The kids and I went to the ward camp out up Pecos Canyon at Jack's Creek. Simon refused to come as he cannot understand why anyone would willingly go camping and says so loudly and often. But we would be surrounded by friends from church so we packed up and went (actually Lauren packed up everyone, being very excited to go on her first camp out and going with her friend, Siri Burkman, to boot!).
We pitched our tent in the meadow amid the wild irises and next to the Burkman's tent. We played/talked with friends, explored the wooded hillside that led down to the creek, climbed over logs, and made s'mores around the campfire. When night came we divided the Mudge/Burkman clan into our two tents so the kids could sleep with their friends and went to sleep. Or at least we tried. Lachlan is apparently not a very good sleeper on camp outs in spite of having the warmest (down) sleeping bag. He made sure everyone in the campsite knew how miserable he was and couldn't understand why we didn't just pop home. I did manage to get at least a little sleep.
I was counting the trip a success while we were packing up to leave the next morning when suddenly Lachlan disappeared. He had been standing right next to his friend, Anders Burkman, when suddenly we could no longer see him but could hear him crying. Anders, in response to our questions, tried to pull Lachlan up out of the rather long grass. Anders' dad, Gilbert, reached them first and carried Lachlan to me saying that it looked like there was a problem. One glance at his somewhat squiggly arm told me it was broken. According to Anders he had stood on an unstable log and fell when it shifted.
Attempts to stabilize the arm were abandoned when it became clear that Lachlan was determined to fight these attempts, potentially injuring his arm more. After a blessing, we set off with Stacy Burkman at the wheel so I could sit with Lachlan and hold his arm. Gilbert stayed behind with the rest of the kids from both families, finished packing up, and drove the kids home, stopping by the Forest Service kids' free fishing event and generally keeping the kids distracted.
As it turned out, the closest clinic that was open was back in Santa Fe, an hour away. I never thought I would be grateful that a child had been up all night until Lachlan managed to sleep all the way back in spite of a broken arm! Of course, if he had been less tired, maybe his reaction time would have been quicker...
Long story short, he broke both bones in his forearm most of the way through, chose a pink cast, and missed the first five weeks of his first soccer season. He endured the cast and the accompanying restrictions calmly, even though he missed opportunities to go to water parks and jump on the Burkman's new trampoline. His mother calmed down eventually as well. Lachlan's arm is still curved in a way it shouldn't be but the doctor assures me it will straighten out in about a year.
Simon has (mostly) refrained from his anti-camping soap box in spite of the excellent ammunition the broken arm gave him. He even went camping for a couple of nights with Jackson at scout camp, making this his first camp out since he was dating me. Love apparently conquers all, at least for a few nights each decade.
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