Kumbya

We camped this weekend with approximately 14 other families from our church. I must say, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. I honestly was not looking forward to it...hardly at all. In fact, I was kind of dreading it. I knew it would be fun once we got there and settled, but all the preparation and packing and clean-up, and disrupted sleep in impossibly close quarters with a now notoriously, boisterously loud screeching toddler, along with lack of proper sanitation and hygiene opportunities for 3 days, and forced social interaction seemed like more work than I was up for this week.

But surprisingly...

The weather could not have been more perfect. We ate very well, okay that wasn't a surprise...we have some rockin' awesome cooks in our church. But I was able to bathe myself and my children daily. I didn't forget to pack a single thing that really mattered except my powder brush (thank you, Diane) and a couple kids' items (thank you, Dave). And much to my great delight, I had a TON of help with David (thank you EVERYONE!) from people who were remarkably tolerant of his volume. I got to sit around the campfire, sometimes even next to my husband, and visit and laugh with other adults into the wee hours of the morning while my children slept...like babies! I even managed to finish several sentences and amuse others at my own pitiful expense.

Most importantly, I connected with people. I don't make that a priority often enough and I suffer the consequences. Being a hermit is overrated. This weekend I feel as if I enjoyed genuine fellowship even though I loathe that word, and cannot believe I just typed it on my own blog. Most, if not all, of our interactions were less than sublime, yet I came away feeling much more connected to my church body as a whole, and therefore more committed to it...whereas going into the weekend, amputation was a thought not-so-very-far from my mind.

Among other things, I made some new friends. Some were humans, one was a guinea pig named Rosie. I learned some new songs, and remembered some old ones. I took some long walks and 3 turns on the "Blob". (See video below.)

And nobody sang "Kumbya".

We have already reserved the same spot for next year and I can't even wait!

(The first one is of me "blobbing" Andrew into the water...the second one is of me being "blobbed" by our pastor's daughter. Unfortunately, my best blobbing stunt, in which I was catapulted at least a dozen (slight exaggeration) feet in the air and landed horizontally, was not captured on video.)