8 Years

Next week is our 8th anniversary and in all honesty I've been too consumed with Birthdays and Baptisms to spend much thought on how we might celebrate. Well, last week Rodney declares to me, "Gina, don't make any plans for next weekend. We got a babysitter and we're going out to celebrate our anniversary. Oh, and think about what you wanna do 'cause she's staying overnight."

What more could a girl possibly think of to want? Good work, Rodney. Now to decide where to go and what to do. Due to lack of funds we had to dismiss the first few ideas that popped into my head (stay at a B&B or a hotel downtown, maybe see a show). Then I remembered. I used to camp. I used to bike. Rodney and I used to do this a lot together. Then I got pregnant and someone stole my bike. But, we could borrow someone's bike for the day and we could find a great place to camp that wasn't too far (oh, and I'm thankfully not pregnant right now). I didn't have to convince my outdoors loving husband that this was a good plan. The very instant the words "camping" and "biking" made their way out of my mouth he had the perfect place in mind. Pere Marquette State Park along the confluence of the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers. The plan was to make it there by dinner and return before Will and Eva woke up from afternoon naps the next day. Done and done.

Victoria and Dan arrived at our house at 4pm. Victoria is a colleague of Rodney's and Dan is her boyfriend. They babysat the kids a few times on Thursdays during my voice lessons when Rodney had tutoring in the spring. They were so awesome to give up close to 24 hours of their summer freedom to enter the world of schedules, bottles, naps, and Play Doh. I didn't think I was very nervous about leaving the babes overnight until I started explaining our routine. I honestly couldn't shut up. I kept finding the most random things to tell them about that I had to remind myself that they too are adults and can figure out lots of stuff. Then we got in the car. Crap. I forgot to tell them about Che's eating schedule. And how to turn the monitor on. And that the fan in the dining room makes noises so don't use it. I have two words for you. Control freak.

But, we did it. We made it to the site, set up camp and had a great hotdog-and-s'mores dinner. At one point Rodney turned to me and said "Look at us. What have we got to do? No kids to worry about and no responsibilities. This is amazing." He was right. I couldn't believe that we had 6 whole years of this before the awesome job of child-rearing took over our lives.

I did have one thing to do, however. Pump. After our lovely camp meal, I started getting sleepy and knew this must be done before settling in for the night. I'll share the start of the ensuing conversation:

Me: "O.K. I'm gonna go pump before bed."
Rodney: "Alright. I'm just gonna sit and watch the fire for a little bit."
Me from the tent: "Crap. I forgot the pump attachment."

There was no way I could make it until two o'clock the next day without pumping. Can we just say uncomfortable? So, we started deliberating. Do we go home? Can you (sorry about the TMI) hand express? No. O.K. Rodney remembers seeing a Wal Mart on our way to the campground. We'll just go buy a hand pump and make do. Not something I was that pumped about (I do like a good pun, people) but we're having a good time, so I'll suck it up. I will say that I don't really understand why anyone would every buy a hand pump, but in this instance I was happy not to have to buy a whole new electric pump for just a night and a morning.

I made the best of this situation (not without some grumbling, I'm not gonna lie) and the rest of our trip was amazing. The bike ride was so much fun and we spent some inspiring moments beside the river discussing dreams for the next 8 years. After a tasty lunch of "hot fish" (there were several establishments in the "touristy" burg of Grafton advertising this delicacy) we made it home in the middle of naptime to a house intact and two very tired 20-somethings (Eva apparently was up from 4-5 am). I am ever thankful for Victoria and Dan's bravery and can think of no better way to celebrate marriage than in the stillness and beauty of bluffs and riverfronts.

Happy 8th year, baby.