Last year some friends of ours went to vacation together at a place called Camp of The Woods in upstate New York. It's a Christian vacation spot for families, complete with daily messages from great pastors from around the country. Ever since I heard about how great of a time they had, I've been wanting to go….I mean how can you beat a vacation AND great spiritual learning all in one spot! (Nerd alert, I know) Dalton wasn't as fired up as I was and we hadn't made plans to take a big vacation this year, especially after going to California in February.
Well, all that changed one Sunday during potluck lunch, when I found out that 3 of our friends were going to Camp this year, along with the Kells, the former pastor of our church. Hmmm….my mind started working and I hopped on the Camp train and wanted to go, mostly because I knew that this was probably the only year that all 5 families would be there at the same time, and really the thought of traveling with a third child next year sounded daunting. We figured it would be too late to sign up, but our friends encouraged us to call, so I did. I figured we'd let God be the deciding factor and if there was a room left, we'd go, if not, it wasn't meant to be. Dalton was sorta on board at this point, but he figured there wouldn't be room. I called and there was 1, yes I said 1, room left. Excited I approached Dalton with it and we discussed it for a bit. Both of us were nervous but agreed that this would be the best time to go……so, with a guarantee from Camp that we could cancel within the next few weeks, we booked our room and signed up.
That evening I was feeling awesome about the decision. Vacation with our friends, a trip to somewhere the weather was much cooler, getting to hear Tommy Nelson and Garrett Kell teach daily, a new adventure. Dalton was feeling pretty good about it too, even though we made this big decision to go on this big vacation in a matter of hours.
Over the next week I went back and forth from excitement to panic at the thought of what we committed to, we bought airline tickets, and shared the news. For the next month, until it was time to go, I wavered as to whether it was a wise decision, using savings money to take this vacation when we had a baby coming and other expenses popping up everywhere (AC in car going out, water pump for house, new tires, etc). But Dalton was confident so I felt better.
Finally the time came for us to get ready to go. Back to excitement about the trip! We packed up, managing to fit all of our items into two checked bags, and headed to Dallas the Friday before our plane left the next morning. As it turned out, Mom and Dad had decided to take a big vacation of their own, to Alaska, and were leaving the next day too. So we were able to get together Friday night for dinner and stay at the same hotel, a fun bonus.
The next morning we got up super early and boarded our shuttle to the airport at 5:30am. Our flight was at 6:45. We made it through security in record time (a plus to leaving early) and boarded the plane.
Ready for takeoff!
The first flight went great. Ace slept most of the time and Cooper was a champ, playing with toys and goodies I'd brought. We landed in Chicago for a bit of a layover, had some ridiculously expensive pizza (but it was really good) and met up with our friends for the second half of the trip. The second flight wasn't so great…Ace was in a mood and wanted to get down and run, but we survived. Everyone was tired and Ace was really loud at the airport and I had a brief moment of panic thinking that he might scream the whole 2 hour van ride to Camp, which would be bad since we were riding with another family. However, they both fell asleep almost immediately and slept the entire time.
When we arrived we were greeted by the Kells and everyone visited and got keys to the room. Then it was time to check out the room and get settled. We were a little disappointed by our room….it was a handicapped room with a big walk in shower instead of a tub and in direct view of all the headlights as people drove into Camp. This, combined with no AC and no mini-fridge to help us keep stocked up on milk for the midnight milk monster that is Ace, put us in a less than favorable mood. I think the long day of travel, mixed with the added expenses of bag fees, shuttle fees, expensive airport food, the thought of how much we'd already spent on this vacation, and the fact that the Camp campus was a lot smaller and more full of cars than the map showed, put us into a slight depression. Looking back it's really weird because we wound up having SUCH a great time, but in the heat of the tired moment we about lost our joy, ok we did lose our joy.
That evening we walked around and checked out things (which didn't take as long as we'd hoped), watched a bit of a concert put on by the music staff (it was really good and the kids sat so still watching and listening to all of the instruments) and had our first meal in the dining hall. That was a good part for us, good food buffet style, with lots of milk for the boys. Then it was off to bed. Dalton went with a couple guys to check out the gym (yes, I said he went to the gym to play ball) while I got the boys ready for bed, in tears. I felt like it was all my fault, that this was a total waste of money that we should have been saving for the future, that I was the oddball of the group and panicked because we had limited milk for the night. I think hormones were a part of this too, combined with the fact that it was all my idea to come. When Dalton got home I cried to him and apologized and he felt the same way. We were depressed but drifted to sleep to the sound of the box fan.
