Camping Mishaps and Memories Part II

The rain tapered off and left us with cool, sunny weather. We set up a water station, as this spot did not even have a water source. I think Abant Water could use this in their ads! 

(I believe I look more cheerful here than I actually was, don't let the picture fool you.) I used our favorite chili recipe, Nonie's Chili. The only difference was that we cooked it over a campfire. 

While it was cooking, Miss Middler found the nearest tree to climb, as always. 

Big Ben had the most wonderful time helping with the fire. He told his Papa, "We are the firemans, right, Papa?" 

And soon the chili was bubbling. It was delicious. We've had this chili and loved it for years, but it just tasted better over a campfire. I think CC, driving rocky roads, setting up the tent, building fires, was the hungriest of all. I miscalculated, and we only ended up with 1 spoon for the weekend. It was a giant wooden spoon. CC dipped it and ate out of this cooking pot more times than I can count, all in the name of testing it. There was about a 1/2 pot left when we were done eating. I was figuring how to store it, when CC decided to just polish it off. I'll let these captions die here. But I'll just say...he ate a 1/2 of a pot of chili, then slept in a tent with us. 

Before we left on the trip, I searched high and low for marshmallows. There is one brand I can occasionally find here. They're not the best, but they work for s'mores. However, I could not find them anywhere. On our way out of town, we stopped at two more groceries. For whatever reason (I am sure it was more due to tiredness and the stress of school starting), I melted down when I could not find them. (No pun intended.) The kids were so sweet. They assured me it didn't matter if we could not have s'mores. Imagine...it's the mom crying because there are no marshmallows. The kids comforting the mom. (Please know that I am generally a stable, mature person. But also, there are just times overseas when it does get to you.) Anyway, we had the great idea after we arrived to roast gummy dinosaurs. No, they didn't work, but it was terribly funny to see them melting on the stick and trying to get them onto the chocolate before they died a fiery death. We ended up just melting our chocolate! 

The sun set quickly, and the air turned cool. We brushed our teeth and bundled up for the night, all 7 of us in the tent. (I took a Melatonin!) And then it began to pour. I have never been in a tent when it rained that hard. Heat flashes of lightning were all around. It was so strong, I would grab Miss Middler and say, "It's ok." just to remind myself that it was ok. I continually meditated on the power of God and on the safety of our tent. It was like a little reminder to me from God that no matter how severe the storms get (how loud, how long, how strong), I am safe in Him. It is something I will never forget.