I survived

As many of you may know camping isn't my favorite way to spend a relaxing weekend. But for the sake of my marriage I venture into the wilderness at least once every summer to make Jeff happy. I guess I can't complain too much though because Jeff tries his hardest to make me comfortable - he cooks all the meals, loads EVERYTHING then unloads it then loads and unloads it yet again when we get home, and this time around he even bought a six man tent and air mattress for me to sleep in (even if you have to convince Pearl it's not her bed). It's not that I totally hate camping, I mean I did go camping as a kid not to mention the Young Women camps (now hiking at those things is another story...I despise hiking even though my health educator side of me tries ever so hard to convince my brain that it would do me some good... I mean try explaining to me how it's possible that a simple 7 mile hike to Old Ephraim's grave turned into a nearly 30 mile death trap up a mountain with no water, blisters, and a bunch of teenage girls suffering from heat stroke!). It's just that I find a few things completely annoying that drive me bonkers!Should you really eat this well camping?For example, stepping out of the truck to our home for the weekend was going ok until I saw the bear sign on the table. Now when you actually have the warning sign that you are in bear country screwed right there where you eat to constantly remind you the smells from the delicious meals your husband has prepared are at that very moment attracting bears, can you blame me for not freaking out a little. I live in constant fear that some wild beast, like a bear or mountain lion, will come down at night and take my Pearl. I know Jeff thinks I am a total basket case about it but I'm starting to wonder if this isn't part of every mom's duty to be paranoid about these sort of things, dreaming of how she will clobber that bear to death with a hammer (I made sure I kept the hammer within reach all night), and waking up about 500 times a night to make sure your precious child is still in the tent with you (covered and in her sleeping bag too). Paranoid, maybe. But who wouldn't do the same thing for this cute little face?Second annoyance with camping... campfires. I know most people think I'm crazy for this one but I really hate the smoke and smell of campfires. Urghh... the old saying about smoke following beauty just doesn't fly with me. The smoke still manages to hoover over me, turning every square inch of me into a smelly mess. And then it lingers on everything, even the clothes you leave in the bottom of the suitcase the entire weekend. That coupled with three days of not showering, dirt on everything, and some stinky potties (which I am extremely grateful for though)... well you get the idea. I was just glad it only rained on the last day we were there, can you imagine the mess with mud!? But I suppose the fact that all of us stunk made it ok and honestly, the longer you keep me out camping, the more I relax about looking like I've been run over by a truck and stink to high heaven - I'm hoping Jeff doesn't read this far down or else he might get some crazy idea to take me camping for an entire week!
Final annoyance. Not being able to turn on a blasted light when it gets dark! Don't get me wrong, if I do have to smell like campfire, I surely enjoy a dark night so I can do some star gazing but once I head in to the tent to change into my jammies or venture down the trail to the bathroom it would be nice to be able to turn on a light. It drives me NUTS!

Whew, now that I've explained the three reasons I'd rather lounge on a beach somewhere for the weekend, I better let Jeff know that I do enjoy our once-a-year adventure with nature. I love seeing actual stars in the sky and millions of them at that. You just don't get that in the city with the gross pollution and lights everywhere. It really is something special to look up and see a perfectly clear sky with millions of sparkling twinkles lighting up the sky. And the beauty of the mountains is truly humbling. To even imagine how much Heavenly Father must love us to create such a beautiful world for us to enjoy is awesome! Even if he apparently didn't place enough "baby deer" in the Unitahs for Pearl to find. Luckily for us, one of the "baby deer" decided to show up or else we would have spent the entire weekend listening to a whiny two-year-old begging daddy to find a "baby deer."Oh wait, we did spend a good chunk of the weekend with a whiny two-year-old. Thank Heavens for a visit from Grandpa, Grandma, and Uncle Kurtis! Pearl must think we are pretty boring because as soon as family showed up, she was all excited about doing the same things Jeff and I had tried to get her to do with us. Like throwing rocks into the Provo River, visiting the Upper Provo River Falls, having a tea party, and going exploring around the campsite. Or maybe the real secret to this was letting her eat candy after we refused to cave into her repeated demands for candy, chips, and treats after she wouldn't eat her lunch - that's why we all love our Grandmas! Yes, Pearl has green teeth from all the Sixlets she ate! We did try a few things just the three of us. We did a lot of rock throwing and I was shocked at the mad rock skipping skills Jeff has! Seriously, who knew? Pearl, on the other hand, got her rock skipping abilities from her mother. And we went to the Upper Provo River Falls which were really fun! Made for great climbing and having flashes of horror as you worry that your child is going to fall in the falls and drown. I'm not sure which is worse... the bears or drowning.
Our great idea for a picnic lunch at Mirror Lake was a different story though. Let's just say it seemed like a much better idea before we realized the place had about a gazillion other people there, we forgot a can opener for the tuna, and were approaching nap time.
I explained the "I wanna go home" picture here, but what you didn't get to see was how happy she was after being locked in the truck with some Starbursts.
Looking back at our weekend, I'm glad we went. I was pretty grumpy the first half but then realized it was more fun than I was giving it credit. Pearl had a great time playing in the tent, splashing in the water, and climbing on the tree stumps (95% of the time at least), Jeff got his chance to bond with nature, and I... well I got a couple family pictures with all of us actually looking at the camera. We ate well (including downing a couple boxes of cookies...why does one think you have a valid excuse for gorging oneself on treats when camping?), slept fairly well considering the whole bear paranoia thing, and came home with some new memories and hopefully a happier family.