Memories

I continue to wonder what makes kids close to their parents and hope that Mike and I are doing a good job creating a good relationship with our children so when that crucial moment happens that they can either come to us or go to their friends, that they come to us.

My family did not camp when I was a kid. Once my brother and I moved out, our parents purchased a nice used motor home to see how they liked the camping/traveling thing. They loved it and have since graduated to a new, much nicer model RV. Mike has so many fond memories of camping with his grandparents when he was little. It is such an important thing that our kids have these same great memories.

This past weekend we went camping with my parents and my brother and his family. We all met up at Yogi Bear's Jellystone Park in Luray. We had camped at the Jellystone Park in Natural Bridge, but not in Luray. It was such a great campground!! It had so many great things to do that there was really no time for the "sitting around the campfire" type of camping that we enjoy :).

They had these great jumping pillows. They were these huge plastic/canvas pillows that had air constantly being pumped into them. You could jump on them just like you would a trampoline. We all loved it!! Particularly Mike! The early teenage kids kept asking him to come back over and jump with them because he would jump so high and it would cause them to jump higher and higher. As my brother described it, he looked like a rock star with all the kids hovering around him :). Lydia did not like it if there were a lot of people jumping at the same time she was--particularly big people (mainly Mike :)). She did not feel secure while jumping so she would wait until there were just a few people jumping and then she would have a great time. Emily jumped and jumped and when we were not at the jumping pillows, she would ask to go to the jumping pillows. Ryan liked it a lot, but he preferred riding his bike. We allowed him to ride just down from our campers and over in front of the pool by himself. Needless to say, he thought he was something else and spent most of the weekend doing just that. My niece, Adella, was kind of hit or miss. She liked it, but only if she was jumping with someone else, but she too felt a little uneasy if lots of people were jumping around her.



As most campgrounds do, this campground also had a playground. We usually spend a lot of time at the campground playgrounds, but there were so many other fun things to do here that we only spent a short time there.
If you purchased a wristband you were able to have access to several activities without paying extra. We took full advantage. Mike and Ryan purchased a wristband and Lydia and Emily were free on everything that they were able to participate in (according to their age they were not able to go on the water slide at all). I did not purchase a wristband because I had to stay with Lydia and Emily when they were not able to ride. The paddle boats were part of our "free entertainment." Mike, Ryan and Lydia started on the paddle boats and Emily was a little scared. Once she saw them paddling and having such a great time, she decided to join in. She had to sit in the back though because the front was full :).

The water slide was included in the wristband price as well. Ryan went down the first day, but he was not able to touch the bottom of the pool at the bottom of the water slide and did not want to go again the
next day so I don't have a picture of him.

Lydia, Emily and I went on a wagon ride that Boo Boo and Cindy were hosting. Just prior to us getting on the wagon, they took Boo Boo away on a golf cart. We can only assume he was getting ready to pass out since it was 92 degrees and he was wearing a fur suit :). It took us around the campground so we were able to pass our campers where Grammy and Aunt Allison were sitting outside and waived to us.

The pool was really great! They had two kiddie pools and a regular pool. We stayed in the bigger kiddie pool. It started at 2 feet deep and gradually went to 4 feet. Everyone was able to touch in the majority of the pool. Plus, there was this great mushroom waterfall in the middle of the pool that everyone just loved.

S'mores were a big hit with Adella as well as Ryan and Emily. Lydia passed out before we could get the marshmallows out. It was a big day for everyone!

On our last morning there, we hit the pool and the jumping pillows one more time before packing up and heading home. It was a great weekend!!
The following movies are of the putt-putt game that was also included in the wristband price. We don't have any golfers on our hands at this point I don't think. :). Also, a movie of Ryan riding his bike past the pool and a movie of the jumping pillows. This will give you a better idea of how cool they were. Oh, BTW, you are not seeing things . . . yes, Ryan has a Mohawk! We will be shaving it off by the end of the week!