Weekend Update - Camping Adventure
Sunday, June 26, 2005 at 10:12PM
Sherri Caldwell
We tried camping this weekend. It rained. Fortunately, we discovered that our tent is fabulous (meaning: waterproof!), and we did not get wet during the night. We were just AWAKE all night, listening to the rain POUND on the top of the tent. It would have been more soothing, had we known we were not going to wake up with a river of water running through the tent (been there, done that!).

We tried to salvage Sunday morning--Saturday afternoon had been beautiful, and the kids were able to ride their bikes and play in the lake. We roasted hot dogs and made s'mores over the fire (kindled with Matchlight briquets and fueled with a bag o' firewood from the grocery store). That was Saturday. Sunday was rainy and cold and gray and dirty. The kids made friends with a boy in the next campsite, and they all went out exploring and playing by the lake--IN the lake, when they "accidentally" fell in.

By lunchtime, we were ready to give in and call it a day. Unfortunately, as we were packing everything up and taking down the tent--that's when it rained the hardest. We all got soaked. We couldn't go home: We had Open House Sunday from 2 - 4PM. We drove into Buford, Georgia, which is about 10 miles from the lake, and the home of the Mall of Georgia--nothing like "roughing it" within 10 minutes of one of the largest shopping malls in the country...

We pulled into Target (gotta love Target!), and I ran in for a few replacement essentials: a pair of shorts and underwear for Zach; a pair of shorts and a shirt for Tiger; a pair of sandals and a sweater for ME. And then we went to the Mall of Georgia for the remainder of our Camping Adventure. We had lunch in the Food Court. We wandered around in Barnes & Noble. We went to the movies and saw Herbie: Fully Loaded (everybody LOVED it!). We got home--wet, bedraggled, dirty, but happy--about 6PM, and unloaded piles and piles of dirty laundry and wet camping gear. It's good to be home.
Article originally appeared on The Rebel Housewife (http://www.rebelhousewife.com/).
See website for complete article licensing information.