Now THIS is what I'm talkin' about! SOOO much better than a wet, musty tent! I felt like Phyllis Neffler on the movie Troop Beverly Hills when she walked into the Beverly Hilton after the wet Girl Scout camping "experience!" Haha! (Except we were at the Comfort Suites, not the Beverly Hilton!) All kidding aside, I really was so thankful and relieved to be in a dry, air conditioned, clean, comfortable room. Even though we weren't planning on spending so much for 4 nights in a hotel, it was worth it in the end. I spent our first evening there doing FOUR loads of laundry...everything we had was wet. We did many fun things in Memphis, but we also just enjoyed relaxing and resting at the hotel too. One of my favorite memories of our whole week in Memphis is the night that I let Mackenzie stay up late with me to do laundry. We played several games of UNO, and it was just sweet one-on-one time with her. Here are just some random pic's from our stay in Memphis before Choir Tour began.
Nap time!
It's so funny to listen to them play together. Their imaginations are amazing!
I was totally impressed by both of their drawings of this character from the Disney movie Wall-E.
We went looking at furniture one day and the kids got to play in this fun little playground in one of the stores. That was the only furniture store they liked...go figure!
We went to the mall one afternoon and did a little shopping. And carousel riding!
After going to church at Bellevue Baptist Church on Sunday, we had lunch at Olive Garden before going downtown for the afternoon.
This made me oh, so happy! I haven't seen pickle-o's at Sonic in a long, long time! They were good too!
We had a gift card to P.F. Chang's so we had dinner there one night. It was just okay...I think we would enjoy it much more without the kids!
After spending a few days at the lake, we headed out for our camping-Memphis-Choir Tour adventure. The first stop was to spend a few nights camping in a tent at Hot Springs. From the get-go, things did not go smoothly. Jonah seriously screamed for the first hour of our road trip, which had my nerves completely shot. I had a headache on top of that, so it was a bad combo. It pretty much rained on us the whole drive, but the forecast looked like the rain might stop by late afternoon. When we pulled up to the KOA campsite that I had reserved, Brian laughed at my choice of "roughing it" campsites...how was I supposed to know we could literally walk to the highway from our tent?! We got checked in and set about putting up our tent. What I didn't know at the time was that the lady in the office asked Brian, "Are you sure about this?" Of course he was sure! We were the ONLY tent in the whole place. Halfway through setting up, the rain started and the kids and I high tailed it to the van. I was trying to be cheerful, even though I really was feeling a sense of dread. Camping isn't my thing under good circumstances. Rain, humidity, and a headache = misery! There was a little gift shop/game room where we hunt out for a while and waited for the rain to pass. Then we ordered a pizza and sat on the wet picnic table and ate dinner. After that, Brian took the kids to play on the playground and on an adventurous hike through the woods (with Jonah in the huge double stroller!) and to feed the ducks. I will admit...I laid in the tent feeling sorry for myself and missed out on what was probably the most fun part of or camping experience. By the time we sort of got settled in the tent around 9:30, the rain started coming down again. It rained nonstop until...wait for it...5:00 am in the next morning. I'm not talking about a drizzle...it was POURING rain! By far the best part of our whole camping trip was the singing talent show the girls put on before bed. As soon as the sun was up, we made a beeline for the showers, which was also completely crazy. Giving the girls showers at the same time that I was taking a shower, while trying to keep our only dry clothes to dress in DRY, in a public camping bathroom...ugh! We were scheduled for another night, but when I walked into the office at 7:30 a.m. and asked if we could cancel, they gladly said yes. I'm pretty sure they could tell there was NO WAY I was staying another night! They offered a little cabin for an addt'l $10 but I wanted as far away from Hot Springs, Arkansas as I could possibly get at this point!
Looking back, Brian always says, "Aren't you glad we did it though?" Well.... I'm not sure my answer is the same as his positive response, but I do smile when I think about it! And, I definitely won't forget it any time soon!
Oh how this picture makes me laugh! We sat in the van while Daddy was inside the tent blowing up the air mattresses in the rain.
This was my first FB camping status...
Arrived at our campsite to set up our tent and it started pouring...now we are in the van listening to the rain and Brian is in the tent. Mackenzie has two mosquito bites and has declared that she doesn't like camping. That makes two of us sister! This is supposed to be fun? Did I mention that there isn't a single other tent set up here? Hmmm...I wonder why! I love you, Brian Thomas Baldwin.
— feeling adventurous.
Here were some of the comments back...
Jerri Kersh - We r laughing, it will get better. How about good food to eat, that always makes things better, love u guys!!
Cindy Shaw - I'm pretty sure Jonah is thinking, "Where is my GMa?!?"
Kari Romoser - Love this picture! The people more.
Leslie Denton - I'm with u sister, the only camping I do is at the holiday inn!!
Lori Nolan - My aunt has a condo right outside of hot springs...want me to see if it's available???
Gala Garrett - Look at Jonah's eyes....he's ready for camping. Adorable kiddos!
Jill Curry - Lol! Making memories, that's what it is all about, right?
Jennifer Dodder - You can do it! Just repeat over and over and over.
