So this is how it went....

Hehehe. We went camping for the weekend. I went up Thursday with Monkey, Bug, and Nephew. I pulled the trailer myself on the 3+ hour drive and set up camp. The idea was to have me go up early before the holiday rush to make sure we had a good spot. None of us are afraid to rough it and actually enjoy it but one of the sisters is 5 months pregnant so we decided to use an organized campground with bathrooms and running water. That was the plus side, the down side was the people, the paying for the spot, and the fact that we couldn't have our quads at our camp. My nephew seemed rather surprised that I knew what I was doing with pulling the trailer as well as setting up camp. Goofy boy. I tried to explain that I camped a lot as a kid but I don't think he got it.

Friday early we took out the quads for a ride since nephew is a very capable driver. It was fabulous! Beautiful scenery and a huge well maintained trail system focused on the quads meant less hard to the surrounding area because everyone wasn't making their own trails. By 9 PM we went from 4 to 28 in our camp. Yes we make a big bunch and that wasn't every one.

Saturday and Sunday was spent together just letting the kids play. Each sibling took a meal to feed everyone so things were spread around evenly. We had quad rides, hiking, and cave exploration. We told stories, did skits, and made smores.

I think all of us were sad to leave on Monday despite the fact we were all in sore need of a bath. It is a wonderful treat to have so many of my husbands siblings together. (6 out of 7)

Now I am home. My reader has well over 100 posts to read. I make a dent and more pop up. If I don't comment a ton do know I am reading all of it, lol.

One bad thing is that now that I am home I am in a flare. When I am in a need to function mode I push everything aside and do what I have too. Since we were camping and that meant no child safe room, no ideal sleep environment, no sticking to my diet and the like I pushed on, ignored my body and functioned. Now I am paying for it. I hurt all over. Large smears of dirt turned out to be bruises and even Tylenol is not touching things. I stumbled across a wonderful website called But You Don't Look Sick and the creator has a great way of explaining her Lupus. FMS is very very similar to that. By her spoon theory I borrowed against my spoons and am now spoonless for a bit until I can recover. It sucks like crazy but I wouldn't change it because I had so much fun being with every one. I did hold myself back on somethings and I did make sure that when a ride was being especially brutal I took it slow so as to lessen the beating my body took. I have learned to try to balance though I admit I didn't do a very good job of it this weekend. I won't be surprised if I end up sick on top of my flare. Bleck!

Well I am off to bed blog friends! Night. I am glad to read of all of your doings and thoughts and look forward to continuing to catch up!

Oh and the chili was amazing!!

Bikes and Bullets!

This past weekend marked the end of Hubby's time off so we gathered up our girls, our nephew, the quads and decided to go for a ride. We really haven't done any riding locally. Usually we take them with us when we head north for family things as 2 of my husbands sisters live in some wide open country with great places to trail ride. We went to a close area that is mostly a dry lake with a few side trails to keep it gentle for the little one. We had a blast! I got a tiny bit sunburned but my fair skin does that even though the sunscreen. Monkey fell asleep like she usually does. I taught Bug a bit about the driving of one of the 250's which tickled her pink. We saw a few dessert squirrels and lizards.


On the way home we stopped to shoot. Hubby got a new .45ACP that he is in love with! He is an amazing shot so of course hit all his targets. I am doing better and got both of mine as well. Nephew is the proud new owner of a Taurus Judge. He shot as well and did pretty good. He was the main reason we had stopped because he hadn't shot it yet. He is an amazing kid. He is almost 13 and very mature. I think a lot of that comes from his diabetes. He had to grow up and be more aware because his life depended on it. I think his dad taking him hunting pretty much his entire life has also been a big help. He is very weapon aware.


All in all a pretty great Saturday in our desert oasis.

My Mountain Man Is Planning Away!

Recently the opportunity arose for us to purchase a Weekend Warrior FT 2200 in fabulous condition and 3 Suzuki Quads. A friend hit hard times and needed money fast and we had been discussing buying at least a pair of quads and the trailer to pull them for a while so it looked to be a good thing for all. So we got our ducks in a row and made sure it fit into the current budget. We pay a lot extra on our 2 debt items: Home and Auto, so it was something we were able to do much to mine and Hubby's surprise. (We have spent so much time on the building of credit and our personal survival stuff that I guess we never actually thought about a day when the hard work would pay off.) Anyway so Hubby and BIL go to pick up the purchases and bring them home and we have encountered an unforeseen issue. When we were buying I asked BIL what he figured weight was and his estimate was well within my tow range. HAHAHAHA....... Boys were a lot low on the weight so neither Hubby or my 4x4 have the tow strength needed. BIL has the capacity and with a little suspension help will pull it with ease so we will beef up his 3/4 ton. In my logical female way I threw out the thought. Since Our plan never really called for the big trailer but merely a cargo trailer why not sell it and buy the trailer we had planned. However once Hubby saw the WW and all its trimmings he decided it was much better in a SHTF moment. Kitchen, bathroom, and enough sleeping and storage space for a small family plus the mobility to flee. So the Plan it kit out BIL for now and the new save pile will be to upgrade either his or my truck so if and when we can tow it ourselves. If the worse were to happen my rig could get it there, it would just kill my rig to do it. I see his point, lol.