Reunion #2

One of the most memorable things we did during the reunion was float down the river.  I didn't get any pictures (I posted a few of my cousin's family as an example of what it was like) but it was an epic adventure.  We went with my cousin and his daughter (she is closer to my age than my cousin and I).  They each had their own float, Jason had an inner tube, and the boys and I shared two tubes that were tied together.  Right from the beginning I struggled keeping us on the correct side (the river forked a few times).  At the beginning I started going the wrong way and I panicked.  The boys were crying and I was worried we were going to be swept down the wrong river so I jumped out and attempted to swim (while wearing an annoying life jacket that kept floating up to my head), also while pulling two huge tubes with my three boys in them.  I am not a strong swimmer, and the current in this particular area was pretty swift.  I was really scared, and wasn't sure if I was going to be able to get us to the correct side. Luckily, the water wasn't too deep, and my limited swimming skills were enough to correct our path. However, that experience set a negative tone for all of us, and we were a bit skittish the rest of the float.  None of us had ever floated a river, and I was expecting to have a peaceful lazy river experience.  However, some areas resembled more of a "Knotts white water rapids" ride experience. There were a few small rapids that we had to overcome, which was a lot of fun when I was on my own, but not so much when I had the boys attached to me.  It was really hard for me to steer both rafts on my own, and I underestimated the power this shallow river was going to have.  My boys were crying and panicking, which made it harder for me.  We kept running into rocks and twigs and I was so scared one of our rafts was going to pop.  About half way down the river (we were floating for about a mile), Jason and I switched.  I took his inner tube, and he took the nicer tubes and the kids.  Once I was on my own, I  actually was able to enjoy myself.  I was able to navigate much easier, and the experience went from terrifying to fun.   I was hoping my boys were going to enjoy the experience, but they all said they never want to do that again.   Maybe when they are better swimmers and can float on their own tubes we can try river floating again.



Another first time activity for the boys and I was fishing.  Jason used to fish a lot growing up, but I never have, and neither have my younger boys.  We bought the boys nice fishing poles for this trip, and all my boys were really excited to go fishing (its rare to have all three excited about the same activity).  A lot of little cousins wanted to participate, so my aunt and uncle took a bunch of us down to the rivers edge.  I did not realize how gross cutting up worms and attaching them to hooks was going to be.  After I got all my kids' hooks baited and poles situated, within seconds someone's line was tangled, someone's worm fell off, or someone's pole wasn't working.  I think we spent more time untangling lines, chopping up worms, and fixing poles than we did attempting to fish.  Because we were fishing at the river's edge, all the kids' lines kept getting tangled.  After about 15 minutes we called it quits.  I felt bad because my boys were so excited to try to fish but it was just too difficult with all the little cousins and the swift water.  We will have to try again near our home sometime.

There were a few raspberry bushes on the campsite that my boys found some berries on.

One afternoon we decided to drive around the little town.  We found a little beach along the river's edge.  There was a long black pipe that Wesley really enjoyed using as a water slide.  My other boys just had fun playing in the sand at the river's edge.

Jason also took us to some sand dunes that were only about 20 minutes from our campsite.  I'm not a big fan of dunes, especially in the heat.  However, I can appreciate their beauty and uniqueness.

One night my family created a treasure hunt for the kids.  They had to go around the campsite looking for eggs and a bag that had treats inside with their name on it.  After finding their bag, they got to go collect their grand prize - a hammock!

Another day we decided to head out and explore the civil defense caves (lava tubes).  We had to go off-roading to reach the cave, and I really do not like off roading.  In fact, it terrifies me and getting to the cave (and returning home)  was not a fun experience for me.  Once we got there, the cave entrance was surrounded by grasshoppers (my worst fear), and wasps (Wesley's worst fear). I felt like we were completing a challenge in fear factor.  Once inside the cave, there were no bugs but all the fallen rocks made it hard to enter the cave. The cave was dark and uneven, and all we had were a few dim flashlights and our cell phones to provide light.  My boys were terrified, and after reaching the part of the cave where no natural light could reach, they wanted to head out. It was hard to see anything more than a few feet in front of us, and the unknown can be scary.  It was a cool experience, but next time we will need to bring better lighting.

This is an example of what we could see once we got inside the cave.  The dim cell phone lights only illuminated what was directly in front of us - we could not see anything too far ahead or on the sides of us. 

The peaceful view from our camper