sun sick.

you know that feeling you get when you have a sun burn.
just feeling sick and grumpy. that's was me today. ack.

overall, our little camping trip was a success. most notably, i'd say we did much better with the food this time around even though it was all very last minute.

it started out on friday with a struggle to find the tent we wanted. i made james meet me at target because i really really don't like to shop at that store that starts with a w. [and i had forgotten about all of the outdoor stores we have around here. ha.] we found one that we liked, but there were none in stock. go figure. but james was quick to remind me that we have all sorts of outdoor stores, so we headed out to check them.

four outdoor stores later, we ended up heading out to check the target in sparks... success! they had the tent. :]

meanwhile, we were ridiculously behind schedule at this point. so we went home and quickly packed up the car. then we stopped at the grocery store on the way out. this is where we hit the food jackpot. they had all kinds of pre-made skewer foods, including these lemon pepper chicken skewers. sweet deal. no pb&j for us. ha.

due to our late late start, we barely made it to the campsite before dark. the sun was already down, so james and andrew put up the tent in little light that was left. i'm amazed at how quickly they are able to assemble tents. seriously. it seems like such a pain, but they make it look so easy.

[here's a photo of the tent the next day, just before we took it down.]

the rest of the night was spent around the campfire. we made a few of the skewers and of course some s'mores. oh! and i actually had cell phone reception. major plus in my book. no one else had reception, which was a plus in their book.
"it's not camping if you have cell phone reception."
well. i beg to differ. especially when eliza made a wrong turn and got lost on her way out to the campsite. [she ended up winding around on mountain roads. by herself. in the dark. ugh. i would have been so scared.] so thank goodness for good reception so that i could direct her.

that night was a night of little sleep thanks to helix. i expected it, but that didn't make it any easier. he was restless in the tent all night. [even though we picked the tent with him in mind because it had a little doggie room in it. i guess he wasn't impressed. ha.] i was mostly just waiting for the sun to come up so that i could get up. when it finally did, i took him out for a little run to the lake that was at our campsite. it was so crazy to feel like one of those people. you know... the morning runners. maybe one day. :]

eventually james and eliza got up. james cooked a yummy breakfast of eggs and bacon. we were all a little sad that claus wasn't there early enough to make us those yummy pancakes that he did last year, but eggs and bacon were a good substitute.

eliza had to leave in the afternoon to go visit her sister,
so i made james get a photo of use before she left. at the same time she was leaving, claus arrived with his family. his kids were very excited to go play in the water, so [to my own shock] i put on my bathing suit and headed down to the lake with the rest of the group. [thus the painful sunburn. i actually wore sunscreen, but i used maria's spray stuff. never. again. ugh. i have the classic zebra sunburn. little strips of white interspersed with strips of red. nice.]

james took claus' kayak out for another ride. i asked him when he got back if he would want to own a kayak, and he said yes. maybe i'll keep that in mind for a future gift. ha.

it's very rare that helix will voluntarily go in the water for a swim. he will get his paws wet at the shore, but that's about all. so james took him a little ways out and made him go swimming. it makes me laugh every time because his little tail always stays above the water just bobbing back and fourth. so cute.

and to prove that i actually did get in the water, here's a photo of me with some of my friends from the lab.
i know, i know... brown hat with a black swimming suit. but i found that had in my car and the thought of not having a sunburnt scalp seemed so appealing. :]

after a day of fun at the lake, during which i actually managed three sips of james' beer because i was so thirsty and no one thought to bring any water in the cooler on the ridiculously long walk down to the lake, we had our big potluck dinner. james and i brought macaroni salad and pie, the later of which seemed to be a big hit.

shortly after dinner, james and i packed up and headed home. i jumped in the shower as soon as we walked in the door. then we gave helix a bath. the amount of dirt coming out of his fur was insane. the poor dog was more tired than james and i were and promptly fell asleep after his bath. we have yumi, claus' daughter, to thank for that. she was walking helix around after we ate and wouldn't stop. even when helix would lay down and not move... somehow she would make him continue walking. plus maria had already taken him for a two mile run that day. so the little dude got his fill of exercise.

now i really need to make myself sort through photos and print some. i have these and the chicago photos, plus some other older ones that i still want to scrapbook. i've been noticing that a big reason why i haven't been scrapbooking much is due to a lack of printed photos. imagine that.

i hope everyone enjoyed the weekend. :]