Fourth of July Camping pt 2

This is part 2 of this week's blog post just FYI.

We went on our big fourth of July camping trip this week! Steven and I had planned to get in a little extra sleep but Avery decided to wake everyone up at 6 am. Yvette stopped by that morning to drop off the play pen and entertain Avery for a bit while we double checked our camping stuff. We met my parents outside of Home Depot and caravaned up to Cascade. The majority of the drive went well but I started getting car sick and Avery began screaming. We stopped in Smith's Ferry to get snacks and let Avery stretch her legs. I'm glad we stopped because we got stuck behind the Thundermountain Days parade and it took almost an hour to get 20 miles.

Our campsite was at French Creek, it was right next to Lake Cascade. Our site was beautiful and secluded but the mosquitoes were insane. We were using bug spray but it was a pathetic strength since too much deet is toxic to children under 2 - we were also using personal bug clips and a mosquito coil but nothing helped. Steven got bit more time than I could count, my parents got their fair share of bites, and I got bit four times - amazingly Avery didn't get a single bite!!

That evening we had hot dogs and beans for dinner, took a family walk, started a fire and had smores. Avery started getting fussy from overstimulation and lack of sleep so my mom and I put her in the car for a drive. We drove back to civilization to get ice and thankfully Avery fell asleep. There was going to be a firework show that evening at 10:30 pm so I drove as slow as possible back to camp to make sure Avery got the maximum amount of sleep. We managed to drag out the drive long enough for an hour nap, but Avery woke up right before we pulled into camp.

A butterfly landed on my dad's hat

At 10 pm we all hopped in the Durango and drove to the edge of the lake for the firework show, the bugs were so bad that we couldn't get out of the car. No one was able to enjoy the fire works because Avery was climbing all over the car and in every one's lap - Avery didn't care about the fireworks so we went back to camp. It was difficult to sleep that night because fireworks went off for several more hours, our closest neighbors were really loud, and the camp host kept driving by on his ATV. We brought the play pen for Avery to sleep in but that just wasn't happening, she slept in bed with us. The temperature quickly dropped down for 46 degrees so having my little cuddle bug was nice.

The next morning everyone woke up sore and grumpy at 6 am - within 10 minutes we all decided not to stay another night as originally planned. We had brought all the fixings for a great camping breakfast but decided to eat in town instead, it didn't seem logical to dirty a bunch of things cooking while trying to pack everything up. We packed quickly and searched for a place to eat, we stopped at a little breakfast cafe. From start to finish we were at that cafe for 2 hours! The place was not busy at all but it took forever to even have our order taken, our waitress definitely had a stick up her butt or something. After we had already placed our order a group of six people sat at a table next to us and somehow all got their food before we did. It turns out that the waitress had given them our food. When we finally got (some) of our food (about 45 minutes later) it was completely wrong. My dad let the waitress know that he didn't get what he ordered at all and that it was clearly someone else's plate, her response was "oh, well". Not a single one of us actually got what we ordered, it was absolutely ridiculous.

The moment we got on the road Avery passed out, she was exhausted. Sometime during the drive we realized my parents were no longer behind us, we tried to get them on the walkie talkie but got no response. We pulled over and waited thinking that maybe a few cars passed them on the road but when about 30 cars drove by we turned around and went back for them. Apparently they made a pit stop but couldn't get us on the walkie talkie, it scared me for a moment considering the horrific car accident Steven was in on a mountain road.

I passed out shortly after we were back on the road and woke up parked in front of a Starbucks, it was the best way to wake up, Steven was inside getting me coffee. When we finally got home Steven took a shower and napped for 2 hours - I showered and bathed Avery afterwards. Avery had slept the entire drive home so there was no chance of a second nap. When Steven woke up we went over to my parents' house for the dinner and just relaxed.

Giving Grammy kisses

On Saturday morning Yvette stopped buy for a visit, its still weird to me that our family can come visit whenever they want now that we don't live in Korea. We ran several errands that afternoon: buying ammo at Cabela's TJ Maxx for a pair of shorts, Sportsman's for a holster, etc. Avery must be growing because she seems to fall asleep every time we get in the car the past few days, she also tells me when she wants to nap. We had dinner with my parents which worked out great because my mom wanted her 'pumpkin-doodle' to spend the night. Since we were toddler-free we went to see World War Z with Quinn and Ashley, it was pretty good but skimmed over a lot of things covered in the book. Also, Camp Humphreys, South Korea is nothing like it is in the movie FYI.

The next day we went over to my parents' house earlier than usual so that I could help make tamales. The original plan was to have Steven watch Avery while mom, Jan, Grammy, Ashley, and I made tamales but Avery wouldn't let my mom do anything but cuddle her. We made an unimaginable amount of tamales which will make a delicious treat for the next several days :) We left shortly after dinner so we could go to the store for soy milk and diapers, hopefully we will be given the green light to put Avery back on regular milk again. Her appointment is on the 19th so we shall see.

Avery Quinn - (one day shy of) 18 months