LPA Weekend in Pinecrest

This past weekend we hosted an LPA weekend up in Pinecrest, where my family has our cabin.. Scott decided, at the last minute, to stay home, due to the fact that he had just started his class for his Masters on Tuesday. Yep - he's gone back to school to get his Masters in Education with an emphasis in Math. Anyways, he had a paper due Sunday evening and needed to work on it. The Masters Program is through Walden University and it's all done online. So back to our weekend adventure....

Caty and I left Friday morning and got up to Pinecrest around 2:00. It took longer than our usual 3 hour drive, as we made a stop to get out and stretch our legs. During out stroll around Longs Drug Store, Caty said that her nose was hurting. We had spent Thursday morning at the in-home day care center and several of the kids had runny noses. So I thought that it might be a good idea to get some cold medicine - I sure am glad that I did. As the day went on, her nose got worse - poor thing! We got into Sonora and it was lunch time - we stopped and then hit the road again, luckily for only another 30 miles. We arrived at the cabin and started unpacking. I thought that it might be a good idea to walk down to the general store and get some chicken noodle soup for Caty. On our walk home (which is through the campground), we checked out where the sites were for the 2 families camping. The sites couldn't have been any closer to the cabin. Like I just mentioned, there were 2 families camping and I had invited another family to stay with us. Gerrie is our chapter president, Jim being her husband. Gerrie uses a scooter most of the time and I didn't see that happening around the campground, so I offered up a room at the cabin, they greatly accepted. I digress... We got back to the cabin and did some major sweeping on the front porch - think of what a months worth of pine needles might look like.

Finally we were situated and Caty went to play in the dirt with the cars and I pulled up a chair. Jim and Gerrie showed up around 5:00 and we got them settled in. Now with Gerrie's scooter I wasn't sure how she would get it up onto the porch, but out came the ramp and at a 45 degree angle, up she went with just a little help from Jim. After dinner, Caty, Jim and I took a walk over to the campground to see the Chase's and the Coehlo's. We chatted for awhile, but needed to head back as it was getting to be Caty's bed time and we had left Gerrie sitting on the porch. Caty went to bed when we got home and that was about it for the night.

Saturday morning Caitlyn decided that it was a great morning to sleep in; I think she eventually woke up around 8:30, thank goodness!! We spent some time playing around the cabin - mainly Caty playing in the dirt. The Chase's and Coehlo's came by for a visit. Around lunch time they all headed back to their campsites and we decided to meet up at the beach later. After our lunch the Marick's showed up. Paula and I were talking and I learned that she grew up in Sonora and went to school with my cousins (Jon and Eric) and a co-worker of Scott's (Brigette). Paula and Eric were in the same class and one year ahead of Brigette. What a small world! We headed to the beach, met up with everyone and the kids had a BLAST!!! The kids splashed and build sand castles and just had so much fun playing together. After the beach we walked back and then the other families joined us for a pasta dinner followed by a bon fire and SMORES!! The kids got incredibly sticky, especially mine, who luckily could go straight into the bathtub! The kids were getting a little tired so the Chase's, the Coehlo's and Marick's headed their own directions. The night ended with everyone exhausted and into bed early.

Sunday morning was spent at the cabin getting it cleaned and straighten up. We headed home and boy was I glad to get there! After chasing Caty around all weekend, by myself, I have a new found respect for those of you that are single parents. SHE EXHAUSTED ME COMPLETELY!!

We had such a great time sharing Pinecrest with our LPA family and I hope to make it an annual event! Thanks to those of you that joined us!

Enjoy some pictures!

Caty showing you her dirty feet (they were almost black by the end of the day)

Caty and Ashleigh playing in the dirt

Aidan, always with a vehicle of some sorts in his hands

See what I mean

The girls reading some books
Caty, Sarah and Shane playing in the lake
Caty and Aidan (I met Aidan's family on the Parents of Little People Yahoo Group,
come to find out that they live only about 20 minutes from us and Caty is just 6 weeks
older than Aidan. We are so lucky to have the so close by!)
All the kids playing (I was pretty lucky to get them all in one shot)
Caty, Ashleigh and Isabel
Caty and Sarah
The girls!
Roasting marshmallows!
Brian helping his kids out
Want a bite?!!!
The group

Caty wants to thank everyone for coming!