Trip Gone Bad

Saturday, April 23rd was such a beautiful day we decided to take the camper for a quick, overnight trip to a local park that we had not visited since we have had children, Tombigbee State Park. We invited Granny on our overnight adventure, and she happily accepted. We are hoping this experience didn't ruin her willingness to go camping with us!

It started as blissful as every other adventure we had set forth to experience. I mean, look at these happy faces that were in the backseat on our way!

Every time we arrive at a destination, the boys are always so excited. We have secured our spot and are headed to "move in."

Let the fun begin! John Gannon is carefully making sure Jackson doesn't fall. Trust me, Jackson can hold his own on the monkey bars but Mr. Safety just wants to make sure!

And as always, it wasn't long before I was gifted with carefully chosen beautiful "flowers" by Jackson. 

I did mention it was such a beautiful day didn't I? This was my view sitting on a towel in the grass.

What was I doing on that towel? Playing a few games of War! It definitely wasn't my day to battle. I hung my head in defeat each game.

The boys met some friends. They rode bikes together and shared some adventures at the playground. John Gannon will start a conversation with a kid in a minute! Homeschooling has definitely sheltered him socially, poor kid (insert sarcasm).

Johnny and I shared some of our memories as kids from the park. Back in the day, it was a happening place. You could swim in the lake, rent paddle boats, and play some games in an arcade. We even reminisced about a few school field trips we had at the park.  You know, my kids are not going to have the opportunity to see their children play on "nostalgic" playground equipment. All this plastic crap will eventually be so damaged it will be long gone. I mean, look at these beauties. Johnny and I both had adventures on them as kids and they are still going strong! My poor boys are not even going to have memories of blistered legs from sliding down a 20 foot silver, metal slide on a MS day in July!

Despite some of the things that made this park unique being gone (swimming and paddle boats), it is still pretty scenic. They are even developing a mountain bike trail system. Johnny tested it out and said it was pretty good. They have completed several miles at this point. The lady in park office told us they were really looking to restore the park and bring back its greatness. She said that Toyota had adopted the park and already had helped make lots of improvements.

The boys kept Granny busy with bike rides, games, and playground trips!

 We had a family horseshoe tournament.

Don't let this fool you. I am the horseshoe champion!

We continued this peaceful stuff and eventually retired to the camper for some sleep. Johnny brought his hammock to sleep in. The boys were watching a movie that Granny had surprised them with as I drifted on off to sleep. Around 10, I woke up to what I thought was Jackson spilling water from the top bed we were lying on. Turns out, it was Jackson vomiting. Thankfully, it landed between the two bottom couches. Oh me, it was a lot... Earlier, he had eaten a chicken sandwich and fries like a starving dog. At this point we didn't know if he had eaten too fast and it just didn't settle well or if it was the beginning of a stomach virus. He said his stomach felt better. After Granny and I cleaned the huge mess up, I wrapped him up in a fleece blanket and put him on one of the beds at the bottom. About 30 minutes later, it just all went south! He started throwing up again. At least this time Granny was able to hold him over the trash can (he never woke up). I had wet a towel and walked over to clean Jackson's face when I got a drift of a smell. I pulled the cover back and found Jackson was covered from his waist to his toes in the aftermath of diarrhea. The smell that rushed out, well, it became a pretty funny sight in our little camper. I would clean, gag, laugh, and repeat... Granny participated in the cleaning and laughing but somehow she managed to skip all the gagging part! Needless to say, our blissful, beautiful day didn't end so well.  At this point in the night, we all headed for home!

You know, there are always going to be things that pop up and thwart our plans. However, we don't have to let those things ruin the good! As a matter of fact, I can't tell you how many laughs we have shared as a family retelling the events (using some author's liberty) from that night. 

Go! Have adventures while you can! Don't worry about when your plans get messed up or have to change! Just enjoy the moment and cherish the "story" it is creating! Otherwise, you just experience stress, anxiety, and anger--all that stuff does is kill you and make you unpleasant to be around!

Live a Meaningful Life