Camping....Do you hear that noise?

I never claimed to be a nature enthusiast, thank goodness. However once a year I join my sister and her family for ONE night of camping at Lake Sherwood. Tracey (my sis) and her family stay for a week and tent camp. It really is beautiful there and I love spending time with my family...however there is a limit to how much nature I can enjoy.

First, I must inform you that I enjoy swimming in things with a filter and chlorine....this lake did not have either one of those. I do not like things touching my legs or gently nibbling at my toes. The worst thing I'm going to run into in my pool is a vicious dragon fly or a thristy bee. So when I gingerly walked into the lake I didn't appreciate it when I was attacked by my loving neices and sister, and thrown out into the water where there were hungry minnows ready to pounce on me.

Second, walking a city block to the bathroom is no fun. Maybe when I was a young person this wouldn't have bothered me..but you carry three children in your body and see what it does to your bladder capacity. When I have to use the bathroom, I have to use the bathroom. I don't have the ability to figure the mathematical distance to the community bathroom and I can't figure out if riding a bike will help me get there faster or make me just want to pee myself.

Third, and this is the most important thing that I have to impart on you! When you wake up during the night and hear a noise....people who are sleeping do not care about you. They will sacrifice you and your children to the bear/squirrel/raccoon that is digging through all of your belongings outside of the tent. I was soundly sleeping....until I started hearing the rustling. To distinctly describe the sound I heard..it was SOMETHING digging through bags. Not a little something either, it had to be pretty big and NO I am not exaggerating. Now, my brother in law was soundly sleeping..so much so that his snoring was impeding my ability to hear the animal. I woke my sister who was alarmed enough to wake her snoring husband. To say that he was not happy is putting it nicely :)....he did investigate the situation and said it was nothing. Now he lays back down and starts back to snoring before his head hit his blow up mattress. Tracey and I laid awake, holding hands like the frightened fools that we are. MORE DIGGING..LOUD DIGGING...and it woke the snoring man up and he acknowledged that YES there was a sound. OK THANKS.

So I drift off back to sleep eventually...all the while thinking that there is only a thin layer of some canvas between me and something that is equally as nosey as I am. Visions of headlines ran through my head..."Mother of triplets mauled during one night camping trip"....."Woman who never camps found running screaming from killer deer".....You get the point.

I now realize why I enjoy my condo at the beach. The worst thing we may run into is a drunken college kid. Tarballs. Jelly fish.

July 4 What a great holiday!

Yesterday was July 4...so today is the 5th. Ok I'm going to be serious, it really was a great day. So many things that I enjoy were all crammed into one day. John is working 3-11 so that was the only thing that brought me down, because he didn't get to enjoy all of the holiday fun with us.

We started out the day by going to Sunday School. Usually there are about 6-8 kids, however there were only three.......my three. So I did my best to teach them the lesson and not threaten them to often. You know the church threat...where you smile kindly and whisper your words of "if you don't stop it I swear I'm gonna"....you fill in the blank.

After church we spent some time with daddy-o before he headed off to work :(...well someone has to fund all of our fun activities..sorry babe!

At 4 Covington had it's first "Red White and Blue Parade and we were there! Proudly waving our Flags (Thanks BIG AL) it was such a cute parade and that is the best way to describe it. Our town is fabulous, we may be small, kind of smelly, high unployment but we do try our best to make it enjoyable. Some complain that there isn't anything to do, but there are things you just have to make an effort to support them so they will continue and grow.
It was wonderful to see the veterans, and Buddy was so excited to see the fire trucks and Army Men with guns. The girls were thrilled by it all, especially seeing there cousin Sydney ride in her first parade as the Little Miss Queen of Hearts. We are so proud of her because she is as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside. I was also thankful that they were allowed to throw candy, what kid doesn't love risking their life running out into the road for a half broken butterscotch candy??

Next we picked up cousin Rachel and hit the AET park for some bouncing and icy oasis. It was nice to see friends and just hang out sitting in the grass eating an icy, the only thing that would have made it more complete was if I hadn't been sweating like a pig.

Our next stop was the Morris Family Picnic. It was nice because there was lots of family and friends. Loved passing around Brady and watching my kids treat grown men like playground equipment. The food was yummo but then again I firmly believe I would eat anything cooked on a grill. As the night grew dark we moved to the front yard to witness the fireworks. I was really proud of Covington, they were nice and lasted longer than 5 minutes....I've been disappointed in the past. The kids loved it and the adults contemplated why fireworks weren't more widely used to celebrate other holidays. Why aren't there Christmas fireworks in red and green? Why not pastels to celebrate Easter? Lots of red for Valentines? I'm going to see if I can get the copyright on this idea.

