Getting away from the world

I have been really suffering lately with what I think is pneumonia, but the doctors only thought sinus infection. So I have been taking my antibiotics and hacking away my lungs one cough at a time for 3 weeks now. The antibiotics were only given on Tuesday of last week because of my sheer stubbornness to go and pay two doctors which I ended up doing anyway. But, slowly but surely I am coughing up less and getting a little bit more energy. I still get so worn out after little chores but I am learning to cope. So when my adopted mom Marcie invited us to go camping despite my sickness I was skeptical. But Marcie was very convencing. "I always feel better when I am out there." and "You will be able to rest more with us helping you with Joslyn." Well that was a big selling point since John has been working a lot lately and I get so worn out with her. So when my OB checked on the baby and listened to my lungs and said to keep taking the antibiotics, I decided to go. Thursday was rough. I spent the morning at the doctor getting poked and prodded. Then I picked up Joslyn from my good friend Amey's house. I picked up Mickey D's on the way to Marcie's and dropped off Joslyn so I could go to the store. By the time I got to Marcie's I was ready to crash. I started my coughing fit and didn't stop until we were at the camp site. It was at least a two hour drive down to Lake Texoma, and that was without stopping to pickup and hookup the trailer to the SUV and potty pit stops. But Joslyn fell asleep on the way there, that gave us a peaceful ride there. When we got there we saw this!

Water! I can't ever deny the pull I have to bodies of water. I feel a sense of peace I have when I am near it. Rivers, Oceans, Lakes all of them. I was so nervous though that this time would be different. I haven't ever had Joslyn near water for this long of a time. I was very aware of the danger of my daughter being near water for almost 4 days. It is so easy to lose track of her for a minute and that is all it takes. But when we got there I saw that our campsite was about 50 yards away from the water. Far enough for me to be able to catch her if she headed that way. So I relaxed, a little. Joslyn was very excited to see the water, she kept calling it a river. She also called the forest a dundle (Jungle).

The next part was to set up the camper and campsite which is no easy task, but it was very nice to get it done and start enjoying the weekend. Pretty nice setup we had thanks to Rosie McLeod, Marcie's best friend who invited us all along. The campsites at Texoma were nice, they had iron lined firepits, complete with a hinging grill top, clothesline, tall buffet table and stone picnic table. Of course there was the electrical and water hookups too. Rosie has been camping with her trailer for years, so she has everything down to a science. What she needs to bring, what she has to do to set up right and take down right. This woman is amazing! I would freakout if I had to back up an SUV to hookup a trailer, much less pull one and do it all alone. We collected firewood and started the fire to grill hotdogs that night since we didn't get there till after 5pm. We set up our beds and changed clothes. That first night was the roughest. I had trouble getting Joslyn to sleep in the new place and then once I layed down my coughing got the best of me. I was so worried about waking up my campmates with my coughing. But sleeping in the camper is definitely camping in style. No bugs to worry about crawling in bed with you, a bathroom five feet away for those pregnancy pee stops that happen many times a night, and we even had air conditioning! So the next mornign we wake up and Joslyn was the first awake. Soon after Rosie's granddaughter Maddie woke up (she is 4) and the girls were ready for a fun day. Rosie made pancakes, and my pregnant nose could not handle it, I had to find the nearest tree to empty my belly. First time I have actually thrown up with this pregnancy, but I get nauseous everyday. The girls ate pancakes and I ate toast. Then they played with their buckets and the stethescope that Rosie brought.

Joslyn and Maddie were friends right away. Bossing each other around and fighting over toys was a common occurance, but mostly they wanted to be around each other. Friday they chased butterflies, played with the dirt, played near the water and collected rocks. I got to nap a little that day and we had a great day. By Friday evening I was feeling a lot better and sleeping that night was much better. Saturday I actually got in the lake (BRRR) and took Joslyn and Maddie out in the floatie. Joslyn had lots of trouble sharing her floatie but ultimately they had fun.

The girls also got to reel in the fishing pole and each one of them caught a fish. Well Maddie caught a fish, but Joslyn's fish was a fish they found and stuck on the pole so she would catch one too. Look at her face in this pic, she might be a reluctant fisher, like mommy.

We really had a good time. It was so relaxing and fun, despite my sickness. And we really enjoyed our time with Grandma!

Just wanted to say thank you to Grandma Marcie for insisting we go and for putting up with us and helping me watch her. And for Rosie for inviting us and putting up with us and for preparing all our wonderful meals and staying strong even through all the kiddo's drama. And for Nancy for being a great roommate and for becoming a new friend. And for John who let me go. And for my daughter, who was a very good girl and constantly showing me the beauty in this world. I love her sense of adventure and ability to see the wonder in nature. I can't wait for our next Dundle trip where we can go fishing and see the bugs and look for tigers. (What? All jungles have tigers, right?)