Time Warp.....Saturday, July 25, 2009.....

Scott and his counselor "Bum Belay"-sorry for the wrong order.

.....started out like a crazy, wacky day! Not only was this the day that M, H and S had to be picked up from camp, but this was the first day of travel on our long awaited trip to Colorado.

Allie and I headed towards Pine Cove- Outback (in Columbus, Tx) about 745 am. We arrived to utter chaos. We had to pick up the kids belongings and carry them to the car. Imagine, trying to carry 3 children's luggage, bedding and junk at one time. Luckily, one counselor took pity on me and said I could pile it all together and get it after the closing and promised to help me carry it all. I ran in to Macie and Holley who saw me from across the commons and came running. Holley actually almost tackled me and I wasn't sure who this child was hugging me until she let go and I could see her face. It was my Holley, with the HUGEST smile I've ever seen, who quickly told me this was the "best week of her whole life!" My earlier frustration with the luggage vanished at this point. After making a "pit stop" we headed to the closing ceremony. It was loud, noisy, hot, humid, and awesome.....they all had a great time. It was difficult getting any decent pics because of the sheer number of people crammed into the room and the constant activity but I gave it my best shot.

Macie is in the center looking in my direction.

Holley, behind the guy in the green shirt

Scott, in the green camo hat

Holley and her counselor "smack talk".

It was neat how well the counselors got to know each child during the week. They presented each child with character awards at the end of the closing.

Oh no, accidentally pushed 1 too many deletes and it deleted the pic of Scott and his counselor....oops. Will add it in at the end which means blogger will put it as the first pic but I meant for it to go here!

Macie and her counselor "AfriCan"

Macie and a buddy from camp.

This is the swimming lake with the blob, the water trampoline and the iceberg.

this is the other lake where the kids kayaked.

The pool.

This is the last thing you see as you leave camp.

The car was filled with the sounds of excited children all talking at once. Allie was excited to see her sisters and brother after a long week and the others all sang and chanted camp songs and told stories for the first hour. Then the exhaustion kicked in and it was pretty quiet the 2nd 1 1/2 hours back home. We made a ditch and run maneuver at our house. Leaving unnecessary things at home and repacking extra things for Colorado and hitting the road towards West Texas about 415pm. I've never been so glad to have 3 portable DVD players in my life. I know it is excessive but it saved my sanity I assure you. There were two in the back and Macie had one in the front to watch as well. Oh, and headphones.....the BEST invention EVER! Allie who sits in the middle of the backseat got to choose between two movies and was happy as a clam so Mommy was very happy! The emotional "down" that hits after a week of "spiritual highs" at camp, hit pretty early and I heard some sniffing from the backseat and some "Mom, I miss my counselor" or "I miss my camp friends". I think it helped that we were heading out on a big adventure though. It didn't last too long.

Please friends, remind me to never try to squeeze that much travelling into one day again. Our goal was to make it to Texline and stay the night with Nana and Grandpa. We did not get in there until almost 2 am. That made for a VERY long day! We slept well and loved seeing Nana and Grandpa. We headed out the next morning around 1115. Meant to leave earlier but our Nana spoils us and makes yummy breakfasts! Next post, day 2 of the longest road trip EVER!!!

Oh, I forgot I put this picture in here. I have not returned to Lubbock since we moved in Feb. 2000. I did not realize that along the way near Sweetwater , they have created these huge "wind energy" fields. There were hundreds and hundreds of these huge wind mill things. It was really weird and slightly unnerving to me. I'm not sure why, but driving through those hills and seeing all of these towering wind turbines really freaked me out. So, I stopped to take pictures of them. I almost felt like I was on another planet it was so weird!