Cousins' Camp

Eddie wanted to invite his boy cousins from the Casillas branch down to my Parents' place in the country (10 acres, lake, creek, etc.) for a campout. My mother agreed to host it over Spring Break and it was on. I didn't really think it was a big deal but then everybody kept saying "Wow, you are so brave to have all those boys alone." And then I counted and realized there are 8 boys. They never seem that bad when all of the family is together - when I am free to go hide in a back room with a book. But this was alone for 1.5 days. (That's right, I'm complaining about 1.5 days. Seriously, it felt much longer.)

Truly, I am glad I did it. And I did have some good times. They are a great group of boys and I'm glad I got to know them better and my two boys could spend time with them.

But boys are boys. And if the weather had cooperated and I could have kept them outside more of the time it would have been easier. But it was pretty cold. And of course it took all of 10 minutes before someone fell in the lake (Eddie had the honors.) So it was a lot of wet and cold which necessitated at least some inside time to warm up. (We bailed on actual camping with a tent, etc.) After we got the fire going the first afternoon, that helped a lot. And it provided a lot of entertainment as the boys put stuff in the fire. Preferrably dead stuff. Like the rotting turtle corpse they found. Or the rotting fish corpse. I can't tell you how good they smelled on the fire. We waited a few hours before cooking the hot dogs and marshmallows. It was a very modern campfire scene though as Hunter and I took turns reading stories off of the internet on our iPods (my parents wifi stretches out to the fire pit.)

The first night they got there they stayed up well into the AM. The next night, after a day of playing (and a nap for most of them) they were all out by 10pm. Awesome.

As I said, the kids were very good and were as helpful as I forced them to be. But they were definitely lazy. One of the activities I wanted to do was have them build a raft and try to navigate it out to the island in the lake. And they were excited about it. But as soon as I explained step one ("go into the woods and pull some of the larger logs and branches down to the lakeshore") their enthusiasm vanished. And they all wanted to play horseshoes. But they wouldn't actually go get them. Once I walked to the garage and got them out and brought them to the pit, then they would play. But it was not for a lack of energy - just a disdain for work, I think. I can respect that.

They got out most of their energy playing capture the flag. At one point, Noah was very sad that they would only ask him to play defense. When the boys realized he was on the verge of tears, they kicked into gear and made him happy and included. I was totally awed at what a blessing it is for me and my boys to be part of this great family. They also spent a lot of time on a pair of scooters and a pair of big wheels, flying down my parents long driveway. I was sure they were going to fall and we'd end up in the emergency room but that fear never came true.

After lunch on the second day (six boxes of Mac'n'cheese) with the cavalry on the way to pick them up (thanks Hansens!) I finally gave in to their requests to swim in the lake. My stern warning against it scared most of them out of jumping into the cold lake water on a cold, windy day, but I couldn't convince all of them. In the end, Eddie, Hunter and Nicolas jumped in. I'm still cold thinking about it.

Overall, a lot of fun but very stressful. Not sure we'll ever be invited back. I ended up drying two batches of wet, dirty socks in my mother's dryer and she was, quite reasonably, not happy. Flowers were trampled. Carpets were soiled. The dining room was full of crumbs. etc.

As part of a thank you for my Mom, Jayne wrote a card that quoted all of the boys thoughts on the weekend.

Here they are:

Henry - "This is the best time I've ever had my whole entire life! I can't wait for next year!"

Noah - "We didn't have to brush our teeth one time. It was the rule."

Micah - "Probably the food was the best and Hunter and Nicolas jumping in the lake three times."

Hunter - "I think it was pretty funny Nicolas pushed me into the lake even though it was me."

Jackson - "I wish I lived there."

Cooper - "Dang! Just as we're leaving the fish are biting." (It warmed up after they left.)

Eddie - "The best part was watching Hunter and Nicolas jumping all the way into the lake and me jumping half way in."

Nicolas - "It was awesome finding the dead turtle and cooking it."

Here are a few pics of the weekend:


Lunch was supposed to be PB&J with Chips but I think the Chips took top-billing.


First night, I think, gathered around the TV downstairs.


Here's Jackson crossing the creek on a fallen log. Eddie and Henry followed him over.


Those three found the wild Turkey carcass which had been picked over by some animal.


This was one of my favorite moments. All of them sitting on a fallen tree over the creek. I just hung back as they told jokes and teased each other. Fun time.