I was at a party, standing in front of a group of people… one relative, a couple chosen family, a few friends and friends of friends. They were asking how my children were doing, and I’d mentioned our youngest, Flora, was about to turn fourteen.

One thing led to another, and I was saying how much she loves stopping at the Sheetz on the way to Middleburg, when my sister said maybe I could get her a Sheetz souvenir as a birthday gift.

Sheetz?

The record player, which was actually playing an album at the time, came to a screeching halt. They were all holding their breath, waiting for us to elaborate…

Yes! Sheetz! She loves that place! I pretended not to see their concerned expressions. Why Sheetz?

Well, for starters, we don’t have a Sheetz in Virginia Beach…

That got a couple of them to relax their knitted eyebrows.

AND it was the place we stopped all the time when we were RV camping and it probably was loaded with amazing memories…

That opened up the air valve and the party resumed. Shwew!

I’d actually never thought about how weird that may have sounded until I needed to defend her love of Sheetz. But the second I mentioned us camping, memories flooded my heart.

I was practically born in my parents VW bus (they actually took me cross-country when I was only 9 months old), so when David and I decided to try our luck with tent camping down the street from our house at the beautiful First Landing State Park (formerly and forever-known to locals as Seashore State Park), it didn’t seem like too big of a deal. AND our two oldest girls were away, so it was just Flora, and her older brother, Avi. You know what they say- when you are down a kid, it’s a vacation- right?

We set up the tent, trekked down the long wooden bridge path all the way out to the beach and the Chesapeake Bay. This is same beach we spend tons of time at because the grandparents live in a condo on the bay. But that day it felt like we were far, far away.

Flora was very VERY excited as captured in this video:

It was a beautiful afternoon. As the sun began going down we realized we should head back because it would get dark pretty fast. On the way, there was a shower to rinse off… This turned into the most hilarious part of the day due to the ice-cold freezing water…

Meanwhile, I had envisioned the evening and brought all I needed for my dinner…

A little wine and cheese and I was ready to chill. But the bugs were out in full force and driving everyone crazy. S’mores were made in record time, and we hung out in the tent the rest of the night.

Did I mention it was hot AF? David had thought to bring several small hand-held fans, but over the course of the night, somehow they all ended up angled towards him 🤪🤦🏻‍♀️

And then… in the middle of the night… Tap. Tap. Tap. Pat. Pat. Pat…

Rain.

Lots of rain… Which at first – I honestly was thrilled, because I LOVE rain and maybe it would cool things off.

But it poured and poured… and this is where things got a little um… tricky.

Thank goodness we decided to put the little roof over the top of the tent, but we were quite a bit open on the sides trying to have some airflow. Needless to say, our efforts quickly changed from staying cool to staying dry.

And it didn’t work.

My little bed soon became waterfront property, and then there was cursing. Lots of cursing eventually turned into belly laughing- and the two of us slept zero minutes.

As soon as the sun came up, we all agreed tent camping was not our jam, and since we didn’t have to stay suffering in the hot-buggy-wet-mess, everyone happily helped pack up and twenty minutes later we were home.

So, we decided to buy an RV for ourselves (a Fifth Wheel for anyone who knows). We could not have known how perfect our timing was, as we got it right before the pandemic!

We sold the RV, so now when we stop at Sheetz, not only are the kids thrilled and have their camping memories, it also usually means we are about 30 minutes from their Aunt Kimmie’s house, which is just as exciting!

I REALLY love celebrating the simple stuff, especially knowing ordinary things are the most magical if you want them to be.

Meanwhile, her gifts were a hit!

I also got the cutest little lights ever for her (and me 🙋🏻‍♀️).

She loves the way the button presses on the toast one very satisfying!

You can find the toast one here and the lantern one here. (*I do have the possibility of earning tens of cents for qualifying purchases as an Amazon affiliate. But rest assured, if I have linked something, it is because I freakin LOVE it!)

BY THE WAY – One of my all time very favorite Sh*T 💩 jokes comes from the amazing comedian ISMO: