Camping at Lake Mendocino
Tuesday, August 21st, 2007 by diane
After several weeks of preparation and anticipation, we finally loaded up the station wagon and headed out to the camp site. Frank has been resisting naps so we secretly hoped he would today so we can all just hit the road early and miss the traffic. Of course Frank always has his own plans and went to sleep. Aiming to leave at 3pm, mom went into his room and made quiet noises at 2:50. A quick bath and into the car, which was packed to the top. More stuff was in the front seat. We managed to avoid the traffic over the bridge with an alternate route but then was hit near Novato. Then again at Santa Rosa. Plans of arriving before 6pm went out the window as we paced 10mph. Frank kept doing his finished sign and trying to get out of his chair. We didn’t pack any music! So the singing started. He really likes wheel on the bus and indicated so with the more sign. Mom soon ran out of things and just made up everything she can think of from Lions on the bus to trucks on the bus. Silly! We were on constant lookout for balloons and that really made Frank happy.
We arrived at 6:30pm and soon found everyone else (mom’s friend from the mommy club and her many family members). They were already cooking up some spare ribs and tortillas. We got our tent up and ate and mingled. Several kids so Frank was not lonely. He even peeked into Elena’s tent to find her. The camp fire was going, the music played from the car stereo, and everyone just hung out. The kids started making smores and Frank kept eating the graham crackers. It all balanced out as one girl only wanted roasted marshmellows.
Frank went to bed around 10pm while we stayed up some more to eat smores and play poker. The first night was rough. Frank didn’t sleep well. He woke up several times crawling around the tent mumbling mamamama til mom snuggled him next to her. One time he even bounced hard on daddy. Dad pretended to still be asleep. Probably from 4am-5am he was mostly awake and just wiggling around lots. Finally mom got him back to sleep with him lying onto to her but by 6-ish we all woke up.
It was colder then expected. We put on our fleece and came out to find the other group is already up and had started a fire. Breakfast time! Bacon, chorisos, pancakes, sausages, cereal, coffee, milk, oj, etc. We ate and ate and ate and it was only 9 still. We packed up snacks, drinks and blankets and headed toward the beach. The guys already launched the boat and jet ski in the lake. It was a rather rocky beach and the drop was almost immediate so Frank mostly splashed at the edge and threw rocks. Dad got a turn on the jet ski and boat while mom got to ride on a floaty pulled by the boat. The dude driving the boat really wanted to flip us out and made outrageous turns. Mom managed to stay in the float til the end. It was wild and fun. Everyone took a turn and one guy got flipped out twice. Heehee.
The little ones were getting tired and hungry and we all made our way back to camp. Frank did not want to nap. He yelled and screamed and indicated the need for food. Oh well, fine. It won’t be the first time he missed a nap. Chicken was on the grill so we helped ourselves. Guacamole and chips, yum. The showers worked by pressing a button and the water runs for 20 sec. Mom bathed Frank by holding him under there and pressing the button. He screamed bloody murder. But then he was clean and happy.
While trying to comfort Frank after bumping his head, he fell asleep on mom’s shoulder (6:30pm?). He slept peacefully in the tent for an hour and suddenly the scream of terror. Nothing worked to calm him. Perhaps he got hurt somewhere? He kept sucking his thumb but didn’t want to be put down to sleep. Mom just snuggled him by the fire while everyone chatted and ate hamburgers. Then dad snuggled him while mom ate. He just wanted to be part of the scene. By 9pm he was perked up and social again. He didn’t resist much though for bedtime. We read our story and got tucked in. More smores and poker games next to the fire til 11ish.
When we got into the tent, Frank was right where we left him. He must be so exhausted. We all were. Mom woke up one time alarmed that Frank was not next to her. Soon she found him sleeping curled up by the door on the sleeping bag. We all woke up at 6:30 somewhat rested. We stayed in the tent and snuggled til 7 ignoring Frank’s signs for food. Again the others have got a fire going and breakfast was in process. Wonderful Mexican sweet breads, eggs, bacon, the works. Then we all started packing and taking some last chance photos together.
The drive back was perfectly fine as Frank was happy looking out the winder the first hour and then napped the other 1.5 hour. He opened his eyes as we pulled into the driveway. Then he tore into the house and ran around playing with each toy and bouncing on his train and flipping though all the books. Maybe he missed his things? Mom and dad sat in a pile ready to pass out but Frank zoomed and zipped all over the house the rest of the day. Early bedtime for all of us.
Fun times! We are ready to do it again in October.
I’m in my 19th week of pregnancy and we got to look at the baby with the ultrasound machine. It is a cutie, the technician kept saying, and she was not talking about Frank. Wonderful pictures of the head, arms, legs, spins, kidneys, tummy, and toes. We even looked at all 4 chambers of the heart. And the rib cage enclosing the heart was also clearly visible. The baby moved around a few times so get all the angles covered. Right now he/she is breeched but still lots of time to turn over. Frank sat nicely (after being assured he was not the one to be examined) on daddy’s lap and watched the monitor of the blob. Several nice printouts to take home. One is a profile picture where the baby is sucking on the thumb. Lots of other ones of the baby’s legs and arms too.