Chronicles of a crappy vacation...

Most of you probably have heard our disappointing story of our much anticipated camping trip but why not tell it in writing as well, huh?  We decided to go to Van Buren, Mo to camp at the Current River because we found a groupon for a 50% off 2 night stay at a camp ground and to try out our new 12 man tent that my parents bought us for Christmas.  So here goes the tale of our incredible vacation, or err the lack there of...

1. The Preparation - Much must be done to prepare for tent camping alone. Much more must be done to prepare for camping with a 6 month old and a three year old.  I cooked most all our food ahead of time so all I'd have to do is heat and serve. Because HELLO, it's my vacation too, right?  All this equals: two days of prep and one packed out mini van, i.e. "the mama hot rod".

 We packed all our clothes in the "Stow-n-go" area of our van. Smart because we have experienced rain before during camping. That way we didn't have to have our bags in our tent with us. Guaranteed to stay dry this way.

2. The Anticipation and excitement - photos say enough...we're EXCITED to get out of town!

Ella took this picture!

3. Travel to destination - I drove because Matt had his wallet stolen or lost during finals week at one of the places he was studying at. So he didn't have a license.

This is what you do after you study for a few weeks straight. A good way to start a vacation.

Ella was able to test out her DVD player in the van for the very first time! She was so excited!

4.  Set up camp - We were excited to be near the river and hear boats go by and see the current move!  Our new tent was beautiful! We stood back and grinned and called it the Taj Mahal of tents. No pictures of it though because I thought I'd have plenty of time to take pictures after the rest of the camp was set up.  I also boasted at the fact that Stone went to sleep on schedule in his pack-n-play promptly at 5:00 for his nap.  Such a great camper!

5.  Wind descends - We see dark clouds across the river and above the mountains appear. They appear out of no where and are moving fast. Moving fast towards us!  We had only about 10-15 min to put unnecessary gear back into the van.  We had been anticipating some rain, and so we were not too worried about getting wet, besides, Matt already had the rain fly on the tent, so we were good to go.

***Unfortunately I do not have any pictures of this part of our trip. I did think about it though, but thought the screaming kids should get Mama attention over the desire to document the chaos. But I was tempted to do it anyway!***

6. Panic - Unfortunately, while prepared for rain, we were not expecting wind.  Interesting thing about a 12 man tent, it makes an even better kite.  Out of nowhere we got 40+ mph gusts that hit in waves.  The first wave yanked half of the tent stakes out of the ground and lifted part of the tent into the air.  Matt grabbed the tent right as the second wave hit, lifting the rest of the tent into the air and flipping Stone and his pack-n-play over on top of him.  Our screened enclosure that goes over the picnic table began to blow into the river and Ella grabbed onto it also began to be pulled into the river.  As Matt was holding a corner of the tent down, I dove into it to find Stone under his crumpled pack-n-play screaming at the top of his lungs.  I grab him and crawl out of the tent spinning around looking for Ella.  Poor baby is holding on to the screen tent crying with sheer panic in her eyes.  While holding Stone, I grab the screen tent and yell for Ella to run to the van.  I run behind her and jump in the back of the van with the kids. The only way to console two terrified kids and still hold on to a flying screen tent was to sit on the corner of it while the rest of it flapped in the wind! Sand was flying everywhere  and limbs were falling down from trees right next to the van. A campground worker ran up to give us a hand because we were the only tent campers. He helped Matt disassemble the tent in the wind and rain.

7. Adrenaline let down/shock -The kids and I stayed in the van and once Matt was finished he joined us.  Not long after, the shock of what happened to us and especially Stone sunk in and I started crying.  Then the coughing began from all the sand we inhaled! That lasted a while. We looked around the site, bewildered at what was happening as rain continued to pour down.  A tent pole broke in the wind and so even after it passed there was no chance of us staying.  Such a huge disappointment!

8. The long drive home -

Look at that bump on his forehead! Oh I still feel so bad for him.

He had such red eyes from crying so hard. Breaks our hearts!

Matt's in shock, but driving without a license because I'm too sad to drive.

9. Redeeming quality - At least I got to take a picture of this randomly large pink elephant with great looking glasses on the way home, right?  We left the house around 10:00 am that morning and got home again at 11:00pm that night. Exhausted and incredibly disappointed over our summer vacation.  Alas, lesson learned: no camping in May in Missouri - the rainiest month of the year (we know this now- post camping).