Memorial Weekend: Crystal Hot Springs

I can't remember the first time I went to Crystal Springs . I've been going there for as long as I can remember. I tried to prep West for it. "It's old babe. It's a dump. OK, not really a dump, but it's old. I still love it though!" We got invited by a group. Mostly his dad's friends. West knew some of them, had just done a roofing job with one of them (which was when we got invited). What a crazy group it was. It's fun to people watch there, we saw a lot of, please excuse the expression, but in this case it was so very true, white trash. West decided that this was a white trash place. I couldn't be offended. I really do love the place, it's a part of my childhood. It's one of my biggest, fondest memories from growing up with my birth-dad, Brent. He took my brother and me there quite a few times, before my mom and step-dad started taking us there on camping trips with our extended family. And that's how it fell into my childhood. Day trips with Dad Brent, whole weekends with Mom KC and Dad Dick. West and I decided that as long as I don't LOOK white trash or redneck, I'm allowed to like one or two white trash/redneck things. (If you're wondering, only Crystal Springs and mud bogs fall into that category).

Saturday was beautiful. Not too hot, not cold at all. We swam, we played soccer, we had a water fight (well, actually Mike, West's dad, just got attacked) and we met our group that we were camping with. We decided to try putting the kids in a tent for the night, and they ended up loving it. Which is really good, that's going to save us a lot of hassle this summer, being able to shove the kids into a tent :). Good thing we have one big enough for all six!

The next morning, Sunday, was chilly and overcast and it didn't take long for the drizzle to start. I decided to take the circus down to the pools anyway. I have one very clear memory of playing in those pools in a big rainstorm as a kid and I loved it. I was going to be a sport and let my kids do it, same as my dad was a sport for me. West earned huge brownie points by coming. I know he didn't want to, and I didn't ask him to. Yet he did.

Needless to say, West and I stuck to the hotter tubs with the weather being what it was. Crazy me, I figured today I'd keep my hair dry... ha! The rain ruined that idea. I might as well have submerged myself, I was soaked clear through. The crazy circus didn't mind the cooler ones.
I like this picture because you can see the rain falling on the cement. West had had enough and decided he was heading to the trailer. I said I would stay with the kids. Not 30 seconds later lightning flashed at the same time as the thunder and we pulled everyone out. We spent the next four hours watching movies and packing up. Someone had told West it was going to rain clear through to Monday afternoon. We weren't going to stay just to stay trapped by rain and lightning in the trailer. Come afternoon the sun came out again though. And Lindee showed up with her boyfriend, Sam. West stayed behind to finish packing up (we were leaving in the morning anyway. We figured we'd just finish out the day and leave at bedtime instead), and I took the kids down for a round with Lindee in the water.
After dinner Norm pulled out the hand crank ice cream maker and made the kids crank out some chocolate ice cream. We roasted marshmallows and hung out around the fire until it got dark, then pulled out. It was a fun weekend, and the rain really was a bonus. Memories in the making.