Are you out of your everloving mind?!

That is the phrase that I have repeated to myself several times over the past 24 or so hours.


J and the kids have been desperate to go camping. I've put them off because I remembered our last spring camping trip as being really cold. But, with spring break this week, I let them talk me into it.

We decided to go to Camperworld's Hot Springs resort because they have a swimming pool fed by hot springs. No chemicals in the water, and it changes itself out frequently, so it's the cleanest swimming pool you'll ever be in. Not only that, but it's really warm in the pool, so a lot of fun to swim in when it's cold outside.

Two days ago, though, it began to snow. Hard. It was one of the bigger snowstorms we had over the winter. I had my doubts about camping, but everyone still wanted to try, so the trip was still on.
Then, we remembered the chicks we got for Easter. Since they're still little, they need a lot of food and water, and we weren't sure how they'd do at home for 24 hours. So, what the heck. Let's bring the chickens! We transported them in the truck in an Easter bucket.
We get to the resort, and check in at the front desk. They ask the usual questions, and it's business as usual. Then, they ask if we brought any pets. Oh dear. Is there any way to answer this without looking like a total lunatic? Nope.

Me: "Um, we brought 4 chickens"

Her: "CHICKENS?"

Me: "Well, you see, they're only a couple weeks old, and need to be fed so frequently that we didn't think they could be left alone overnight"

Her: "..."

Really, what do you say?

Maybe this means that my reputation at Camperworld will change from "troublemaker" to "Crazy Chicken Lady". Is it bad that I think that would be an improvement?

We get camp set up, chickens go to their heated tote in the bath tub. I take the kids down to the pool to swim while J tosses the tinfoil dinners on the fire to cook.

The water was definitely warm, but not as warm as I remember it being. After an hour, Z and I are shivering, so we drag the other kids out, kicking and screaming.

That night, I discovered (yet another) reason that most people don't bring chicks camping. They would not shut up!!! peep peep peep peep peep peep peep all night long.

After a while, I realize that it IS awfully cold in the trailer. I look at the thermometer, and it's 44 degrees. Furnace isn't working. We realize it's a battery issue, so we change batteries. An hour later, their peeping wakes me up again. This time, we're out of gas. Poor J goes out and switches tanks. Z wakes up, cold. I tuck him in again, and he's out like a light.

The chickens were still noisy, but quiet enough that I can sleep.

The next morning, we look down over the hot springs, and loved the view:


As soon as we finished breakfast, the whole family went down to the pool. The day was much calmer. It was colder, but no wind. The water was much warmer, and we had a blast swimming for a couple hours.

We then packed up, and headed home, where we've been spring cleaning our trailer.