Blue Lake

Blue Lakes…what can I say?  I can say it was an experience – both positive and educational.  For those who don’t know, Blue Lake is a Methodist church camp, and our church had their annual retreat there this past weekend.  I’ll admit I had a lot skepticism going into the weekend.  The dorm room set up (our family was in a room with 3 twin beds) and the community bathrooms (girls at one end of the hall and boy at the other) was worrisome for me.  I’m also not a big “summer camp” type person.  I know we weren’t really camping, but the community bathrooms and the the packing list I got form the church - bug spray, sunscreen, flashlights and extra blankets -  made me think of opening scenes from the movie Parent Trap. 

There were definitely times during the course of the weekend when I really wanted the comforts of home like when I was trying to bathe Coe in a shower the size of a port-a-potty.  But there were also times of pure joy like watching Coe dance during the praise and worship time and pretty much every time I saw Mac.  He was on a nonstop high the whole weekend! 

Instead of boring everyone with a summary of the whole weekend I will just list the positives and the not so positives of the weekend.

Positives

• Coe praised and worshipped all weekend (see lows)
• Beautiful weather 
• Ton of friends for Mac to play with
• Lots of quality time with the kids
• Lots of quality time with adult friends
• Good spiritual lessons
• Cable dish and extra large tv present so all football games were showing
• Phillips family brought Benadryl with them*
• Hayrides, pumpkin carving, water balloon toss
• Long hallways for playing chase
• Pajama parade
• Splitting an extra room with the Phillips so Mac and Jack P could have their own room.

Not so Positives

• Coe praised and worshipped (aka cried out to the Lord) from 12p-5a while clinging only to his mommy
• Beds – my twin bed had a broken foot board so every time I  rolled over the bottom half of the mattress crashed to the floor
• Long noisy hallways that just begged kids to run and play chase (which leads to the next low)
• Coe did not believe in/could not sleep at Blue Lake
• Communal bathrooms – at least they were clean!

*I don’t believe in drugging children to get them to sleep but Copeland was beyond exhausted by Saturday night but couldn’t relax and go to sleep.  He was miserable, I was miserable, and he desperately needed to sleep.  I gave him a very small dose of Benadryl on Sat night and he finally slept which made everyone much happier on Sunday morning!

These two had a lot to talk about over meals.  

Coe took off his hat and had to get a drink after all his running around.  You wouldn’t have known at this point he had only had 2 two hour sleep stints the night before!

 

The picture of me with the boys is not good but its the only pic of me from the whole weekend so I wanted to prove I was there!  This was the first of about 5 hayrides that Copeland went on.  He wouldn’t get off and rode with any adult (whether he knew them or not) that would ride with him.

 

Hallway running!

I guess I am in one other picture!  Time for the pajama parade.    

The highs definitely outweighed the lows for the weekend, and the whole family had a great time.  Even with Coe’s lack of sleep, he managed to rally on Saturday and keep up with all the other kids in between rests in mommy’s arms.  I know that next year will be even better.  Surely a 2.5 yr old will be easier to take to Blue Lake than an 18mo old, right?!?!