Monday

Today marked the beginning of our family vacation. The parental units allowed me to sleep in and didn't wake me up until 9:00. I count that as a good start. Things got better when Grandma and the girls arrived back with a couple dozen fresh bagels. I love bagels.

We spent several hours packing things up before finally cramming all of our stuff into the van and heading for Oregon. Our party consisted of all eight members of my immediate family, our paternal grandmother and my new lappy. Hey, computers are people too!

It was a four hour drive to our campsite here in Fort Stevens State Park. The trip was a little hectic. My youngest sister was emotionally fragile until she fell asleep, my four year old brother is suffering from pink eye, a cough and a stuffy nose and has been pretty miserable and my two oldest sisters have decided that they hate camping and are determined to have a miserable time. Despite the melancholy mood of some our travelers the rest of us managed to have a pretty good time, reading and listening to tapes. A milk shake stop didn't hurt matters either.

Upon arriving we set up camp. Much to my surprise things went up extremely efficiently. We were able to get all three tents (one for the parents, babies and Grandma, one for the boys and another for the girls), a cooking fly, the fire, and dinner ready while Mom entertained the babies. Things went much better than I expected considering the long span of time since our last family camping experience.

Dinner is over and the s'mores are all cooked. We've fended off one attack by a hungry coon and are preparing for bed. I'm set up on the picnic table with my lappy. This post will be delayed until I can find an internet connection from which to upload it.