We stayed at O'Leno State Park for our weekend retreat and it was on the shore of the Santa Fe River. Alot of the structures including this bridge we are standing in front of were built during the great depression by the Civilian Conservation Corp.

The entire campsite which consisted of several cabins, a dining hall and a rec hall besides the river, and many of the structures were also built by the CCC. Before the CCC came along the site was a town originally called Keno named for the game of chance which was abandoned when the railroad bypassed the tiny town.

If you have never heard of the Civilian Conservation Corp go here for information. Briefly they were mostly young men that wer put to work by Roosevelt to build our state parks system. Most of the money they earned was sent home to destitute families. Truly an admirable venture for all. Maybe we should think of putting the unemployed to work in this manner again and perhaps rebuild our highways and biways, but I digress.

This bridge was truly amazing, it was a suspension bridge about forty feet above the river that swayed when you walked across it. The kids were fascinated. Parents were a bit wary of the kids getting on the bridge alone.

There were 8 of us that bunked together in a 2 room cabin, Our family of three, Stephanie and her 3 year old girl Emmie and Mason and Sara and their 5 year old girl Kelsey or as Jamie calls her Kellesy.

Jamie didn't get a nap on Saturday, she ripped and roared all day and by this time on Sunday (about 3pm) was really getting a bit cranky.

So we decided before breaking up for the trip back home that we wanted a photo of our group at the bridge. Jamie just wasn't wanting to go along with it. If you click onthe photos you can see her scowl and look straight down while we all we smiling. (Note the tipped heads of me and Sara - what's up with that?)

After the photos Jamie slammed herself to the ground and had a grand tantrum. I remember a story my mom always tells about one of my tantrums and decided to try it.

I had the camera in my hand and I said "I am going to take a movie of this tantrum, Hey everybody come and look at Jamie having a tantrum!" Boy it really made her mad, she got so mad she let out an enraged scream and then quit.

Later on the way home she napped most of the way home. I had told her if she was a good girl on the way home we would take a dip in the pool when we got home. So when she woke up from the nap she sang a song "I love mommy...mommy mommy, I love my mommy" It was really cute and she was just so darned cheerful.

We did swim after we got home. Later after the swim she said, "Mommy I think I am crazy, I don't want to be crazy".

Did she have an epiphany? She sure has been cheerful and more cooperative this week.