You can take the child out of Edmond....

but you can't take Edmond out of the child. 

While Mia was at camp, I announced to Andy that we were going to take the kids to 'play in the river' on the 4th. We were also going to have a picnic that did not involve take-out. Two days later, after Andy finally quit rolling his eyes, he agreed to indulge my silly whims.

Mia had a fabulous week at camp. And thankfully, Andy's wonderful cousins were her counselors/hair fixers/sunscreen reminderers. She loved them (and so do we).

For some reason, I have these vivid memories of my sister and me as little girls playing in these beautiful natural springs, catching minnows and squealing with delight. I also remember picnics with homemade food and drinking sun tea. I don't know how much of this actually happened, but nonetheless, lately I've felt this deep need to recreate these experiences for my children. I probably just need therapy, but instead I will insist on reliving my childhood through my kids. 

So anyway, after camp we headed to find the natural springs of my youth. What we found were dried up creeks and one pond with signs around it warning people to stay away from the contaminated water.
Finally, after a bit of hunting, we found a cute little swimming hole that smelled distinctly of rotten eggs. Score! As you can tell, the kids loved it:

 Bode did jump in a couple of times, but Mia was Mor. Ti. Fied. by the entire experience.

 After ten minutes, we packed up and called it a day.

We did manage to have a decent picnic. It was mostly successful because I allowed my children to experience the food of my youth - twinkies,

while Mia gave us a play-by-play of her week at camp (I think Andy may have an entire twinkie in his mouth)

Sometimes a girl just needs to spend a day revisiting her childhood. And sometimes she needs to drag her family along. 

I'm thankful I married a man that chooses his battles carefully.