We went camping!

Out of a very sincere love for my husband and children I agreed to at least try one night camping out near the ocean with some friends of our for Memorial day weekend. I am not an outdoorsy kind of girl. And the thought of the heat, the bugs, the communal bathrooms, all the work, being 32 weeks pregnant....Honestly, I was not looking forward to it, but had decided to "suck it up", offer my sufferings with Christ for the souls in purgatory, and hope that this very small sacrifice of love for my family would in some way please God and my family.
So we loaded up the surf mobile, tied down Dom's new board and made the trip. The drive is about two and a half hours. The boys did okay for most of the trip, we listened to stories (thank you itunes!) and watched a movie on our fancy DVD player. We stopped to buy Dom some surf wax and a "sock" for his board and arrived at the campsite around 11. Our friends were all ready there, so the kids ran off and played and we had help bring our gear in from the surf mobile. Our tent is small and easy to assemble, and our friends are big campers, so they all ready had everything else (camp stove, grill, dishes, food etc).
I must say right now, that we have AMAZING FRIENDS! God greatly blesses us with wonderful people in our life wherever we go! I hardly had to do any "work" all weekend. All the food preparation was taken care of by everyone else. The kids just had fun running around with all the other kids. There were lots of young guys around to do any heavy lifting or carrying that needed doing. I think I sat down more this weekend than I have in the past month! It was a wonderful and unexpected blessing. To think I was not looking forward to this. God, please forgive me for the rebellion in my heart.
After setting up camp we headed out to the beach so the guys could surf. Just this past week, Dom had been given the go ahead from his eye doctor. He could get in the water, as long as he kept his sunglasses on whenever he was outside. *he had prk one month ago* We loaded the boards and some gear and set up on the beach. It was a nice afternoon, breezy, the water was cold at first but was fine once you got in. One of our fellow campers had a very nice sun canopy that they set up on the beach, it was great to be able to sit in the shade. I really think we will invest in one if we continue to make frequent trips to the beach. The kids had fun playing in the surf and sand. The surfers enjoyed the chance to get out there. Dom LOVED using his new board. Liam and Finn had life jackets, so they were more willing to play in the water, and Liam even tried out body surfing on his new boogy board.
This was how most of the weekend went. We hung out at the campsite at night when the surf was no longer good, and in the morning while eating breakfast, and spent the rest of the time hanging out at the beach. Yes, the communal bathrooms were not the greatest, they were new! But still camping bathrooms used by hundreds of people daily...and only 4, all attached to showers, so if you had to pee, but all were filled with showerers then you had to wait. Other than the bathrooms (which were better than expected) it was a great weekend. We even stayed for TWO nights (instead of the one I had promised) We had an air mattress in the tent, so I was reasonably comfortable enough to consider staying another night. We decided to leave Sunday afternoon, to beat the traffic and have a day at home to unpack and clean everything before getting back to normal life.
So here I sit. Camping is always nice because it helps you appreciate the outdoors while you are there, and also the wonderful modern conveniences when you are back home. I love clean, hot showers, bathrooms inside my very own home that I don't have to wait for, air conditioning. And, as ever, my wonderful loving husband and sweet children, and the great friends we have made at Fort Bragg.

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