wow, what a WEEKEND!!

well, we decided to go CAMPING again this weekend!!! james was SUPPOSE to have NATIONAL GUARD DUTY but because of the deployment next month, they canceled this months drill. soooo, we had a FREE WEEKEND and we decided we would HEAD ON OUT!! WOOOOHOOOO!!! we were sooooooo excited because this month and next month was going to be VERY HECTIC and james was going to be working VERY VERY HARD but since they canceled drill we said LET'S HEAD OUT!!

well, we looked at the weather and everything looked like it would be a GREAT weekend....we got the RV ready and on friday evening, a bit later than we planned, we were OFF!!! we were expecting the our nieces & nephew to meet us out there on SAT, which was going to be AWESOME for alex and matthew and then james buddies from work were also going to be there too!! so we were EXCITED!!!! well, on the road to the campground, we get a call from a family member...he was REALLY upset at us for going because it was going to be storming and there were tornadoe warnings etc!! we were like, "what?!?!?! we checked the weather and everything said there was only a 20-30% chance of rain!!" and he kept going on and on and so we were a bit worried because we had not heard anything....sooo, we are now traveling on hwy 306 which is the 2 lane road off ih35 that leads to canyon lake and we see lighening....WOW!!! he was not kidding! so as we keep going, (it is 15 miles to canyon lake from the hwy) and it starts to POUR!! and i do mean, in our FACE POUR RAIN! it was torrential rain and we could just see maybe 5-10 feet in front of our car it was sooo bad! the lightening was CRAZY and the wind was just howling and blowing...so picture this, we are on the road with a HUGE TRAILER ATTATCHED and the wind is BLOWING HARD and i think we are traveling about 15 mph and can't see ANYTHING!! i am PRAYING LIKE CRAZY and james is just trying to keep us on the ROAD!! the line of cars behind us extends pretty far BUT we see cars pulled over, something we WISH we could have done!! but because of the trailer, we could NOT pull over on the side until we found a store and FINALLY after i couldn't tell you HOW many minutes, we saw a store!! so off we go to sit it out! the whole time, i was looking up at the sky for TORNADOES!!! there was suppose to be some out there!! yikes! apparently, this weather had surprised a BUNCH of people!!!! so, after it slowed down a bit, we were again off to the camp ground! and we could FINALLY see some stars and such so we breathed a sign of reliefe! and THANK GOD there were camping spots available!!!!!!!!! you don't know HOW worried we were!! but it was a first come first serve type of place! so, we were able to take the RV off the truck and get it set up and all of us were in there finally....by this time itwas a bit after 10pm! and we got the boys settled in bed (alex asleep and matthew awake!) and just layed around UNWINDING!! then james calls again to the relative and they said, here comes ANOTHER ROUND!!! and sure enough, IT HIT AGAIN HARD!!! yikes! it felt like i was under NO shelter in the tent part!!! the wind was blowing, the rain was pouring and we think we even felt HAIL!! and then the lightening and thunder were SOOOOOO LOUD! it was REALLY CREEPY to be out there in the tent part!!! i told james, maybe we should move to the couch bed or something?!?! are we going to get hit by lightening?! he said, naw, we are FINE!! so we stayed and i finally fell asleep to all that racket! and basically had our FIRST TEST in our trailer for leaks and such and WOWOWOW, it held up GREAT!! even the beds didn't leak (they are canvas) and the trailer felt GREAT and not at moving around at all by the wind!! it held STRONG and we were REALLY HAPPY!

the next morning was COLD COLD COLD COLD COLD!!! WHERE WAS THE 70+DEGREE WEATHER?!?! it was about 40-50 degree and WINDY!!! so, definetly not what we were expecting....but THANK GOD, mommy me brought the boys some sweats & a jacket so they were warm (matthew had to stay inside because it was tooooo cold out there) and i had brought a jacket but james, the manly man, did NOT!!! i told him, why didn't you pack at LEAST a sweatshirt?! and he said that he didnt think it would be cold! i told him, we are NOT in summer but in SPRING and you just never KNOW!! so, we ended up looking for a shirt for him to wear at a convient store!! well, james had taken a drive out to the lake area and WOW, were we supprised!! it was FLOODED!!!! we wer JUST THERE a couple of weeks ago and it was not like that! so we took some picks and here is a couple but if you look on flickr on the right, you can see the other pics of the water!

here is the fishing pier underwater!


here is the picnic tables we ALWAYS sat on during the summer!




anyway, the kids came out, ALL 3 OF THEM (YAYAYAYAY) and we got settled in! the kids were in and out and they were running around and everything! we even made a friend out of our neighbors next door!! we had a nature walk later that evening, all of us, and picked up wood in the wooded area and just looked around for deer and such! it was REALLY NICE and no more RAIN! just COLD! we used the heater for the first time and it was nice and toasty! that evening, we FROZE though because the tent part is VERY COLD!! we need to invest in some thermal blankets you put on the outside of the tent to help keep you warm!! we didn't think we would have to USE them sooooo soon! anyway, we all had a nice night....we had a campfire going and we made SMORES with the kids and just had FUN!!!

the next day we just had a great breakfast (pancake & bacon) and just hung around OUTSIDE IN THE BEAUTIFUL WEATHER!!! it was NICE outside (much warmer) and i just WISHED it had been like that the day before!!! anyway, we packed up and headed out! we actually had a GREAT TIME and we got to experience a couple of new things with our RV....the heater and the rain and the wind factore....and it held up BEAUTIFULLY!!!! THANK YOU GOD!! the kids had a BLAST and they can't wait to come out again!!!

what was funny, VERY FUNNY, was that we were told that SOMEPERSON had said that "we didn't KNOW how to REALLY camp (the real way in a tent).." and of course that set me OFF!!! first of all, all we DID was tent camp (actually my WHOLE LIFE with my family) and as a couple, that was all we did BEFORE we had our kiddos!!! we had all the camping stuff (tent, stove, lanterns, etc) and this person actually BORROWED our stuff because THIS PERSON didnt HAVE ANY OF THEIR OWN to do their so called CAMPING!! ggggrrrrrhhhhh!! and, the MAIN reason we don't do it TODAY is because matthew CAN NOT be WITHOUT electricity!!! he needs it for his EQUIPMENT and he also needs the A/C due to him not able to tolerate the HEAT because in the HEAT he starts to need OXYGEN becuase he breaths too fast!!! anyway, i just thought that was TOOO FUNNY a comment not to blog about!! HA!

AND...if you want to see what ELSE happened while camping with matthew, you will need to go to his post coming up!