A Whirlwind Weekend.....literally!

This past Friday night we camped out on Big Pine where Brandon grew up. We had been planning this trip for a couple of months and everyone was excited, including us. Ethan and I had been battling a cold all week but we were optimistic that everything would be fine. The wind had been blowing REALLY hard all day but was supposed to die down, so off we went.

We had a wonderful time cooking out, making smores and just visiting around the campfire. Ethan clearly was not 100% but he was having a good time and I was pushing the cold medicine. Around 9:30 he fell asleep on his Papaw Ronnie and went to bed in the tent, Ellie and I followed shortly after and Brandon sat up to visit and came to bed later.

Sometime shortly after, the wind hit us with a vengeance. Our tent was blowing so hard that at times it felt like we were going to take flight. You could hear it coming across the mountain and we would all hunker down and wait for it to hit. The kids were up changing beds every few minutes. (Maybe a little too much Wizard of Oz?) Brandon's aunt stayed in the tent with us and ended up sleeping with all of us before the night was over. Brandon's brother's tent fell partially over at one point but it was so late and windy they opted just to leave it. Here's what it looked like the next morning:

The next day was beautiful and we enjoyed a yummy hot breakfast around the campfire.

Brandon's Aunt's Connie and  Kaye brought pumpkins for the kids to decorate which Ellie in particular really enjoyed. You'll notice Ethan is not in any of these pictures, by this time he was already at his Mamaw's sleeping off his wind induced hangover.

Then we went to Brandon's Mamaw's for a DELICIOUS lunch. By this point Ethan was feeling pretty bad and it was time to take him home. (Ellie was so disappointed to miss the ride to the top of the mountain on the back of Papaw's truck.)

It's so neat to see the influence each of these people have had on Brandon's life. I'm so thankful for all of them and their HUGE hearts to make this weekend so much fun. What a wonderful, whirlwind weekend!