So, let me paint the picture for you. It’s 6
am on a Saturday and we’re up and
packed and on our way. It’s about a two hour drive, all back roads and both
boys were enjoying the ride. Camp Thunder which is a Boy Scout camp is
beautiful, peaceful and quietly located right on a lake. As we backed up from
the registration cabin, I thought “well,
maybe this will be nice after all.”
Then we heard it…that noise that makes every
mother instantly cringe and then immediately think “damn.” Nash’s milk that morning and breakfast bar apparently did
not sit well with him and he proceeded to vomit soured milk all down the front
of him and in his car seat. Wonderful. We’re here five minutes and I’m already
down one outfit for him…I only packed two! It was JUST an overnight trip. Plus, now the car is going to smell like
vomit for the two hour ride home since I can’t exactly wash his car seat cover.
Sigh. That should have been the first
sign. We get him cleaned up and changed as best we could then head over to our
camp sight to meet up with our pack.
Now, instead of tents we decided to reserve a
“raised tent” since my husband knows
how I feel about bugs, specifically spiders. Now. In my mind this “raised tent” was like a tiny cabin-ish
thing…you know…four walls, a door, maybe a window and of course at least one
outlet. Yeah, no. It was a standard tent with velcro straps to keep it closed (no zipper at all) lifted off the ground
about 3 feet on cinder blocks with two wooden cots inside. It was still all
okay, no big deal…at least I’m not sleeping on the ground, I can handle this…and
then I walked inside and was smacked in the face from several different angles
by SPIDERWEBS.
They. Were. Everywhere.
But I didn’t actually see any spiders, so I
was still alright after I did a full body inspection for spiders. It was going
to be okay.
After getting settled, we hiked over to the
morning announcements and was given our schedule for the events that day. I was
feeling a little bit better about the place on the walk back and Nash seemed to
be feeling better. We got back to camp and we’re trying to get all the kids
organized for the pumpkin decorating when I hear the cry only a mother knows…that
of her own kid. I came around the corner to find Nash crying/screaming with
blood running down his chin from his mouth. Directly from an eye witness, I was
told that he apparently tripped on a raised wooden pole then proceeded to fall
face first into a table. It. Was. Bad. The swelling started almost immediately
on the side of his cheek and up under his upper lip was a serious cut that was
already turning a bluish/purplish color, he was shaking and I felt so useless
because I’m in the woods. I probably would have taken him to the hospital if my
husband hadn’t been there but he insisted that he would be fine and that there
was nothing a doctor could do. So, while the kids decorated pumpkins and hiked
over to their morning shooting activity, I stayed behind with Nash in our “raised tent”. After he finally stopped
crying, he slept and then got up long enough to crawl into the lap and sleep
some more. My poor baby boy. It was horrible.
By the time the troops got back Nash was up
and seemed to be in better spirits, he was playing with the other boys and
another Mom brought Ibuprofen with her that I borrowed for him since I, of
course did not pack such things. It was JUST
an overnight trip.
The rest of the day was spent being shuffled
from post to post doing different activities, working towards badges and
dealing with random tantrums from Nash (it
was just not a good day for him). It was not until the Birds of Prey show
that things took a turn for the worst with me (Yes. It can get worst). We were waiting for the show to begin when
I heard some raised voices about two rows and to the right ahead of me…it was
something along the lines of “Oh my God!
You’ve got to get it off!” These words never sit well with me. Then I saw
it. There was a HUGE, hairy, black spider on the back of a grown man who was
now squirming like a 12 year old girl. Someone knocked it off and of course no
one could find it and the row cleared out pretty quick after that. Vince
completely missed it, of course and then reassured me by telling me it wasn’t a
big deal.
Yeah, right.
The day went on and we had sat down to eat
dinner, Mexican. I’m no camping expert but I’m pretty sure that was not a wise
meal decision. I passed on the re-fried beans. Anyways, I was telling my fellow
campers about the GIANTIC spider that
attacked the bodybuilder just a few feet from me leaving him with a massive
hole in his back. Blood was everywhere. When one of the other Mom’s was like “Yeah there’s ton of spiders out here. I’ve
been camping dozens of times and I can’t tell you how many of those times I’ve
woken up with them crawling on me. Just this morning, there was a jumping
spider in my tent.”
A JUMPING
spider. Jumping. Since when do those fuckers jump?!?! Nope. I was out. And the
fact that she was so CALM about it. No. No. NO. I told Vince, you stay here
with Mason and Nash and I will pick you up in the morning. I packed, he laughed
but there was no way. Nope. Then Mason overheard I was leaving, he knew how I
felt about spiders so he naturally assumed that was why and then he decided he
didn’t want to sleep with them either (can’t
say I blame him). So, we all ended up leaving. I did have a good time while
we were there…you know when I wasn’t cleaning up sour milk vomit, or nursing a busted
lip and swollen cheek, or chasing a tantrum throwing toddler, or fighting off a
massive black spider from a petrified grown man or battling jumping spiders to the death.
Once home and snuggled nicely in bed with the
TV on, ready to watch an episode of our show I said to Vince “this is my kind of camping”.
P.S. – I have pictures somewhere but I think
my mad dash to escape the spiders I misplaced it…still need to hunt it down and
download them so for now these photos will do!
 |
Mas being awarded his badges and belt loops for October! |
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| Mas getting to throw a pie in Tim, our Pack 265 Leader's face for selling the most popcorn! |
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