Camping - The Result

Camping was as good as it could be. It only rained hard at night and never got too cold. Mason had the BEST time following around the other kids. We went with two other families. We were evenly matched with six adults and six kids until the kid from the next campspot came over! Things went as smoothly and the kids were great. Mason slept well at night. No nap on Saturday - way too excited. The best story of the weekend was about the kids. Our campsite was on a hill. One of the older kids (8 years old) decided that he could ride Mason's trike down onto the road, bank right, then bank left, and continue down the road holding his feet out straight at trike mach speed. All the other kids ran after him screaming with delight! Okay, as a parent, I went to see all of this, evaluate it, and decided that it must stop. Cars on the road were driving way too fast, I didn't have a helmet, and we didn't even own one of the kids. So, I ran down the hill and told them all to "STOP!" I fully intended to put an end to all of it and then I saw all their faces. I looked at each one and they were so excited and elated. I flashed back to when I was a kid and how everyone loved it when my Dad came out to "play" with us. He always pushed the limits. This is probably why I have so many scars, three fake teeth, and a fair amount of stitches. He used to pull us on sled behind the motorbike, no helmets (are you kidding?) and only told us, "When I stop, point away from the muffler. It will burn you bad." That was Dad's safety orientation. It was a blast and I never hit the muffler! So, back to the moment, all the kids looking at me and quietly waiting. I said, "Okay, if we are going to do this we take turns and I will block the road from cars. Got it?" They all cheered and ran up the hill. So, there was the next hour of my life walking up and down the hill following screaming children racing on a trike built for a two year old. Adults came out to watch them and loved how excited they were. Other parents came by to go the bathroom. The kids liked what they saw and I asked if their kid wanted a turn and they flatly said, "No." It was official, I was my Dad and we were the talk of the campground. Towards the end most of the kids lost interest and moved all to other things like bunny chasing, getting ready for dinner, etc. But one dedicated rider, Grace, continued. She got the road down so well and she was ripping down that hill faster than any of them. It was just her and me in the end. On the last trip, she got off the trike, looked at me and said, "THAT WAS S-W-E-E-T!" She is five. She made it all worth it. We walked up the hill for the last time. I carried the trike and told her we were done because we needed to get ready for dinner and I was exhausted. She said, "Okay Angie." On the way up, she told me how she figured out how to get the most speed out of the hill and how she believed she went faster than anyone else. I told her she did and she grinned ear to ear. Sunday we got home and I did all the things I needed to to be ready for Chemo Monday which included a lot of resting, sits (sp) baths, and moving slow. It was perfect not because of me, but because I came home to a vacuumed and dusted house, flowers in the dining room, and dinner ready to cook. Grant was amazing and our neighbor noticed that we only mowed the front lawn, but he did the back. Yep, we survived this because of everyone around us. Thank you. I will tell you about my appointment today later....I think I can finally get back to bed now. Have a great Tuesday - Ang