Simply Shabby Jess: Flying Javelinas

Early this week my friend Rose & I took our kids on a camping adventure at the beautiful Lynx Lake in Prescott, AZ. We had the perfect spot, lot 26 I think, in loop E. It was one of the wider spots we found with plenty of room for our big ol tent & more space on the side for an outdoor room. We were also right next to the entrance for the trail down to the lake and conveniently close to the bathrooms {{flushing toilets y'all!}} and water. Upon arrival the camp host warned Rose that we should make sure to put our food in our vehicles at night because javelina would come in at night for a snack. Tyler didn't know what a javelina is and when he thought he saw something in a tree he asked if they flew. Flying javelinas became a camp joke for us!

Over the next 3 days we had several adventures including a day visit from my parents, babiest sister & Nana. My dad helped a lot with the set-up and getting the boys ready to fish. Emily debuted her camp cooking skills, mom saved the day with hand sanitizer and Nana brought a big bag of really sweet & yummy nectarines. They are fabulous guests to have at one's campsite! Our next adventure was actually at the mall, where the boys tried out what it feels to experience hurricane wind forces. It was hot & the air conditioned mall was so very close! It was a nice break, but we were glad to get back to our camp site. We went on several walks down to the lake where the boys fished and everyone skipped rocks. Monday night came a whopper of a storm rolled in and the boys got caught in the rain down by the lake. I ran down to make sure they were okay and found them hunkered down under some umbrellas with some nice women and children. This resulted in my first rain shower drenching in years! The rain storm let up for a while giving us time to enjoy some hot, homemade chili. The chili was a nice touch as steam rolled off the ground and the air cooled down quite a bit. We had just enough time to get a few bites and get things packed up before the rain started again just as hard as ever and we all headed into the tent to stay dry. This adventure lead to tiny drops of rain sneaking into our tent & fears that we'd have to retreat to a hotel to survive the night. But, we reasoned that our conditions would make Survivorman laugh and think we were wimps and when we realized we were fine, we hunkered down and made it through the storm. It was after the storm that the biggest adventure hit. Rose & I were the only ones awake & there were some howling type calls in the distance. A while later, as we were discussing teachers and classes we had in JR High, there was a nasally-grunting & squealing noise in our camp! We were super glad we'd put all our food away. All of it except for maaaaaybe the brownies, Crunch N Munch & drinks we'd brought in to help us survive the night if the rain hadn't let up. {{Hey, there were two moms & 5 kids... it was necessity!}} I'll admit it, we were pretty creeped out right away. We suspected javelinas, but the night plays tricks on the mind & neither of us really knew that much about javelinas. And, what if it was something else?! I got brave enough to open the zipper on the screen door about 3 inches to try and peek outside very quietly. I didn't see a thing because after a second of putting my face close to the small opening I was repelled back by a strong skunk smell. It took over the tent & Rose said {{as I was thinking it}} that it smelled like rotted garlic mixed with skunk! We had NO idea javelinas smelled SO, SO bad! A frantic text message to KGB revealed that javelinas do indeed have a musky scent they use to identify each other eased a bit of nerves, but it didn't help much when we heard a strange sort of animal cry was heard 3 times, each time quickly coming closer and closer to the front of the tent! Full on freak out ensued! We whispered a plan to make some noise and on the count of three we clapped our hands like crazy ladies. {{All the while, kids sleeping like eminent doom wasn't creeping up on us all!!}} It seemed to work, because we only heard the noise once more at which time I blew a whistle. Still, Rose & I were up until at least 2 am talking and trying to calm down. Adventure, because we survived! Haha!

Flying javelinas, had the last laugh I'm sure!