Kickapoo Kamp

All I can saw is WOW! We had an amazing time!!! Kendall and I went on a mother/daughter camping trip this weekend. We went to Kickapoo Kamp for girls in Kerrville, TX. It was so amazing!!

Friday our friends Jaime and Makayla picked us up about 1pm and we were on our way. We stopped to get gas and go to the bathroom about 10 miles outside of Shulemberg. After getting back on the road, Jaime's car was making a terrible knocking sound. We pulled over in Schulemberg and we looked around at the tires. On the front passenger side there was a HUGE bubble on the inside of the tire. Someone told us about a Firestone on the other side of the freeway so that is where we headed. No luck. Those guys looked at us as if we were STUPID. The did not have a tire that matched Jaime's and were not even willing to put the spare on. They sent us to another shop a few blocks away. When we FINALLY found that one at 3:50, they advised us that they close at 4 on Friday's. URGGGGG!!!!! OK, next idea - the lady at the second shop told us to go back to I-10 and there was another tire shop on the feeder. HUH?? Isn't this where we came from?? YEP!! It was diagonal under the freeway from where we initially stopped. We pulled in and the man was sooo old!! At least in his 70's. But, they had a tire and that is all we cared about at this point!!! He put the new tire on. This took a while because in the mean time he was pumping gas for some people older than him and ringing up sales. OK, no problem! Once done, back on the road. We finally made it into San Antonio and were following the directions. OH WAIT, in SA, the freeway splits into upper and lower levels! HEY!! Or printed directions did not say ANYTHING about what level we should stay on. We got a little lost in downtown SA but finally made it back to the freeway. Once again, on our way. We were running pretty late by this point and knew we were not going to make dinner at camp so we stopped for some Subway and headed back out. We got to camp about 7:45 or 8. We checked in and then played bingo. Kendall played the first game, but then got bored and went to look for bugs. Our cabin did not win any bingo games :( Oh well. Off to the cabin we went. We unpacked and made beds. Teeth were brushed and the girls were having a BLAST climbing onto each other's bunks. It was like their own private space. Lights out at 10:30 per the request of campers Laurie and Nicole. No problem with me. Oh wait, there was one. Kendall wanted to sleep with me...ummmm the bed was not even a TWIN!! How on earth was that going to work. Then it stormed and got cold cold cold. We made it through the night, but not comfortably and Mommy did not get a lot of sleep!

Saturday! The alarm bell rang at 7:30 and we had until 8 to get to breakfast. We had breakfast tacos, yogurt, and cereals to choose from. I had a taco and cereal and Kendall had cereal. After breakfast we had a few mins to kill before our hike. We finally got going on the hike but the first bridge we had to cross over a river was flooded because of the previous night's storm. Everyone changed into water shoes or flip flops and then waded through. Not me - I am a camper. I left my shoes and socks on and carried Kendall across. That water was COLD!!!!!! OK. through the river. down a long flat trail to the other side of the mountain and then on our way up. It was pretty steep going up after the halfway up mark. Kendall did SO great. Once at the top we stopped in a clearing almost at the top and heard the story of how and who founded the camp and the story of the Kamp for Life weekend (raising awareness for ovarian cancer for one of the founders daughter's). It was really inspiring and then the girls all got to ring the bell. It was so cute! We hiked down and went back to the cabin to rest a bit before lunch. Lunchtime arrived and we ate chicken patties, macaroni and cheese, salad and rolls. And rice crispy treats for lunch. It was soooo yummy. After lunch we had some time before our next scheduled activity. We decided to go canoeing. We canoed with Gina and Laya. It was great fun. I think we did great except for crashing into the banks a few times and then Kendall dropping an oar that we had to rescue. After this, we went back to the cabin and got ready to ride the water weenie!!! That was SOOOOO fun!! We could ride at 4/5 at a time. they pull you around the lake on this giant banana looking thing. After we all finished, the girls wanted to swim. Let me remind you how cold the water was!! WOWSA!!! So, I suited Kendall up with a life jacket and an inner tube. She started off ok and then the wind started blowing her away and she panicked! She would not focus one ounce and as I was about to go jump in, a lifeguard jumped in and saved her. Now she is telling people she almost drowned. We sat out by the lake for awhile to kill some time. We did not have anything scheduled until 5:30. We finally went back to the cabin and changed into our riding clothes. We got down to the horse ring and tehy started loading us up onto horses. We all finally got on after what took forever. They initially were not going to take us out but changed their minds and we all got ready to get going. A few of left the ring and they were going to have some riders with walkers to make sure the littler ones could handle it. Well, one of the horses was acting a tiny bit crazy to they people decided not to let us take the trail after all. We all came back in and dismounted. There were a few minutes left before dinner so we got to pet and brush them for a few minutes. It was time for dinner now. We had tacos and cake for dessert. After dinner we had mother/daughter relay races. The two that Kendall and I did were the critter toss and the potato picker. On the critter toss you had three rubber animals that you had to throw into a hula hoop. I did not make one. Kendall decided that she did not want to play this one so Makayla played in her place. The other was potato picker. You had to put a potato in a chair, sit on it, and shimmy to a bucket and drop it in. Kendall was able to do it but not me!! After the relays we just went back to the cabin and relaxed before lights out at about 10:40.

Kendall slept in my bed AGAIN. It was uncomfortable again and it was COLD so half the night I could not breathe, was freezing, and making ure Kendall never fell off. And on top of that, she was having bad dreams so she would wake up crying. The alarm bell rang again at 7:30 and we started getting ready for breakfast. The only thing we had planned for today was arts/crafts just before lunch. Breakfast today was kolaches, yogurt, and cereals. We ate and then went back to the cabin to finish packing up. We came back down, paid for our billion purchases and then walked around. We watched some tennis and ping pong for a bit and then decided to go to rifelry. Kendall shot the gun 5 times. It was so cool. I shot it too and hit the target all 5 times. It was fun. After that, we went to archery. Kendall had never shot a gun or a bow. It was so cute! She first ones were super short and then the last three were pretty long. Not too bad for a first timer. I shot it a few times and I am the only adult that hit hte target!! Makayla hit it twice on her 3rd or 4th try. She was sooo excited. She had a rough time last year so to do well this year was great. When were were done it was time for arts/crafts. Kendall made a visor and a picture frame. They are super cute. Then it was lunch time and then time to go! For lunch we had chicken strips, green beans, mashed potatoes and rolls with cookies and cream ice cream for dessert. YUMM. We headed home and got stuck in dome traffic just before and just after Sealy. but made is home just after 6.

The puppies and Daddy were sooo happy to see us. We snuggled for a few minutes and then headed to Ginger Cafe for dinner. It was good but I was so tired I could barely eat. Kendall told Daddy all about her fun time and how much fun she had. She is ready for next year and even says at 8 she wants to go by herself to summer camp!!

I am beyond exhausted today, my right side is sunburned, and my right calf is hurting. All in all we had a fab time.

It was a fun way to share the things I loved as a kid with Kendall who also seemed to love them too!

Niki - Love is all you need!!!!