Muddy Feet, Nappy Hair, and Soggy Swimsuits. Me Part 3

All my life, seriously my entire life, every June mi padre's side of the familia would load up their knapsacks and head down to 'The Creek', or the crick, depending on who you ask, for a weekend of camping entertainment. I was but a few days old when I made my first venture down south. My dad has 11 brothers and sister, and no we aren't Catholic (no offense to any Catholics out there), so it was quite a posse. We would sleep in leaky tents , in flat sleeping bags on the hard, rocky earth. There were no showers to speak of, and the only bathroom was an outhouse that got used about once a year. *Shudder* -My dad used to love the 'X-Files', and one particular episode had some kind of alien, zombie, creature that hid out in outhouses. It still freaks me out, to this day.- 

At the creek, we ate cold hot dogs, drank way too much sodie pop, and stayed in our fishy smelling swimsuits all.day.long. The creek had an old rock dam (watch your mouth) and we would take our bar soap down to the waterfall and scrub up in the greenish brown water. Ahhhh, refreshing. We LOVED this place, we got to play outside all day, eat junk, play in the water and outdoor litterbox, and annoy the relatives. When I say we, I refer to meself and my siblings, Mandi and Sean. There used to be an old wood and iron bridge that ran across the  upper portion of the creek, and it was good times to jump off into the murky water below. Mind you, the water wasn't that deep. We would have campfires at night, we would sing songs, laugh too loudly, get eaten by insects of the outdoors, and stay up WAY past our bedtime. REDNECK.

Every year without fail, we headed down there for my Grandpappy's birthday, which was June 5th, my b-day was June 6th.....I always got jipped on the birthdays, cuz we was always at the creek. Ah, well. We owned one side of the creek for years, and then the other side became available, so we snatched it right up. There is an old log cabin on the new side, where many of my aunt's and uncles were born....WHAT?! I know, a-maz-ing right? There are many campers, cabins and trailers down there, no more sleeping in tents. We is way to good for that. The kids get bathed every night in the shower house, we eat real food, because we have a full kitchen to cook in, and the whole atmosphere is different. All the aunts and uncles have kids, so that means with them, their spouses, and their kidlets; there is about a million people down there. "Holey smokies." I know, I know. Some of them are still procreating, I have two kids, my sister has one, and our aunties are still birthin' babies. My dad has a nephew that is older than him, and he (my dad) is John Richard Bullard III. "What?" I know.

I have 26 FIRST-cousins, and counting, ranging in age from 13 years-7 months. "A nephew that's older than him?" I know. Have you ever heard the song, 'I am my own grandpa?' Yeah.

When I was 10, I babysat for the first time, my cousin Mikayla, she was a few weeks old. Nowadays, I believe you can get in trouble for that kind o' stuff. Child endangerment or something. That started the trend, free babysitters, to the whole family. But that's another story.  I'm finkin' next time, I will bring this all to a close, and then you will know...Why I am so screwy in the head.