During the last full week of July, Russ and I and our boys headed up to Wilson State Park. It is located in Clare county pretty much smack dab in the middle of the mitten. We went with my sister and brother-in-law Matthew and Chelsea and sweet Malaya of course, and my youngest sister Ashlinn also came with us, it was her very first time camping, and she was so excited! We left from Matthew and Chelsea's house around 11 AM, and after about a 2 hour drive, we arrived at the campground, and began the setting up process ( and let me tell you it is a process!!)
Tuesday and Wednesday were beautiful days, and we spent most of the time down by the beach enjoying each other's company. Our boys had fun going tubing behind Uncle Matthew's flat bottom boat. The boat didn't go very fast, so it was the perfect speed for them. The beach was nice and sandy, with a nice bit of sandy bottom in the swimming area. The kids had a lot of fun.
We also went fishing, which we figured out our boys love to do (much to their father's dismay)! It was good fishing and they were able to catch quite a few fish, and loved every minute of it. It also helped that Auntie Ashlinn loves to fish, so she would take them down to the water to fish while we were getting supper.
Wednesday afternoon, my dad came up with their camper. They were joining us and staying through until Saturday. We got them set up, and my mom and brother Ethan and sister Caitryn came up later that evening after work. We had just finished supper and were getting the kids ready for bed, when my mom received a text on her phone with a warning of bad weather in the area. We hadn't heard anything officially, but we were beginning to hear thunder in the distance. Matthew and Russ walked over to the ranger station to check it out, while I was giving the kids baths in the trailer. They came back after a while and said a tornado warning had been issued for our area. We were told to head down to the pavillion on the beach for shelter.
It had begun pouring by then, so we all piled into our vehicles and made our way to the beach. The pavillion was open on two sides, so we could watch what was going on. It never got very windy, but it rained buckets and the thunder and lightning were a bit scary. We stayed in the pavillion for about 45 minutes before the park ranger told us the warning had been lifted and we could leave if we wanted to. It was still raining pretty hard, and the stairs down to the beach had turned into a waterfall, but we made it back to our vehicles, through ankle deep water, and back to our campsite. Our camper faired the best, (apparently we were slightly higher up than my parents) who had a mini lake right outside their door. Matthew and Chelsea's sleeping area was dry, as well, but the other part had not faired so well. We finally got everyone settled down and sleeping around midnight and we all slept until about 9 the next morning.
Thursday morning was rainy and we all had a bit of a hard time getting ourselves going after our late night. Around noon, the weather cleared up nicely and the sun came out. The boys went fishing again, while us ladies relaxed and the little ones took naps.
It rained again during the night and we woke up to overcast skies on Friday. After a big breakfast, Calvin had a blast running through a big puddle by the road, and this called for a trip to the laundromat.
My sisters Chelsea, Ashlinn, and Russ and I took a load of clothes to the local laundromat because many of our towels were soaked from the rain, and we were running out of clothes for our boys. By the time we got back, it had started raining heavily again, so we found a video store in town, and rented a few videos for the kids to watch. It continued to rain while the video played so we all gathered under my parents awning and sat in ankle deep water.
It finally stopped raining around 5pm or so. We were able to have a delicous supper of hamburgs, fruit and sweet corn, and ended our night with fun times around the campfire.
Saturday (otherwise known as packing up day) dawned bright and sunny, and we were able to pack up everything without getting soaked. We left around 11AM from the campground and after a few stops in town for lunch and to fill up with gas, we headed home. We arrived back home later that afternoon and proceeded to unpack everything. This is always the worst part, and always needs to be done before you can collapse in your nice clean bed, after getting cleaned up in your nice clean bathroom.
All in all we had a good time, and decided despite the rain, all that really mattered was spending time with each other. The Lord brought us through the week with no serious injuries, and took us back home safely. For that we are truly thankful.
