Water....

This past June we took our annual camping trip with good pals the Leone-Gettens.  Despite some questionable weather, we decided to go through with the original plan to head north to Scenic state park.  When we pulled in, both dusk and a storm were approaching.  The undefeatable LG's piled belongings into a canoe and pulled out for their island campsite.  We played it safer and camped next to our car for the first night.  A stormy night ensued.  The thunder was astonishing, but the rain and wind didn't feel dangerous and we awoke to sunny blue skies.  And mosquitoes.  In numbers that were truly astonishing.  We decided to rent a canoe and paddle over to see if the LG's had survived the night.  When we arrived they were just rolling out of Big Agnes, their new, fabulous, gigantic tent.  Wow.  The whole island campsite was lovely, but we couldn't take our eyes off of that tent.  It's pull was so magnetic that we decided to unstake our claim by our car and set up camp with them on the island.  It was cozy out there- the bathroom was a 'throne' within a couple yards of both the tents and the firering.  The kids rigged up some ropes and draped tarps and life jackets around the toilet to lend a little privacy.  A little.

We spent the next few days exploring this north central portion of our state- an area I had never been to before.  We were impressed by the BWCA-like scenery (there is a reason that park is called 'Scenic State Park'), the mine-tour at the next state park over, and the mosquitoes.  I have to admit, they were impressive.  During the day they weren't too bad, especially if you stayed in the sun and kept moving.  But at night, they gathered between our rain fly and screen- we were safe from their blood sucking ways, but the buzz.  Good lord.  It kept me up at night.  There were times when I swear they were going to join together and lift our tent into the air...  And our tent was so cozy/tight that it was almost possible for the mosquitoes to bite us through the screens.  I'm sure some of them did.  That was not the case in Big Agnes.  They reported hardly hearing a buzz.

A highlight of the trip was playing the 'word game'.  As a group we choose one word that was off limits.  No one could say it.  And if you did say it you were 'it' until the next hapless person uttered the word. The stakes were high, too, because whoever was it when we pulled out toward home on Sunday would have to buy ice cream for the whole crew.

We choose the word 'water'.  Wow.  It is unbelievable how ofter you say water when on a camping trip!  And once you know you are not supposed to say a word, the temptation to say it becomes unbearable.  At one point, MaryBeth got confused and was sure the off-limit word was "lake" and so asked who wanted to paddle across the 'body of water'.  She was being so careful, only to become it.  The baton of being it seemed to pass almost by the minute.  Not only is water an important word while camping, everyone became crafty, finding ways to trick others into saying it.  At one point I was intending to ask Theo to meet me at the car to grab a pair of shorts, but because I was working so hard to NOT say water, I yelled out, "Theo, come over here and grab a pair of waters."   Seriously.

In the end, I lost.  Of course.  But it's not so bad to have to buy your good pals some ice cream.  Especially after a long weekend of highjinks and laughter.