And so it begins...: Deschutes 2015

Rafting...
Preparing for the rafting trips usually starts months and months before the actual trip. Not only do we have to try and get everyone to ACTUALLY apply for a permit in DEC/JAN, we then have to all the meal planning and head counting.
This year was again, kind of a mess. The head count kept changing and the "responsible" adults who can provide food, was also fluctuating.
Still, like every year we were able to somehow magically bring it all together and have an amazingly wonderful family rafting trip.

Going into it I was kind of (okay extremely) bummed that Brent would be missing it. I was set on taking all three of the boys by my lonesome.

Although I am totally used to being their mother, this is a huge undertaking...mainly because I USUALLY have to help soooo much as well.

Again, the boys surprised me. It was an awesome trip.

Days 1 & 2

Day one of rafting is the day before we actually leave. This is when everyone is supposed to drop off the food and we load the coolers. In addition we pull out enough life jackets, tents, sleeping pads, etc...
NO ONE ever shows up to help for this. So it is usually Me (minus my kiddos), Annette, Spencer, sometimes Justin, and that is it.

Which leaves a lot of work to do the morning we are trying to leave. This year was no different.
We tried to get as much ready as possible, but BONUS this year Jay's friend Hansen and niece Heather showed up. They were great at helping and we got much more done than if they were not going on this trip.

We all showed up the next morning and the usual stuff happened...loading, waiting, stressing, and wrangling up the kids....and then finally leaving!

At camp the first night we just get the boats inflated and sometimes put them in the water.
This year we got there with a lot of time, it was nice.

I set up the tent when it started sprinkling, but then I took it down when it stopped and the sky cleared.

Not long after we got to camp Annette had a pretty bad fall on a rock in camp. Scared me to DEATH.
I looked over and saw her feel flying up over her head...
Jay ended up wrapping her wrist, but it was getting pretty swollen.

Mitch brought his cribbage board and was so thankful there were people who took the time to play with him.

All the boats were aired up, and frames strapped in. We had a good filling dinner, and even caught a couple shooting stars. I got the boys all ready for bed and we slept out on our tarp.

The next morning we woke up ready to get on the water...

Loading the boats!

Our little helpers...up at the nose of the boat and out of the way?!

We finally got ready and got on the water. I was a little nervous because Mitch and Jordan were rowing their own boat this year. I wanted us to all stay together...but it always becomes this race to the camp spot. This frustrates me, and I definitely voice my frustrations liberally.

Still, we made it to camp. August helped a bit and then I pulled out his toys! He was occupied for a while.

We ended up staying on a tiny ROCKY sliver of the camp, because the camp "we" wanted was occupied for that night. So when they leave in the morning we could swoop over and get it. Again, I laid out our tarp and it started sprinkling so I set up the tents.

Then I was able to just sit and watch the river. My favorite part.
It is so quiet, peaceful, and lovely. I just breath deeply and take it all in and try to calm the heck down!
I get kind of high strung when I am not in control of everything. Hahaha...especially when the kids are involved. So being here is wonderful for my psyche. I can start feeling small and humbled.

The boys have a blast too!