Candace Baldwin - Thank you all for commenting...it has entertained me! Jerri Jo Kersh, yes to good food! We have had pizza, donuts and chocolate...the kids are perfectly happy! I gave Brian many warnings that this isn't really my thing...like at all...but I'm trying! At least we have an awesome air mattress to sleep on, thanks to Wendi N Mike Pierce! If it weren't for that, I would have already high tailed it to the nearest Best Western!
Okay, back up a little...
Here are video's of Jonah's crying on the drive there...I don't think anything was wrong except he just didn't want to ride in his carseat.
We stopped at McDonald's and he did get happier after he ate...maybe he was just hungry!
What were we thinking???
After a full belly and a nap, he woke up much happier, thank goodness!
This girl does not like thunder at all, so the idea of camping in the rain was not appealing to her.
Their idea of roughing it...eating powdered donuts in the van while Daddy sets up camp! They do have my genes for sure!
Eating pizza on a wet picnic table. My face is so funny, because I know exactly what I was thinking..."Just take the picture...I can only fake smile for so long!"
Here are some pic's of their little playground outing that I missed because I was laying in the tent pouting!
So darkness came and we settled into the tent and listened to the rain. To take their attention off of the rain and thunder, we started a "talent show." These girls always make me laugh! Their "Love Is An Open Door" rendition from Frozen was hysterical! I had so much fun posting video's and status updates to Facebook. It was thoroughly entertaining!
Here are the video's of our talent show!
Things got off to a rough start at the beginning of our singing party...
Madison "Jesus Loves Me":
Mack "Let It Go" Long version: Carol Cornett - The singer seems a little sleepy! Lol her ability to copy the singer reminds me of Leesa at that age! That's really a great way to learn, too. she's developing her broadway voice!
Mack "Let It Go" Short Version:
Girls Coronation Day song from Frozen:
Mack "Here I Am to Worship":
Girls "Love Is An Open Door":
I posted several of these video's on FB and I loved reading everyone's comments. It helped pass the time as I laid awake all night! Here are a few of them...
Krista Smith - This is precious! Her voice is so good!
Linda Reed - Thank you for posting this Candace.. Precious! I think you've got some serious StarPower there for sure.. I think the camping might have been worth it just for that! Made my day!
Sharon Huddleston - Wow talented singer and I do believe Maddie may have a future in choreography!!! Just precious!
Cathy Musgrove - Precious precious girls! And they are little stars in the making!
Leesa Shelton - Excellent choreography, but that girl can sing!! I hope she is singing solos at church. I remember her momma singing when she was about that age:)
Candace Baldwin - Thank you all! Of course I think they are wonderful, but it's fun to hear that others think so too!! Leesa Cornett Shelton she gets shy like someone else always did!! And Linda Griffith Reed as awful as camping was last night, I would do it all over just for the 10 minutes of sweet singing they did!
Carol Cornett - A real, true talent...and I know what I'm talking about! She is fantastic! Maddie is too, of course!
Mike Shelton - Absolute awesome. Her pitch is perfect and she never left the key she was singing in....give her every opportunity to sing. She's got it! Amazing! Was this a result of the "Great camping experience of 2014"? If so, it wasn't a total wash-out!
Candace Baldwin - Thank you Mike!! That is such a compliment coming from you!! She is very timid to sing in front of people. I wonder where she gets that! We are working on it! And yes. The camping trip was definitely worth these priceless moments!
Marcia Greer - Absolutely astounding !!! I think you'll have to go on several more camping trips now !!!
Madison "Let It Go":
This "mess up" was just too funny! Mackenzie's eyes and big smile crack me up! She instantly put on her "stage face!"
And...this concluded our singing marathon! Thankfully there were no other tent campers nearby to be disturbed by this! (Of COURSE!) Madison was relentless and wasn't about to be out-sung!
Okay, so if you have made it this far down the blog post, you are a true friend and won't laugh too hard at this awful picture of me! (It's really okay if you laugh!) I had to go to the bathroom at around 1:00 a.m. Not only was it pouring rain, it was pitch black and I was really scared that I would be attacked or abducted on my way to the bathroom, but I made it just fine. I took this picture in the bathroom and sent it to my mom. Of course she got a good laugh out of it! And, I laugh out loud every time I look at it now! I was happy...real happy!
Hallelujah!! I had never been so glad to see the sun rise! The kids slept all night and didn't seem to be bothered by the rain drops falling on them every 10 seconds!
Jonah slept on the air mattress with us. I just remember that he didn't sleep with a shirt on and his clammy little body was pressed up against me all night!
Here was my FB status the next morning...
Baldwin Camping Update: We are on our way to a hotel...that can go in the books as the longest, most miserably uncomfortable and wet nights I have ever had. Then Brian made fun of my hair this morning...and that was it! I was done! I tried people, but huh-uh...just no. You know what they say..."If Momma Ain't Happy..." Lori Nolan - Wow...Brian is a brave man insulting your hair after a night like that! He must know that you've him a lot!!! Candace Baldwin - Lori, he literally took a picture of my hair and laughed...it was very unlike him but at that point, it was pretty hilarious how bad I looked! Mostly because of the scowl on my face! Haha!! Janna Allen - Solidarity, sister! That's why Dan & Drew go on camping trips & I stay @ home by myself (glorious)! But you're a trooper!! : )
