God was on our side!

This weekend was our Cuzzins' Campout. My mom's side of the family gets together every Labor Day for the past 12 years and camps. We stay in cabins with AC and have meals together and play games, etc. Well this year we went up the Swannee River. Our place was really cool. It was a huge campground. Lot's of activities and of course the river.

My grandma's brother in law, Chuck and his son John brought their boats with them. Saturday, John took some of the little kids and a few adults for a ride. He also had his wife and their dog with him. Chuck brought the kids' parents and some other adults. A few hours after they left, we got a call that there was an accident. John's steering stopped working and the kids were thrown from the boat. The boat them crashed into a tree on the bank. The kids were all wearing life jackets and the adults jumped out and helped the kids to safety. His mom was hurt really bad-a large gash in her head and injured her foot. Also my cousin, Bryn hit something-not sure what-and had a large gash in her head. They had a difficult time turning her over and getting her to the bank. All the others have minor scrapes and bruises.

John's dog wasn't so lucky. She was lodged into one of the compartments in the front of the boat and died. They tried pulling her out but her body was lifeless. The boat the adults were one were not close. Someone from John's boat called them and said the kids were ok. When they caught up to them it was chaos. Kids were crying, adults were crying, John's wife was very upset-the dog was their baby. John was in shock. Bryn and Karen were rushed to the Hospital. It was quite a scary day. Lots of hugs, crying, and praying. We are thankful that all walked away and the EMS couldn't believe that the injuries were as minor as they were. On the other hand, John and his wife are mourning the loss of their baby. I feel so terrible for them and couldn't wait to get home and hug Peanut. The weekend went on, but John and his wife couldn't bear the pain so they went home. I think it was probably good so the mourning can start and help them as they prepare for a life without their girl.

I'm sure we will never forget this camping trip and thank our lucky stars that no person was severly injured.

We had a low key Sunday. None of the kids wanted to go to the river after what had happened. Instead we went on a slide they had there. It was like a long slip and slide but had a hill it went down. It was soo much fun. Phil slipped on the way down his first time and hurt his lower back so he sat out after that. The rest of us couldn't get enough. Phil and I were supposed to go horse back riding later that day but due to his injury we decided against it.

All in all it was a good time. Stressful, scary, and sad, but we made the best of it.