The next morning we woke up feeling dreary (aren't we pitiful) and headed down for breakfast. Everyone was quite chipper and we wondered how they could be so excited….we partially blamed it on the fact that we are 'country people' and that a couple of playgrounds and sports opportunities wasn't exactly the mountain vacation that we'd pictured. We made it through breakfast and headed off to church. We dropped the boys off at their different rooms (Cooper went easily, Ace we left crying) and headed to the chapel. I immediately felt better. The music was refreshing and the message by Tommy Nelson was great!! So there was something good….again we were acting pretty pathetic and negative.
We picked up the boys, who made it through the entire time (yay!), went to lunch and then filled the time in the afternoon by playing at the playground, attempting mini-golf (Cooper wasn't much into it) and meeting everyone at the beach for some water play. We maintained a semi-good mood throughout it all but still wondered if we'd make it all week.
There was a beautiful lake with lots of pretty views and a nice beach.
Monday morning we woke up a little less cynical and determined to make the most of the situation while we were there, praying for joy as we left our room. We had breakfast and then we were off to chapel to hear Tommy Nelson speak again. We dropped the boys off …this time they were both crying so we said a special prayer with Cooper before we left him… and I cried a bit too, thinking how could we have paid money to leave our kids crying in strangers' care. Once again though, after the message I was really refreshed and excited, and once again the kids made it through the service. Between chapel and seminar, where we'd hear Garrett Kell speak each day, we went to the Tee Pee for a sticky bun and drink. It was delicious and it was fun to have some time to visit with just adults. Seminar was wonderful too, the topic for the week was money, how ironic. After that we picked up the kids: Cooper was so excited to see us but also so excited about what he'd learned in class (made my heart happy) and Ace was excited to see us and seemed to survive the nursery. Then it was off to lunch with our crew.
Hanging out at the beach
Ace missed out on this picture because he was napping
That afternoon I put Ace down for a nap, and napped a little myself. Cooper and Dalton explored a bit and rested in the room. Then that evening we all met up for supper in the dining hall. I was so impressed with all the kids, they did so well every meal. Ace stayed in his seat, Cooper minded and they ate pretty well too. I think it was Monday night, after two days without a nap, that Cooper actually fell asleep at the table, along with Bryce. It was pretty comical to see them slumped over in their chairs and the next day we started having Cooper and Ace both take naps.
All of our crew
Monday night was the Carnival. All the kids put on capes that they'd gotten from Lucas' birthday and paraded to the carnival with the other kiddos. Then there were games, face painting, balloon animals, music, bounce houses, etc for the kids to enjoy. Cooper had a dump truck painted on his arm, a polar bear made and won some candy in the games. Ace really liked the bounce houses and listening to the music with Daddy. We finished out the evening with a family walk and headed to bed.
And so we began our weekly routine. Each day we'd have breakfast as a group, pray for a good day, drop the kids off (sometimes happy, sometimes not) and go to chapel and seminar, with a snack break in between. Cooper enjoyed his class everyday and we enjoyed the time too. The teaching was always great, Tommy Nelson has a way of making deep things understandable and including wonderful illustrations. And Garrett's messages on money were very good. Dalton had me giggling so hard one morning as we dropped our not-so-enthusiastic kids off. He said as soon as you get to the classrooms you hear screaming and wailing and see kids ripping off their parents' clothes and grasping doorways to avoid being taken in. I laughed so hard because it was not that far from the truth. The amazing thing was that throughout the whole week not one parent was paged to get their kiddo.
The afternoons were spent playing as a family, or with other families. We had a lot of bonding time with just us 4, which was a blessing. Thinking about other vacations we could have taken we increasingly appreciated Camp because we never had to get in a car or haul the boys anywhere they didn't want to go. It was a whole new experience to have that much concentrated family time and I think we all benefited from it. Even though we had some frustrating moments, we had lots of sweet ones too. We played at the playground, on the beach, walked around, and napped. A couple of evenings we swam in the indoor pool, which really wore the kids out. It was also nice to have other families there to share in activities.
On Wednesday evening we had evening service and the kids went to movie time. When I arrived to pick up Cooper I found him sitting by the door with one of the teachers, not watching the movie with the others. I hoped he wasn't in trouble but quickly found out that he didn't like the movie so he wanted to visit instead. He's very sensitive with movies and if it's scary or sad he doesn't want to watch it. The girl informed me that they'd been visiting and he was very friendly, telling her about his brother and how much he loved him. Oh Cooper, never meets a stranger.
