Well, it seems that we just don't know how to pick ideal days for visiting Camelbeach(check out
this post from our visit last year). I'm not complaining though, FREE is FREE (Mark gets these complimentary tickets for arranging the ski group) and we were able to share them with a few dear friends who have children close in age to our own. In spite of the 2 thunderstorms, we all did have a blast together. The park shut down temporarily once lightening was spotted and then reopened after a designated amount of time has passed after the storm. We hunkered down under the huge picnic tent(which happened to have a metal frame?!) where our stuff was located until the 'all clear' signal was heard. The kids scurried to get on line for the next ride...they all got one more ride in before storm #2 blew in....this time the park issued vouchers to return again another day since they were closed for more than 1.5 hours. In the midst of running from under the tent to the dressing room to get changed, Odesco dropped all of his clean,dry clothes on the wet ground and tripped while attempting to pick them up. Somehow he managed to migrate his Nike flip flop up his shin with his foot remaining on the ground. For the life of me, I could not get that sandal to budge...nor could I stop laughing at the ridiculousness of it all. I stood there in the rain for several minutes vainly working to free his leg from the flip flop to no avail. Finally a kind man who saw my dilemma offered to help. He had to 'unbutton' the plastic part of the flip flop to free his leg...it sort of broke the shoe but I was just relieved to get it off him!!! The evening ended with a wild ride home as we drove through some terrible storms... we all stopped for dinner at Cicis and this turned out to be quite an event as well...the rain was coming down so hard that we all made a mad dash from the parking lot to the restaurant. Miss Mercy somehow slipped backwards slamming her noggin very solidly on the cement sidewalk! She of course was in horrible pain...so much so that she did not want to eat...we knew it was serious then! Then she just cried and cried for us to let her sleep...which of course we could not let her do-boy was she mad at us! I tried to keep her awake on the drive home...had her reading numbers on the signs as we passed them and woke her up frequently during her cat naps. Thankfully she was easily aroused and did not seem to be getting worse...she also woke a few times in the night which was a good sign. The next day I called our pediatrician because she still was not quite herself and they told me to take her to the ER...3 hours and $100 copay later we were given discharge papers with a diagnosis of 'concussion'. They did not do any scans but just a very basic neurological exam and wondered why we were there...by the time they finally saw her, she was almost back to herself. Better safe, than sorry :) Never a dull moment around here.... Now for the pictures!!
Getting there is half the fun, right?! We had the "BOY VAN"...trust me when I say they kept us entertained in a variety of ways!!! (I think P secretly practices these faces for just the right Kodak moment!)
My friends with their wee ones in the Lazy River...
L and buddy M heading up the Raceway slide
And they're off....
The bigger dudes just hanging outWe chose to come back to use the vouchers after our camping trip with friends since we were already in the area and it was only about 30 minutes out of the way. This time the place was packed...we parked at the very bottom of the mountain and the lines were quite long. Most of the kiddos were tired from our big camping trip so they were not too disappointed when we decided to call it a day after only a few hours. While the gang braved the crowds, I decided to make lunch for them on the passenger seat...our van was so packed to the brim(Picture Beverly Hillbillies...floor to ceiling stuff!!) with our camping apparatus that I couldn't prepare lunch ahead of time ... there was not a spot to store it in. It was a sight to see, I'm sure as I contorted my body to reach the various bags and coolers which were under piles of pillows, duffle bags, and dirty clothes. I actually had to unload quite a bit onto the parking lot...but in the end we had a yummy lunch which seemed to hit the spot :)
Lunch time...the park was so crowded that there were no more picnic tables available to 'rent' so we just parked in this nice shady spot for free!!
G on the scenic ride up the lift to the top of the mountain...we have fun trying to figure out which trails we ski down during the winter season...it's a bit disorienting without snow!
Miss Mercy
Daddy and the little guys...don't worry...the safety bar was down until moments before I snapped this picture! They were preparing to 'disembark' :)
Odesco joined me for the ride back down~
The view near the top looking down the mountain~
Mercy is bold and daring when it comes to amusement and water park rides!! Here she just emerged from the pool after being dumped out of the Vortex ride...which we renamed the 'human toilet bowl'! She has more guts than me!!She waited on this line all by herself and I watched her as she climbed higher and higher to the top...chit chatting the whole time with the girl standing next to her :)
Thanks for checking in!!!
As you can see, we have an abundance of stuff...we even removed the back seat and can still barely fit it all in! The van was jam packed from floor to ceiling-Yikes!
We stopped around the corner for lunch after church and before pushing off for the Poconos...the local 5Below had a grand reopening and sold 5cent hot dogs--so we fed the whole family for less than $1!!...(nice face, P)
A rear view once we arrived...don't touch a thing,L...it might trigger an avalanche!
The 'back window' view from our campsite'
The other side of our back window 'view'
Mrs. V even didn't even get a day off doing hair...what a blessing she is to lots of little girls and their moms!
Voila! A new creative 'do' for Mercy while roughing it!
G's hair stayed like this the entire trip!
We took a 'young kid' friendly hike...you can't see it but behind everyone is a beautiful view of the Lehigh River~
At the lake, Daddy takes a minute to explain the stock market to L :)
Two year old Kenzie has a real hankering for her Mercy...these 2 were often seen together!
Picking blueberries!
Papa K and M having an early morning chat...
We typically had extra mouths at mealtime :) I plan for it and love the visits from the kids' friends!
And since the big boys had their own (borrowed) 6 person tent across from our own, there was a new boy (or two visiting) with us each morning!
I love a man with dishpan hands!!
One evening we all gathered at one of the campsites' for a feast!! Everyone brought their fixings...we had ribs, chicken, steaks, burgers, hotdogs, tons of salads...it was scrumptious!
Miss Felicia had an impromptu 5th birthday party at her campsite'
The youth had fun playing card games LATE into the evening! ... 
L on his 'thinking rock'
No camping trip is complete without at least one wiffle ball game!
A fitting way to end....A beautiful sunset~
