The Davis Family Fais do do

Laissez les bon temps rouler! This strange-looking string of words is required vocabulary for a Louisiana resident. Laissez les bon temps rouller is "Let the good times roll!" in French, of course.

The six of us let the good times roll Sunday night with our very own Fais do do! Fais do do is French and means an all night get-together/dance. Our fais do do didn't include the traditional bourbon, Cajun cuisine and zydeco music, however. A family-sized tent, complete with a family of six, sausages, s'mores, sleeping bags, a lantern and some matches and, of course, the "music" of the chirping insects and frogs made for an exceptional family-style fais do do!

Sunday afternoon, September 2nd, we set up tent and got our camp site ready in plenty of time to leisurely cook supper over the fire, go swimming in the lake and have s'mores before zipping into our tents for the night.

Listening and watching a tent in which Madalynn, Dawson and Justis are holed up together is quite a show. Travis and I sat quietly chatting while they were SUPPOSED to be winding down and falling asleep. The lantern they kept turning on gave away the goings-ons in the tent and we could hear their sneaky plotting whispers. They had a great time together just being brothers and sister.

Jillian's camping trip was more of a sensory experience for her this time around because she's getting around more. She learned what wollerin' (Kansas lingo)in the dirt feels like when she finally got brave enough to veer off of the nice, big clean tarp we had put her and her toys on. She peeked through her tent window from her porta-crib and cried when we put her in bed for the night. She quickly gave into sleep, though.

Swimming in the Lake is probably the kids' highlight of camping at Percy Quinn. Justis lit up like a Christmas tree when he stepped into the water. Jillian is a little fish, so Travis took her out in her diaper and held her, too. One of Madalynn's Crocs made a fine holder for the clam shells she gathered for her "collection." Dawson stuck to Travis's side, not surprisingly.

Weary from staying awake until the kids FINALLY went to sleep, Travis and I were not ready to get up Labor Day morning when the kids did. The sun hadn't even fully made it's appearance in the pre-dawn sky before the kids were up and screeching and laughing LOUDLY, so as to wake all of the rest of the campers in a one-mile radius up! The words, "Go back to bed," do not register in the mind of a camping child who sees the beginnings of the morning sun!

Kudos to my ever-so-manly husband! Travis knows how to camp. I was a girl scout, but I cried almost the whole week of camp because I was homesick! 'Nuf said. I am an idiot when it comes to being an "outdoors woman." Travis is a pro at packing that minivan chock full and getting everything set up and creating a fire out of very few resources! He also kills spiders, bees, wasps and anything else creepy crawly that "threatens" me or one of the children. Thank you, Scott, for teaching Travis well and for the air mattress and pump you added to our camping collection for Travis's birthday. My night's sleep was much more peaceful this camping trip!

I can still smell campfire smoke after washing my hair twice since our family adventure, and I am still EXHAUSTED. Smoky hair and tired eyes are such a small price to pay for the family time and bonding that happens every time we go camping, though.