It seems to have also become a tradition to go to McCoy's Ferry which is a campsite along the Potomac River and C&O Canal Trail. As an added bonus, this was Nicholas' FIRST camping trip. We entered the trip fully knowing that it was a risk as all three boys have had runny noses and coughs this past week with Nicholas being the worst.
Some pictures from our campsite:
We planned on leaving Friday afternoon. I went into work early with the plans to be home by 2 so we could be on the road by 3. Well, something (of course) came up at work and I didn't get out of there till 2:30. We were on the road by 4:00 with Sam, Ben and Nathan heading straight to the campsite while Nicholas and I stopped at the grocery store for a few things. It was raining and getting dark, so we also decided that I would pick up dinner at the store near the campsite. A few wrong turns and 2 stops later, Nicholas and I arrived at 5:45 with fried chicken and french fries in hand. Sam had gotten the Easy-UP and tent up which was a relief to me and the rain thankfully stopped. Upon arrival I learned that Sam's boat trailer had had a little accident enroute. The bearings went on the tire and the cap fell off, somehow (we still don't know how) the wheel hadn't fallen off which is still amazing to us as the wheel was like an inch from falling off the axle. We decided since there was absolutely nothing we could do about it that night, we would not worry about it. So we feed the boys (who were soaking wet) and had them in dry clothes and to bed by 8pm - giving us some time to enjoy the fire.
Sam and I got into bed around 10pm thinking we would get at least 5-6hrs sleep. There is no extra room in the tent but we were surprisingly comfortable.
The Inn is Full!!
In case your wondering, the dogs slept in the minivan!
At this point Nicholas decided he really didn't feel well and we were up with him the rest of the night. Surprisingly the older boys slept (Thank goodness!) and Nicholas did get about a 3hr stretch in the early morning till 6:30. The good news is it was a very comfortable temperature in our tent so everyone was at least warm. We were surprised by the morning chill when we un-zipped the flap!
A yummy pancake breakfest later, it was time to inspect the trailer. Luckily it was fixable and we wouldn't have to make two trips back home with the boat and then trailer loaded on the back of Sam's truck. We packed everyone up and headed to Hagerstown to an auto parts store. The highlight was Daddy stopping at a coffee shop for Mommy to get a latte! Trailer was fixed and ready by 11am.
Sam working hard - and still smiling (ok, so I begged for a smile!)
All Done!
The boys had a great time playing while Sam worked on the trailer and I read a book by the campfire - sorry Sam :-(
Nicholas in what Sam calls "Baby Jail"
What a cutie pie!
The boys having fun in the dirt.
We had a wonderful lunch of hotdogs on the fire and were just hanging out when Ben started screaming. He had set his hand down on the picnic table bench on top of a wasp and gotten stung. As Ben has never been stung before, we were on immediate alert for an allergic reaction. As you can see, he has quite a swollen hand.
Ben's hand the next morning.
After all the excitement died down, we put the older boys down for a nap (which the both requested) and it was time for my FAVORITE part of birthday camping - my nap in my hammock. I snuggled in and Sam took Nicholas for a walk around the site to try to get him to sleep. I only rested for about 45min so don't feel too bad for Sam!
Mommy all tucked in.
While the boys were still sleeping Sam and I sat around the fire and in our discussion decided that it might be best to head home. Nicholas was sounding worse, Ben's hand was swelling up like a balloon and we thought it might be in everyone's best interested to sleep at home. So, we packed up and headed out. We closed out the weekend with KSRs on a 'campfire' in the back yard.
Daddy and Ben cooking KSRs
Poor Sam's bad luck continued. When pulling them out of the fire his bag opened and he lost his whole meal. I gave him my KSR (after quite a struggle).
Now the following photos are not for the faint at heart (or maybe just not for Nana). When we bathed the boys we found that Ben had been a tasty snack for the flies on our trip. It's so strange that nobody else had bites but him. Poor Ben.
Ben's Face:
Just a small part of his leg bites.
Between his face, legs and swollen finger, Ben was due for a good dose of Benadryl before bed last night! Thank goodness it was cool enough for him to wear pants to church on Sunday morning.
Apparently the kids were beat as they went down at around 6 and slept till 6:30. Nicholas went down at 7 and didn't get up till 5! And by the way, he is doing much better today.
I know this is a long post but I have to mention one more thing. My Thursday night bible study group was about expectations. How we, as mom's, set our expectations sometimes too high and set ourselves up for disappointment. It is interesting because since having children, we enter camping trips with relatively low expectations. With everything that happened, we both had a wonderful time. We are going to try again next weekend! Stay tuned!
If you made it all the way to this line - thanks for reading!
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