a new experience to remember

It's been a month since I've blogged! I'd like to apologize but I just can't bring myself to do it!!! I've been having the time of my life here in the US and so much has happened that I'd love to recapture, but doing it all in one post would just be boring. So I'll skip a bit of Missouri for now until I get my thoughts in order for that one and jump to my first "camper camping trip"!

Now I must give background on the fact that our family is huge on tent camping. I was first inaugurated into this world my third grade year at the ripe age of 9 years old. By the time that I was 17 we had a complex system of tents and gear down pat. We had our put up and take down memorized as tho it were our daily job. And this included not only our 3+ tents for sleeping but the food tent and game tents as well. And then of course the big tarp coverings because EVERYTIME we went camping, we'd get rained on!!! So I was very surprised when my parents said - we got a camper...I was like...wait, whhhaaaa? Let me tell you, the experience was entirely different.

My ever so handsome brothers ran the drills they just learned to me, passing on useful knowledge and their contagious smiles!

Setting up was a bit quicker and as everything came together and I realized that going to the bathroom was no longer a little run to the nearest cabin or tree, I was a bit hooked onto this new experience. So as we ran around and played as tho I was 12 years old again, I began to store new memories into my camping folder. The fishing poles and nets were released and my little brothers began to come back with stories of turtles "this big" and of course the frogs too!

I perched myself on the banks with a can pole and bait and began to catch little fish left and right...I felt like I was 5 again holding up a fish the size of my daughters shoes. But none the less, it was exciting!

As the day would ware on, you'd see new friends with campers and tents pulling in and it just felt like a giant community. Surrounded by thoughts of boredom we'd quickly pull back and get up and march for a walk, because when you camp - boredom is a sin. hahaha. My dad and brothers in front of me and Maia, began to pick up their findings and share them with each other and that big family smile, we all carry!

My precious little baby started to look more like a big girl and less like a baby as she ran about the campground. Falling became an hourly occurance and my duaghter bared the sign of her first scraped up knees. Holding onto her Uncle Isaac for a hug and some tears, she bravely got down and let me bandage her legs...over and over again.

As the night would approach we set up a fire and began to roast marshmallows and reflect on old family stories and camping trips that seemed so far away from the present.

Maia quickly found her place on the laps of her uncles where snacks were distributed straight to her sticky hands.

And as the moon would rise high into the night sky and we all tucked into a cold camper with the AC lulling us to sleep instead of the sounds of the night, I began to think...I could do this again. Certainly, it was nothing like waking up to the sound of birds at 5 am and coming out to a fire...and I missed my favorite sound in the world - zippers. I just love that sound when camping. And yup I missed our different tents for games and food. But this was a new experience, and not bad - but just different. I am so blessed that we got the opportunity to take this trip and it was definitely a defining part of my US trip. Nothing beats the smell of campfire!

XOXO,

Sonya