Yosemite National Park - Part 1

If you know me, you know that I am not a true "camping" girl. I don't do tents, I don't sleep on the ground, and I don't squat in the bushes to pee. Pull me up a camper or a motor home, and I'm good to go. My friends, things have changed....well, for the most part (I still don't pee in the bushes).
As I mentioned in my previous post, it was Tucker's birthday. He wanted to have a camp out at his house with his closest friends and their parents. Yes, it sounded fun, but I had so many imaginative stories running through my head. I was eaten alive by a bear (yes, in Alabama). I was attacked by a swarm of mosquitoes. I fell in an ant hill and was bitten to death. I squatted to pee, ended up peeing on a snake and it bit my butt. I realize they are a little far fetched, but it could happen....right?
Anyway, I decided to be a trooper for Tucker. That, and I had to prove his mom Tiffini wrong because she said I was acting too prissy to camp. (love you Tiff) Kevin was going to be out of town, so I asked my mom to let Avery stay with her and I would take care of the boys myself. So on Friday, I take off work early and head home to pack the rest of my stuff (I had packed all the sleeping bags, pillows, etc...the night before). I get everything done and in the car, and I realize the entire back of my truck is loaded down......and I'm only camping for one night! :) I had to take a picture of it with my cell phone and send it to some friends. I was laughed at. Oh well, a girl can never be too prepared!
I get to Troy and Tiff's and I am ready to unload my stuff and have a good time. I'm going into this with an open mind. It takes about 400 trips (by 4wheeler) from my vehicle to the camp site to unload everything. I take off on the 4wheeler for my last trip and here comes dear sweet Troy on his and we're crossing the MUDDY creek at the same time, and he decides to gun it and slings mud ALL OVER ME! Welcome to the Reed's! I was a little shocked by it, but I take it in stride and just decide to laugh and not worry about it! After all, I did pack quite a few changes of clothing!
Everyone starts arriving and Tiff comes down to the site, and proudly announces "Welcome to Yosemite National Park". LOL! The kids are having a ball.....they're riding 4wheelers, playing kick ball, fishing....you name it. It was a blast! The food was great! Troy, you did a fine job on the chicken, and Tiff, you really know how to boil some corn and potatoes! :)
It gets close to bed time, and all the girls ride up to the house on the 4wheelers to get ready for bed. And I must interject here and say that I never knew it was possible to ride a 4wheeler with your legs crossed, but you can! Keri Douthit, you are precious! Now on to sleeping arrangements....I had been told earlier in the day that all the boys had planned to stay in the tent with me since Kevin wasn't there. Ok, that's fine. But they changed their mind. Only Cierra and Brody wanted to sleep with me. Sounds much better right? Yea, I thought so too. Boy was I wrong. Cierra and Brody went to bed before I did, and I lay down on the 3 inches I have on the air mattress. I try to rouse Cierra to get her to scoot over just a little bit because she has left enough room on the other side of her to fit a donkey. "uuugggghhh"...is her response. Ok, let's try again. "Cierra, scoot over a little bit" "uuuuggghhhhh" And this "sound" is not quite.....she sounds like a grown man. I make one more attempt and I fail again. I give up. I wrap my legs and arms around Brody to hold myself up on the air mattress. I'm not sure how long that lasted because the time drug on. I heard every pop in the fire, every howl of the coyote, ever cry from the donkeys, and every bug running into my tent. I MAY have slept about 2 hours total.
Then at 5:58 a.m., Cierra pops right up out of bed and says "I gotta go pee". She doesn't want to pee outside, so she insists I take her to the house. Keep in mind that this means I have to ride by 4wheeler to get there. Everyone else is asleep, and I have to start the 4wheeler as quitely as possible. We hop on. And guess what....it doesn't start. Not for the first 15 times I tried. Tiff said it was like waking up to an alarm clock. It was a constant "rrrrrruuuhhh, rrrruuuhhhh". Thank God Neal wakes up (imagine that with all the failed attempts at starting the thing and me giggling so hard). He walks right over and pushes a button and "VOILA". Off we go....
Needless to say, when we got back, everyone had crawled out of their tents and were out by the fire talking about the night's events......and of course, all the racket that me and Cierra had made. We cooked breakfast, and everyone left. We had ballgames that morning.....

More to follow in a later post.....