Just Another Summer Night in Texas

What a busy weekend we've had - and it's only Saturday night!  Last night we went to the ballpark with  Lucky's Girl Scout troop.  We watched an exciting game (you'll get 'em next time, Skeeters!) and had a very exhausting night camping on the field.  Wow, what an experience.  One that I NEVER want to have again, if possible!  Seriously, someone really should have thought this "Texas camping in August" thing through a little better.  It was like sleeping in a pool of sweat.  Disgusto!  My kids were miserable, Big T was miserable, I was miserable.  Lucky had a little meltdown around 1:30 am. We had just settled everyone into the tent, after watching Chipwrecked on the huge scoreboard video screen.  They'd all had their snacks (chips, water & yummy root beer floats, courtesy of Smashburger), made one last trip to the restrooms, and it was time to go to sleep.

Lucky's problem?  Well, it was the same as everyone else in the tent's problem.  It was a stifling, humid, breeze-less night in Texas.  Earlier in the night we thought we might get out of the sleepover part when storm clouds rolled in.

No such luck.  We were stuck there.  The movie was over, the lights were out and no way was I going to convince Big T to pack up camp at 2:00 am in the dark!  However, I might have been able to convince him around 3:00 after he'd laid on the hard outfield for another hour.  In hindsight, he probably would have grabbed the kids, loaded us all up, abandoned our tent & belongings in a heartbeat with a jolly, "that's what Walmart is for!" if I'd made the suggestion then.

Bacon & Little T stripped down to their skivvies.  Bacon shared her insightful discovery that holding a water bottle on your skin would help keep everyone cool, so that's what we did... and finally, around 2:30 am, my littles were asleep.  Big T tossed & turned, snored & snorted, slept & woke intermittently.  In my delusional state of unrest, I contemplated throwing things at the tent of giggling girls across from us.  Finally, at 4:30 am, I climbed out of the tent and into the camp chairs where I could stare them into submission and finally end their party.  And then the bugs started biting.

Did I mention that there were several rules for sleeping on the Skeeters baseball field?  Apparently, they take their love for the mosquito quite seriously around here, because there was NO insect repellant allowed.  For reals.

At 5:15 am, I began the dark trek across the field & up to the concourse restrooms.  I peeled off my sticky clothing, wiped myself down with wet paper towels & stood in front of the fan for a full 10 minutes.  I could have stayed there forever, but I started having thoughts of mass murderers sneaking into the ball park & hiding in electric fan-cooled bathrooms.  As if that was something to worry about.  They were all home in their air conditioned beds.

Finally at 6:00 am, Big T & I woke the kids up and started packing.  We were in the car and on the way home by 7:00!  We were all showered and happily in our beds by 8:00 am.

But the funny part?  The kids already forgot how miserable they were.  All they have talked about was getting to parade around the field, the cool play area with carousel and feeling like we owned the place.






The things we do for those memories...