Camping...Fun and "Unfun"

Someone asked me how our camping trip went..and I told them it was fun with some very "unfun" moments. And I realized that is how my life is right now. I just never know each day {moment} which pot is going to boil, which teacup is going to get jostled and spew hot liquid all over everyone. sigh... we are in the middle of "storming"..you business types might know what I am talking about...the "Tuckman" model of "forming, storming, norming and performing"...we are deep into the storming stage. Everyone fighting for world supremacy and leaving wounded bodies in their wake.

Doesn't sound too pretty, does it...but it is true.

In the middle of it all, I try to keep my sanity, calm and hope. It can be very discouraging. I run to Jesus, a lot, and blow it, a lot. I keep holding on to the hope that with time, coaching, prayer, patience and more of God, we will weather storming and move on to a less turbulent time. I am learning as I go, so are they, I hope....and all of us crying buckets of tears.

Now that is the "unfun" part. But I don't want you to think it was ALL unfun. We did have some fun moments tucked in as well.

Olivia experienced a lot of firsts:

• First camping trip.
• First middle of the night bathroom trek by flashlight
• First SMORE
• First Kayak adventure
• First time sleeping 5 in a cabin.
• First breakfast, lunch and dinner in the dirt...American style.
• First campfire gathering.

It was kind of hard to explain packing our van full of stuff, driving two hours and staying in a little cabin..with no kitchen or restroom, for two days and then shlepping it all back home...But I think she got it. :) And enjoyed parts of it.

My favorite time, I think, is when Taddy and I took one of the kayaks off by ourselves...we don't get much 1:1 time, and paddled up a little stream off the lake, pretended we were Indian traders... peaceful waters, no one around.... tons of dragonflies, fish below, cool water, and warm breezes. Very nice.

The boys were all about drawing comics, their stick figure adventures, all weekend. So my two and two friends were always carrying around boxes with paper, pencils, rulers and plots and subplots.

So camping, like our life right now, was fun and unfun....but still a family memory growing us into what God has planned for us to be.

a well defended cabin