A three-hour drive doesn’t seem so long, until you have to (a) cram the back of a mini-van completely full of food for meals, food for snacks, food for snacks to eat in the van before we get there, clothes for three days, clothes for kids for three days (figure one extra outfit per day), clothes for kids at the lake for three days (figure three extra outfits per day), shoes, shoes for when the first shoes are soaking wet, diapers, overnight diapers, swimmy diapers, regular medicine, just-in-case medicine and bandaids and ointment and bug spray and extra sunblock, cameras, c-pap, books and toys for the ride, and ten thousand other things you’ve forgotten and (b) take your oldest child to a t-ball game from 6-7pm, cheer him on for three innings in which he gets one hit (off the pitcher, not the tee, which makes a huge difference to him) in each inning and plays a different base each inning too before you leave town at 7:15 pm with two kids who aren’t used to traveling at night…
But I can say it was worth it. We decided to make the long trip Thursday night so that we would have all day Friday at Piseco, and we absolutely reveled in our day. Friday started gloomy and rainy but it didn’t keep us inside too long. This was our view first thing in the morning:
By afternoon we had shooed away all the rain clouds and had a long chance to romp outside. Although we love camp for the friendship and camaraderie, it’s also a fantastically magical world when we are the only ones there - we didn’t see or hear another soul until around 4 pm. It’s great to have that whole huge water to ourselves!
In the morning, we tentatively poked around the edge of the lake in the drizzle and damp. JediBoy wanted to walk on the rocks but not go in the water. After lunch, though, JediBoy swapped his jeans and sneakers for swim trunks and water shoes and he and I spent two good hours outside together.
He was wading and splashing and throwing and dipping, and most of all, collecting. I have what seems like half a camera card full of pictures taken at his command, most of which look surprisingly similar:
(As usual with my embedded flickr photos, you can click on these to see the larger photos if you’re interested.)
I love to see what he comes up with, and I’m always pleased when he comes up with garnet (my birthstone) from a handful of sand. But mostly I like to listen to the quiet shushing of the water and gaze upon this:
Later in the afternoon, PisecoDad and BabyGirl joined us. We got a lot more splashing, splooshing and giggling sounds then!
The evening was fun too, as our friends and family started to arrive! That led up to the explosion of people and laughter that was Saturday… more on that another post.
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