Friday, July 13, 2012

Just as it has occurred many times during the summer, Arnold was the first visitor of the day. He arrived at 10:00 AM with Austin and Cole. They will be staying until Sunday. They got out of Arnold’s truck and immediately asked if they could ride their bikes. They rode through the camp ground getting a feel of their surroundings, checking back in every so often.

Roy and Ann arrived around 11:00. They are staying in a cabin along the Tellico River.

Mom, Steve, Jenifer, Jillian, and Isabell were the next visitors to arrive. Isabell and Jillian will be joining us for the remainder to the trip as well. They got to the camp site around 11:30. Mom brought BBQ. There was enough left after everyone had eaten that we had BBQ again for dinner. It was a nice surprise. She also brought not 1, but 2, cardboard dollhouses. The doll houses were in a medium sized rectangular card board box with writing on the outside that read, “Includes 272 pieces.” The picture on the box showed 2 girls with nice smiles on their faces sitting on the carpet in a home free of clutter. A far cry from what we were about to experience. The first doll house was assembled by Jillian and Grace who sat quietly for about an hour on the bottom bunk bed not letting anyone peek through the blanket that was hung covering the only entrance into the sleeping area. Isabell cried often as she was shunned from the assembly area. After the girls became bored with the project, they left to ride their bikes. Before they left, Grace gave me specific instructions, “Don’t let Isabell mess with that doll house.” Not really taking her seriously, or not really caring too much about her request, I didn’t say anything when I saw Isabell creep into their sacred place. She played for about 30 minutes occupied with the secrets that lay behind the curtain. When Grace and Jillian returned, they were disappointed to see that I had let Isabell play with their doll house. It had been colored in a manner in which they did not approve, cardboard baby beds and chairs were crushed, and pieces that were once there appeared to be missing. It was a disaster. Jillian and Grace told Isabell she could have that doll house and they would make another one…since there were 2 of course. And so…another doll house was built. The second one much sturdier than the first, but still basically paper. Dinner time came, the doll houses and all their pieces were moved from the table to the couch to accommodate all our guests, then was eventually moved outside and placed on the picnic table. During the transfers, many pieces fell to the ground, got muddied, got stomped, well…and thrown into the garbage can. All the while, I was thanking my mother for her gifts. 

10 visitors today, 384 in all