All the kids before the first boat ride attempt
Another day I had the bright idea to take a boat ride around the lake. I mentioned it to the others and they thought it was a good idea, so we all headed down to the dock for a ride, only to find the boat was full. The good news was that we could get a ride the next day. We all went down on that dreary looking day and just as we were about to board it started raining. We loaded up, put on our not-so-flattering life vests and laughed as we were pelted with rain for about 10 minutes. The driver thought nothing of it though and kept going. Thankfully 10 minutes later the rain stopped and we enjoyed the beautiful scenery around the lake. Cooper got pretty tired and fell asleep standing by me. He was so asleep that he slept through the entire ride, pictures and even as we got off of the boat. It was pretty comical.
Yes, Cooper is so asleep that he didn't wake up when sat up straight
Our group
Wednesday night we went to another concert for a bit and then to a campfire and had smores. The boys enjoyed it. The lingering smoke smell prompted us to wash clothes the next day…an adventure in itself. It was quite a hike to the laundry mat and Dalton had to carry a big bag full of clothes along with Ace in his little backpack, while I trudged along with Cooper. Then we got there and found out the quarter machines were all taken so we needed tokens. So I went back and got tokens while Dalton watched the boys (this was one of the frustrating times).
Eating popcorn by the campfire
We also got ice cream a couple of times during our stay. The boys especially liked this part, and it was fun visiting with our whole group watching the kids have ice cream and ring pops. They had a little candy bar in the Tee Pee and one afternoon we let Cooper go buy candy by himself. He approached the counter, waited his turn and placed his order (he's very good at placing orders…maybe a sign we eat out too much?) "Yes, I would like one ring pop please." "That will be 50 cents," said the worker. "Ok," said Cooper, as he handed his money over and got his ring pop. He loves to be a big boy…so sweet. Speaking of sweet, this was what Cooper's teacher had to say about him…..
He also learned a cute little song about the Fruit of the Spirit.
Of course we had to take advantage of the beautiful scenery and take family pictures. They turned out so good!
And then I wanted just one more shot…..one of both the boys on the edge of the water with the sunset in the background. Do you sense what's coming next?
"Nooooo Ace!!!" Too late, he was belly first in the water. It had to be cold too because it wasn't a warm night. Dalton stood there for a few minutes trying to figure out how to get him without getting wet himself. Finally he removed a shoe and fished Ace (now cold) out of the chilly lake. Then, while I warmed Ace by the campfire with the others, Dalton ran back to the room and got more clothes.
Sort of the picture I wanted, but not quite.
Finally Saturday morning came and it was time to head home. After all the drama of the first couple of days we were actually kinda sad to leave because we made memories, learned lots, and deepened our friendships with the families we went with. I even had a couple of late night chats with the other girls in our hall, complete with giggles. As for the concerns we'd had…we took a little zip up cooler and filled it with ice each evening, so we'd have a cool place to store the milk, so that problem was solved; it turned out to be really nice and even chilly at night so AC wasn't needed anyway, and since we were able to close the blinds we didn't even notice headlights; and the handicap shower turned out to be a good thing because the boys could just shower on their own and this pregnant momma didn't have to bend over a tub. God works it all out for us if we let Him.
Ace saying goodbye to the moose. We passed this moose every time we went to the dining hall and Ace had to stop and take a look.
Waiting for our plane in Chicago. It was a long layover for tired travelers.
The boys slept the entire flight from Chicago to Dallas, which was a big blessing, even though I did not have the most comfortable ride. Ace fell asleep on me and Cooper fell asleep on Dalton, with a seat between us. When I suggested to Dalton that he lay Cooper over the empty seat so he'd be more comfortable, this was his interpretation of what I suggested….
My thought was for Cooper to lean on Dalton, not me. At least I wasn't pregnant, with a one year old already laying on me….oh wait, I was. So the trip was a little longer for me, but so worth it to have them sleeping. I had to giggle though when the drink service came around. Dalton was seated in his roomy seat sipping Dr. Pepper, while I struggled to get a sip without waking the boys when he passed me the cup. He giggled too and then went back to reading his magazine.
Once we got back to Texas we got our luggage, and headed to our car via shuttle. Cooper was very chatty on the shuttle, asking the people next to him where they were from and talking about their dogs. It was pretty precious. Back at our car, we were met by unwelcome visitors….ants had taken over our car while we were gone. So we did all we could to minimize the amount and get them out of car seats then headed back to the airport to pick up Mom and Dad. Once again it worked out where we were able to eat supper together. It was fun to pick them up at the airport and swap vacation stories. They had a similar experience, the first couple of days were discouraging but the vacation turned out to be very fun for them.
So overall it was a fun vacation and one that we'll remember always. I feel like we came back closer as a family and spiritually refreshed, and you can't ask for more than that. Well, you can, but we left all that on the comment card at Camp. ; )
"I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul makes its boast in the Lord; let the humble hear and be glad. Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together! I sought the Lord and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed." Psalm 34:1-5
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