I'm a-bobbin' and a-weavin' today after arriving home at 3:30 AM with bleary eyes and two suitcases full of happy memories from BlogHer.

I've got so many thoughts to share about the conference, but I want to spare you the off-kilter ramblings of my sleep deprived mind for today. Instead, I'd like to share my edited version of my mom's recap of her camping trip with my three children while I was whooping it up in Chicago:

Howdy Ya'll Original Hendy Woods Campers from 20+ Years past!

We just got home from our 3 day camping trip with the Grandkids to Hendy Woods! WOW! It was warm but mild weather and the Navarro River had enough water and swimming holes to delight all!

We ate the usual campin' chow with the most incredible s'mores...so gooey and yummy that everyone needed a wash down afterward. Many a campfire story from 20+ years ago about all of you back then was told and retold. We rode scooters all over the park, played baseball, made art projects, decorated the camp site with personalized signs, swung in the hammock, got lots of water, pillaged all the vacant campsites for anything of left behind from candles to firewood and we found a great poker stick! We enjoyed fires in the evenings and early mornings and we burned everything from paper cups to the tiniest of sticks!

There was much fire poking done by all and an entire large bag of marshmallows were transformed into the famous roasted "Potatoes"! [My oldest] was very cautious at first and at one point held the screwered marshmallows far enough away from the fire that it would have taken at least a year to heat 'em up! We all laughed and joked her into really roasting the mellows and then there was no stopping her. [My son], on the other hand, caught a marshmallow on fire and really freaked out! He went running toward the woods yelling FIRE and calling to [my youngest] to follow because he was sure the woods would soon be ablaze too! [My four year old] jumped from her camping chair and promptly fell to the ground but she dutifully got to her feet and went hysterically after her big brother, as she had been commanded! Now, all the while, [my oldest] holding her precious white raw marshmallows aloft, calmly went to the dish washing water, got a large cup of water and doused the fearsome burning mellow, as it lay smoldering in the dirt just outside of the fire pit! [My eight-year-old] Saved the day!!!!!!! Once [my son and youngest daughter] returned to their camping chairs and gathered their wits about themselves, great howls of laughter filled the campsite. We proceeded to enact the Freak Out and dash about yelling and falling down and told the story time and time again, (of course the story got better each time), and we laughed ourselves silly for hours.

The next evening, after a long hike, swimming and much hard playing, we were singing old camp songs. We had just finished eating our s'mores, (made with extra love, 2 flavors of choc. and peanut butter chips and gobs of marshmallow cream), when I realized [my son] had just slipped into an exhausted sleep, sitting up-right in his camping chair. His head had dropped back and he was out! Grandpa woke up the brave little scout, who was plumb tuckered, and guided him to the woods for the final camping pee pee of the night. Moments later he was sound asleep with his dirty face but sparkling teeth as he had enjoyed brushing his teeth like cowboys do, (in the camp-site with a cup of fresh mountain water and no sink, just bushes to spit in to.

Every morning light we awoke to the 3 wee ones, standing in a triad beside my side of our sleeping bag. In they would climb for some major planning of that days events and a few snuggles and whispers. Should we go to the swimming hole or should we pack snacks and run like dinosaurs through Little Hendy Redwoods"? Grandpa would start the breakfast and Grandma started the play, sometimes it was baseball where [my oldest daughter] would clobber the ball so hard Grandma would duck as soon as the pitch left her hand! [My son] had so many really important things to tell us about Pokemon. After breakfast we had camping chores to do, and snacks to pack for our outing. There was bathroom trips and recently vacated campsites to pillage. At first, the small campers were not wanting to do camping chores but soon the found the spirit of camping and all learned how to wash dishes, drained the ice chests, burn the paper trash, make up the tent and clean up the stations around "OUR Campsite".

We all ate some mighty good campin' grub that Grampa cooked, we climbed on all the logs and we even made friends with some other family with kids. We wore our disgustingly dirty clothes, proudly like they represented how much fun we were having! Our feet were black with camping crud...We were Proud!

When Friday night arrived the campground filled up and we actually felt glad that we would be leaving the next day for home. Saturday we tried our best to finish up all the leftover goodies and food we had. It was funny to watch the Lauck Three "steal" yet another fruit roll or sucker or beef jerky or candy or cookie, or bag of chips, etc. They snuck over to the camping cupboard and eyed their prize with great stealth. Then cautiously snuck away to a safe location where they could consume unnoticed, they thought. After a moment or two back they went like little forest creatures for yet another tasty morsel.

We finally packed the car with all the camping gear and smelly dirty stuff so we could begin our 3 1/2 hrs. drive home. In a short time the little ones were napping so [the 8-year old] and Grandma finished off the last of the gum and settled into viewing the beautiful countryside on the way back to our normal daily lives.

Grandpa drove us safely home with enough time to bath, shampoo, brush and dress in clean clothes before DJ arrived. The men unloaded Grandma's car and put all the Lauck Kids stuff and toys into their car. After lots of hugs and Kisses and sweet heartfelt Thank Yous our wonderful Summer Camping trip was over... except the kids promised to remember all the special moments, until we do it all over again next year!