Last but not least we met John at home and he put off some of his fireworks, we pretended to be impressed but after seeing the real deal in town a bottle rocket in the driveway just isn't the same.

Like I said it was a day filled with all the things I love, Church, a parade, icy treats, a cookout, and fireworks. Good times.

Other People

OK, I'm just putting this out there.....does it ever seem like everyone else is having more fun than you are? Even when I'm doing exactly what everyone else is doing....I'm still not looking cool and relaxed.

Take today for example number one. Location: CITY POOL....lots of parents sitting around looking chill, just hanging back watching the kids play. They all look like they are having a great time. Meanwhile I'm sweating my patootie off....God forbid I had worn a bathing suit and exposed the children to that horror. All the while I am going "where's Payton? " "do you see Rylee?" "why won't Richard get out of the kiddie pool" "why is the kiddie pool yellow" EWWWWW. Intermittently there are children running over to me shaking their cold water on me while I yank their tiny arms out of the swimmy arms...only to have to shove them back into the swimmy arms only moments later. Then I look over at John beside me, he doesn't look stressed....he looks sweaty...but not stressed. Well he wasn't dealing with the swimmy arms so maybe that's why he wasn't stressed. Now I'm worried about whether I'm spelling "swimmy" correctly. Sheesh nevermind.

Still I look around and everyone else looks happy. Calm. Serene even. How I ask?

Another situation that I can think of regarding Other People.....Eating Out. When we go out to eat it is usually a production. I pity the people who sit near us....I have even warned them to press on and find another location. Not that the children are bad when we eat out but it is a virtual marathon. Don't even get me started on going to a buffet! If you know me you know that this is unacceptable...I'll do it but I won't be happy about it. Why you ask? Because it equals about 800000 trips up and down. Before I even get my own plate I have been up there at least 6 times. Meanwhile John is ready for the dessert bar.

Needless to say in these situations I look around at the elusive OTHER PEOPLE and they look happy. Cute little families enjoying their night out to eat. Or there are the dreaded "newly married" couple who you want to smack. Over there making their cutsie faces at one another, possibly holding hands across the table....another reason to smack them. They look over at your table and secretly think to themselves...."that will never be us" " we will be in control of our little brood".......yea well think again sister.

I really do hope that for some WE are the OTHER PEOPLE. Maybe they are looking when I least expect it. A moment when we are all holding hands as we walk into Walmart. A moment when Payton hugs Rylee just for being her sissy. When Richard holds the door for other people because he LOVES to be called a gentleman. When Rylee picks up trash because she hates when people litter. I guess we do have OTHER PEOPLE moments I just don't realize because I'm to caught up into life. I hope this summer I can concentrate on our good times, I just want to slow life down and remember every single moment.

My...where has the time gone?

Well it seems like only yesterday that the bus driver missed our stop on the very first day of school. He backed up when he saw anxious children and parents with every piece of digital equipment in hand. Next he begins to BELLOW out of the window, " I didn't know I had to stop here"...now when you read that you must insert the loud voice of a 60 + year old man, who rides around Walmart in an electric scooter.

After frightening the 3 little people who were so excited about riding the bus, only two little Reynolds got on....and one little Reynolds cried the whole way to school in the van. Deathly afraid of her new bus driver :(

Needless to say, the ride home was better...mind you we only live about .5 miles away from the school.

The year since then has gone quickly..few weeks of school..then a holiday...few weeks of school...then a sickness...then the other child gets what the first one had...and so on. You see the vicious cycle that I'm describing. I love the notes, "Your child has missed "X" days of school" Oh really?? Thanks for sharing, I had no clue that I was at home cleaning up vomit...running to the doctor...and doing multiple loads of laundry.

Once spring had sprung the Reynolds children began to make it to school on a nearly daily basis, which was a nice change. The little fella plays coach pitch which is a great form of free entertainment. ....wait...I take that back it's no where near free. Being on the team wasn't costly, it was the two girls that I had to feed constantly at the ball park that seemed to break this bank. "Can I have a $1?" was starting to feel like it was being sang in a round. Bags of popcorn, corn dogs, and popcicles...only the most nutrious for this little family. Oh and if they didn't eat enough at the ball game, then you have to feed them dinner. Which drive-thru shall it be? See why I said it was costly.

Now tomorrow they will graduate from Kindergarten. I can proudly say that Buddy only had his wormed moved a few times. ((That's Kindergarten speak for getting in trouble)) Each time he had it moved there was a female involved in bringing him down.....just like his father, hahaha. I am so proud of all that they have accomplished this year...raising their hands, writing their names, counting to 100, standing in line for food, you know the basics that get you through life.