And That's How Memories Are Made

Bryce had three days off in a row over Memorial Day weekend, which is very unusual for him in the summer. Plus the weather was absolutely gorgeous, hot and sunny. So we decided to take the kids on a camping trip.

The first night we stayed in a campground near town. We had some friends camping with us, so it was fun, but crowded in a major way, and the campground had a rather Nazi-esque host which brought the vibe down considerably a few times. Luckily it was also pretty funny.

In any case, the next morning we loaded all our gear onto the boat and took off for more solitary pastures. The water was calm, and we were able to get quite a ways from town to a nice little bay. We picked a camp site on the beach next to a pleasant stream with wildflowers lining the rocks and even a spectacular waterfall around the corner. And then I think the weather lulled us into a sense of complacency or bad judgement, and despite being neither novice boaters nor campers, we sort of miscalculated where the highest and lowest tides might be. We went through a tide change during the day during which things looked good at our camp, and then we just went about our merry lives. So we ended up with this...

Which really isn't a big deal. We just had to wait, and we had plenty of time.

But the night before, of which I did not get a picture, I woke up around 2:30am to the odd feeling of something very cold underneath me. Something wet. I shook Bryce and told him I thought we were floating. He shot up, and jumped out of the tent in his bare feet, right into 18 inches of freezing cold ocean. Now, there was not 18 inches of water inside the tent since there is a waterproof edge that did its job, but sleeping bags were starting to get wet and it was not good. Next came about 10 minutes of tent stake pulling, Molly screaming, moving of said tent to a new location, and Bryce consulting the tide book, after which he announced the tide was at its highest point right then and we should be good. The kids weren't wet, and things could have been a lot worse. We went back to sleep. Only to wake up half an hour later, getting cold and wet again, and realizing that Bryce had mistakenly read his watch. High tide was actually right now. Molly screaming and tent moved again. Slightly more wet, but okay. And then we all actually slept again for hours, waking up to a warm tent and blazing sunlight and the kids laughing.

Which is when we looked out of the tent window and saw the boat as pictured above. But by then we really, really didn't care.

Anyway, despite our mishaps, we had a really fantastic time. The kids fished and threw rocks in the stream and were never bored, and it was just so nice to be away from screens and phones, even for such a short time. It was completely, amazingly beautiful and relaxing. And I know this will be a story I'll tell the kids later about when they were little and the tent flood of 2010.

I'm Cooking: I made a Veggie Pot Pie last week that was really good. I had these fingerling potatoes that were so creamy and perfect, and I think they really made it. So I know the recipe recommends Russets, but if you can find good potatoes, I'd go with those. I also used more vegetables than called for I think, a whole cup of milk, and a cup of cheddar cheese. I also made my own crust. Bryce had two helpings, and the kids ate some too. This is a nice recipe that you could adapt to whatever you have on hand.