A trip I would like to forget

Since some of you know bits and pieces about our attempt at camping so I thought I would share more of the details and be able to put the whole trip behind us. It's a long recap so I apologize in advance. :0

Our annual camping trip on the Frio River is a family tradition and something we look forward to every year. I have been going since I was Connor's age so this would have been my 32nd year. I have never missed a year of camping. Mikey has been going with me since we first started dating so this would have been his 12th year. Crazy! He loves it just as much as I do and we couldn't wait to bring our new family of 5 (including Big Mace) to the place we love so much. We decided that even though the kids are young, they would do great tent camping and we should just go ahead and make an adventure out of it and join the rest of the family (family from both my mom and dad's side go every year as well- It's total redneck family vacation and I love every aspect of it!) Ava has been camping with us 3 years prior to this year. First year,she was Connor's age so we stayed in a cabin. Second year, we tent camped and it was awesome  and then last year we stayed in a cabin again since the rest of the family was. Should have stayed in the cabin this year....but more on that soon.

 Ava was so excited to go camping. We had talked about all the fun things we were going to get to do....fishing with her new princess fishing pole, paint river rocks, scavenger hunts, smores by the campfire, sleep in a real tent strung with white christmas lights on the outside to make it even more fun, and swimming everyday with her new floaties that make her believe she can really swim. We were excited to be able to experience real camping with her again and see the pure joy on her face as she got to experience so many new things. (She was only 15 months the last time we camped in a tent so she doesn't remember anything). I wasn't even worried about Connor because he has turned into such a happy and laid back baby and he loves being outdoors. I had spent all week planning and packing. When you live outdoors for 4 days and have two small children there is A LOT to pack. So much in fact that we had to rent a Uhaul trailer to pull behind our suv. Did I mention that we also had to install a $300 dollar trailor hitch to our car to pull said Uhaul?! Anyways, I had everything we ever would have needed packed and ready to go. Mikey and I loaded up the Uhaul on Friday night and then headed to my dad's bright and early on Saturday morning. My dad lives south of San Antonio (and somewhat on our way to the river) so we decided to stop by for a quick overnight visit and hit the road the next morning. Saturday afternoon was when it all started to go downhill. After about 3 hours of being at my dad's we noticed Ava had a fever. I packed medicine for her so we quickly gave her some to reduce her fever and we hoped and prayed she would feel better the next morning. She still had a low fever the next morning but we drove to the river anyway and we decided we would keep everything very low key and make her rest in camp till her fever was gone and she was feeling better. Connor by the way had watery eyes, was sneezing, and had a runny nose. He was acting perfectly fine and didnt have a fever but I knew that both must of caught some kind of virus. Horrible horrible timing. My only regret is that maybe we should have just headed back home that morning rather than going to the river but we came so far and had all our stuff so we wanted to give it a shot and like I said we just hoped that the fever and sickness would quickly pass.

We drove another 3 hours to the river from my dad's on Saturday afternoon. Once we got there the family was ready to help us unload and get our tents set up. Both of the kids desperately needed a nap, especially being sick, so I drove them around Concan for an hour or more while Mikey set up the rest of our stuff. It started to rain, with thunder and lighting, when we got back so we huddled in our tent and sat there for the next 2 hours. Fun times! I was already super stressed and worried about the kids (and had a meltdown) so when it started to rain I just knew we had to leave. Mikey and I decided that the best thing to do for our kids was to leave and go back to my dad's and stay the night so they could get some good rest and be out of the rain. It was almost 9 o'clock by the time we left. We had to leave all our stuff except for our suitcases and other necessities. It was a long and rough ride back to my dad's. The only good thing that I could make of what was happening was that we were safe and we were together. We didnt get to my dad's till 11 or so. We felt so defeated.

The next morning Ava still had a fever ( Connor seemed like he was feeling better) so we made the decision to decision to go back home. Mikey still had to drive all the way back to the river, pack up our stuff, and then come back to get me and the kids before we could even leave for Dallas. I felt horrible that he had to spend another extra 4+ hours in the car to go pack up our stuff but we didnt have any choice. I was so emotionally and physically drained at this point. I couldn't believe that our fun family vacation, that we spent so much time and money preparing for and that we had already spent countless hours on the road with two kids for, was all falling apart. Everthing about what was happening was bringing me to tears. I also started to feel bad so that wasn't helping anything. I was running out of energy to help take care of the kids and pull our family together. Luckily I have an amazing husband, who is also an amazing father, who totally stepped up to the plate. I love him even more after going through what we went through.

On Monday morning, Mikey took Ava with him to get our stuff. We decided that the only way she was going to really rest was if she was forced to in the car. Our family was so sad to see us leave (we even missed an engagement!) but they knew that we had to go. They were so helpful and supportive. Mikey said it was hard driving away and seeing all of them in the river having a good time. :( Ava and Mikey got to my dad's around 3 and shortly after we all got in the car again to go back home. We couldn't get there fast enough. Unfortunately we had another 6+ hours in the car till we were there. The car ride back home was miserable for all. I felt so sick by this point, my precious girl still had a fever and it was rising, Connor spent literally half the time in the car crying, and Mikey had already been driving for over 4 hours before we even left. I was so angry at God. Why was he letting all of this happen to us? Why couldn't we catch a break?

We made it home by 10:45 and Ava had a 103 fever at that point. I took her to the dr. the next morning and she has a virus and a double ear infection (first ear infection ever). Her fever has dropped significantly since we have been home (temperature is staying around 99) and I can tell that she is slowly starting to feel better now that she can rest and she is on antibiotics.

I never ever would have thought our trip would have turned out like it did. The two things that we couldn't compete with, sickness and horrible weather, were both against us. I know we absolutely made the right decision to come home. We were reminded of that when we got a phone call from my uncle who was still camping. He said that within feet from where our tent was a giant tree limb snapped and fell to the ground. Had we been there us or the kids could have been severely hurt if not worse. I knew there must have been a reason that God was ending our camping trip so suddenly but I was still so angry. Now I am counting my blessings and thanking God for watching over us.

Next year.....we are staying in a cabin!