Weekend CampingTrip

I took the boys camping this weekend. Yes, I know this is a shock because I am a very vocal opponent of roughing it. This was my kind of camping. We were at a friend's cabin in Forest Lakes. Actually, it wasn't a cabin as much as a really nice house. Okay, so it probably doesn't qualify as camping at all, but it was in the woods and we did have a fire (so what if that fire was in a gas powered fireplace and was lit strictly for ambiance?) The kids loved it. I was with my writing group and my grandma Arnett was there too which was a special treat.
We were hosted by Louise and Larry Laughlin. We ate amazing food and had great conversation and just generally had a fabulous time. Larry took the kids on the quads and Ham was hooked.
I don't know if he liked riding the quad more or wearing the helmet more but he was in Ham Heaven. They had a playground set up in the back and the weather was cool so the kids played and played. There were no other kids there but lots of doting women and fun things to play with so they never got bored.
The drive was gorgeous. We were 35 miles east of Payson. Abe screamed from Payson to Mesa. sometimes people say "my kid screamed for hours" and they are just trying to make a point, but when I say this I mean it literally. He screamed for hours. It was painful but there was no soothing him. at one point Jack got so annoyed listening to his howling that he was begging him to shut up. Finally Jack said (this is an exact quote) "Babyham, In this life you do not get what you want by freaking out. You need to calm down" I had to laugh because I could hear my own voice giving this lecture countless times to Jack. Even though he doesn't always take this advice, it is obviously embedded in his psyche.