daughter.