Indiana Beach

On second thought, I better tell you about our end of summer jaunt before my busy mind forgets. So, here it is...the Indiana Beach (IB) road trip.

We began a tradition last year of taking an annual trip to IB as a Send-off/Kick-off. That is, a summer send off and a homeschool year kick off; a nice way to grab one last ounce of summer fun before resigning to the change of seasons and the school year at hand. Indiana homeschoolers, do check into the homeschool discount and workshops offered by IB during this last week of August as well (advance purchase required). They're nice.

Okay, so! I was all proud and overconfident organized. I had worked "the list", packing us the day before and listing last minute "to do's" as well. All good. Now Carl, wanting to be the helpful husband he truly is, was the one to actually load up the van. And I, being very relaxed due to my stellar planning, did not double check nor even inquire as to the status of our departure. Yes, you see where this is going.

We were literally less than ten minutes from IB when Carl exclaimed in a frustrated and panicked tone, "Oh nooOOO! We're so not packed."

"What? I had it all there. What didn't we pack?"

"Linens. We need our own linens in the cabin."
"Whaa???"

(Thaaaat's what I forgot.) Um,...Oops?"

Let me just say that we were not at all excited about this unforeseen (and unnecessary) expense. I, the stellar planning chick, was now going to be challenged to come up with bedding for five at one of my least favorite places in the world, Walmart. Joy! (Walmart and joy soooo do not go together, by the way.) I insisted we eat lunch first though, perhaps instinctively knowing my last nerve needed to remain intact for one final pluck. And that pluck came when we got out of the van with a screaming baby (hunger will do that) and lo-n-behold, where is that bottle bag?

"You packed it, no?"
"No."

PLUCK!

Did y'all hear that? My last nerve. Plucked beyond capacity.
No bottles!
No bedding!
No desire to waste time in Walmart spending money intended for family fun. And yet, there I was, caught in the snide (and in that dreadful place...Dr. Seuss).
And oh, look. "Grab you some firewood between the double entry doors," because hey, Walmart is known for its quality timbers, right?

Now, what to buy so as not spend all our fun money on items we left at home? Did you know a buck and and a half will buy a nice bath towel? No, we didn't need bath towels. But alas, our beach towels, if spread out just so, could double as a bed blanket. Oh sure, we're talkin' lap blankets at best. But would you prefer to be warm or would you prefer the scrumptious artery blocking properties of Flossie May's funnel cake emporium over at IB? I'm just sayin', choose carefully when the fun money is tight. So, the bath towels became beach towels and the beach towels became bed blankets.

And did you know that $2.50 will buy one (O-N-E) twin flat sheet? Everyone thus had a flat sheet, a beach towel blanket and a pillow (less the pillow case which, under the circumstances, was so not necessary). Nothing but 5 star accommodations for my family (one star for each member who suffered through this nightmare). Carl and I used our actual beach blanket from the trunk for our "sheet" (yes, the one with sand on it so we got the exfoliative scrub at no additional cost).

And the Walmart timber? Well, let's just say they should stick to selling other outdoor themed products like "White Stag", because folks, Walmart wood is WET! And wet wood doesn't make for great fires. It does, however, make for great lung hacking, smoke smellin', eye burning, and overall fuse popping. Not that it was all bad. I mean, since the wood wouldn't ignite, Carl and I had built-in quality time to gripe chat while we went through our fire starting motions at least 20 times (seriously).
Stack. Light. Smolder. Sigh.
Stack. Light. Smolder. Sigh.
Stack. Light. Smolder. Sigh.
Not to worry though. Those two hours were some of the happiest fire lighting hours of my life (grrrr!)

Now speaking of wood, the the hot dog sticks we brought were as thick as broomsticks. Did you know that hot dogs expand when heated? Of course you did. But I bet you didn't know they split like a pair of tight jeans when expanding on a broomstick, now did ya?
So, heat, split, fall in fire. Heat, split, fall in fire.

"Honey, if another hot dog falls in the fire, we'll be eating marshmallows for dinner." Which would have meant that Olivia ate nothing because she couldn't keep a marshmallow on her stick to save her life. Plop went the marshmallows, one after another. POP! went Olivia, again and again. And she was so bullheaded determined that she wouldn't let us help her for the longest time.

Cierah had to use the bathroom in the middle of the night.
A. She never has to do this at home.
B. There was no bathroom in the cabin.
C. It was pitch black and chilly outside.
D. The bathrooms were a good 35 yards away.
E. All the above. BINGO!!!
(oh, and F. A baby will not sleep in a one room cabin when screen doors screech in the middle of the night and G. a mommy won't sleep when a baby is unhappy.)

I might mention Cierah also decided to take a big ol' clumsy run across the campground as we packed the van up the next morning. It helps when one actually looks where she is going, lest she end up with a face full of grill. And I mean "low to the ground" fire ring grill. Uh huh, she did too and she has the extensive forearm and upper lip abrasions to prove it too. So I finished packing up the van alone while Carl packed Cierah's nose with little toilet paper balls. The Clampetts. Nice.

I'm happy to say the most of the faux pauxs happened before we got to the park. Oh sure, Olivia had to cover her sister's crying eyes on the Sea Dragon and I had to endure four roller coaster rides with a headache and faulty equilibrium. But overall, the day at the park was wonderful. No lines. No rain. No need to pass on Flossie May's Funnel Cake emporium. And yes, we forgot some important "stuff." But I figure if we left food and water for the cat back home and we didn't leave a child behind, it's all good. Ya know?

Toni