So.....these last four days I ventured off to take the kids camping...all by myself. Yes I did. I had a lot of people tall me I was "brave" to do such a thing. But I had actually been looking forward to it for a while!
I LOVE CAMPING!!!
Well, our first day started out a little slow. I refused to leave until my home was clean--I wasn't going to come home to a messy house! And, I had just had a large Pampered Chef party (29 adults and 18 children--you heard me) two nights before, and then the all day beach trip you will see on the next blog posting. So my car and home were filthy! Anyway, after packing up and scurrying up Mt. Hood, setting up and exploring...my head was raging with a horrible headache from somewhere not nice!!! It hurt so bad I wanted to gouge out my left eyeball--it just seemed like the logical thing to do.....and there was nothing I could do but wait until dark when I could hopefully sleep it off.....or so I hoped.
The kids couldn't wait to build a fire! All three of them loved to just sit and stare at it...okay, so not really. Nathan kept rocking his chair forward--I swear he was trying to lunge himself forward into the fire pit! And Daniel was constantly trying to burn things! Ashley on the other hand, really was content to just sit and watch.
Look closely at this young 'gem'! She's filthy...and she stayed like that all week. Don't worry though, she never ran around in her undies--although I was tempted--would have saved me a few loads of laundry when we got back! Barefoot??? That was another issue entirely! She's my wild and untamed, spoiled little precious!!! I love her!
Nathan looks like he is doing some stage musical performance;
"one, and two, and one and two. Now turn,...pivot, pose! Smile!"
That was our dish-washing station.
I guess there were two pictures taken of me on this trip...who knew? Choppin wood...
She's choppin broccoli!!!
I am so tired right now it's not even funny. Don't look too closely at this picture--Im tired and I have a horrible headache remember?--oh yeah, we're still on day one!
Someone got a hold of the camera and took some pictures of Nathan.
Well, there was a 13 mile hike around Timothy Lake--so we sent off taking the south trail!!! I think we made about a mile....half a mile out, and half a mile back! Seriously...we are so pathetic.
I love these kids! We HAD to stop and play at every little beach we encountered! skip rocks and climb on tree stumps....non stop fun!
Daniel looks ridiculous, but that's because he's hanging out over the water, swinging from the branch!
Ducks.....ah yes. Target practice!
me: "Daniel!!! Do not throw rocks at the ducks!"
Dan: "Im not! Im just tossing them 'close' to them"
Riiiiiiiiiiight!
Most of Nathans poses are fierce! Hands always in fists--ready to strike.
He's always a super hero, combating some invisible evil force threatening to destroy this World as we know it, and he must save us from it's villainous clutches!...which inevitably means Ashley or Daniel get pummeled!
Just doing his duty--No need to thank him citizens!
Giggling....some more!
Oh, and Kristi? I counted how many times Ashley fell on our walk...12. 12 times! just on the way out! I stopped counting on the way back. :)
This time...I think Nathan is holding a Light-Saber. I could be wrong.
So, before I move on to day two, let me expound on how day one finished out! My headache of course was awful, nigh--unbearable!! The kids are now tired from their one mile walk and exploration and want feeding! I got to the coolers and announced, "let's have hamburgers!!"
Only, there were no buns....no mustard or ketchup. I brought lettuce, pickles and patties, but nothing else! So I decided that we'd have chicken, potato and carrot tin-foil dinners! Yummy. Well, the chicken I brought was frozen solid. so I was hacking away at the chicken--frustrated--and trying to keep Nathan from tipping himself into the fire, Ashley from eating dirt, and Daniel from burning the camp site down!
The foil dinners were hurriedly thrown onto the fire. But the chicken wouldn't cook fast enough, and the potatoes and carrots were cooking too quickly. So I removed them from the fire and put them in a pot with a cup of water and some Lipton Onion soup mix and boiled it all together!
Actually.....I thought it wasn't half bad! :) (Trust me--this was an important part of my story--you'll be glad you read about my Lipton Onion soup mix later)
So after the fire dies down it's time for bed. They are all excited to sleep in the 'fort'! Nathan however is a little too excited.
He and Daniel were strategically placed on either end of the tent, so Ashley and I could share the middle--thus keeping them apart. However, they were throwing their stuffed animals over Ashley and hitting each other--then they were jumping over Ashley and tackling one another! How Ashley remained calm I will never know! So, after two spankings, and a cup of water to the face I had had enough!!! Seriously! I had thrown water on them and they were still laughing! So I got up (remember, I have a headache already) grabbed my book I was desperately trying to read by fire light (which is no good at all) and whacked them against the head with it! I'd like to say that it was some sort of encyclopedia volume that would cause them to instantaneously fall asleep--but alas--it was just a small paper back called True Women...which, if any of you ever read it, will understand the irony of why hitting them with this book was so funny to me later! Go ahead, read it--then we can all laugh!
Okay, so the act was so shocking to them that each began to cry and within three minutes, (that's right, 3) they were all sound asleep and snoring (well.....Daniel was sound asleep and grinding his teeth, but Nathan and Ashley were snoring).
Now...on to the fun part. As I tried to enjoy the quiet night and look up at the stars and enjoy the lingering embers of the fire, the smell of the pine trees, dirt and fresh air; the cool breeze pulling on my dirty pony-tail...I realized I didn't feel good. I didn't feel good at all!! Not just my headache--which was still hammering away at my brain and eye socket like little elf diamond miners--but my stomach was not too happy.
So I retired.
Well, kind of. I tossed and tossed and sat up, and tossed some more. Then I tried rocking--which only made it worse! I was feeling sick. So sick in fact, that I left my little sleeping beauties to fend for themselves in the dark of the night, in a tent, unprotected from the brutal wilderness; to excuse myself to the "up-graded" port-o-potty, and hurl my dinner inside! YES!! It's true! I spent the first night camping throwing up in a port-o-potty, praying my kids wouldn't wake to see that their mother had in deed followed through on her threat earlier that day to "abandon them in the woods if they didn't settle down!"
Seriously, some Social Worker is going to read this and think Im a terrible mother.
So....my Lipton onion soup and frozen chicken? Yes, that was an important fore-shadowing in this wonderful story you've embarked on. Cause you see.....I had become wild! Wild like Ashley--we were filthy and never washed our hands and ate the dirt and sal-manilla poisoning I had put onto my fingertips! Well....I did anyway. So there you have it. Day one!
Day Two:
Aside from waking up five pounds lighter, my headache wasn't nearly as bad, but I had apparently sub-leased my bottom lip to several cold sores during the night. Great!
Next, we took our chances swimming. It was nice out, but windy--swimming didn't last very long. We tried several more times through out the day! But first things first--we drove 30 minutes down the mountain to a Chevron station to buy ketchup and mustard, buns and of course--Bayer Aspirin!
Finally! Hamburgers for lunch!!
Another shot of me in the wild! Doing what I do best....carve marshmallow sticks!
I took some pictures of them eating marshmallows...and a picture of how dirty Ashley was...and this was "after" she had washed her hands! It just doesn't do her justice!
You see these beautiful rays of sunshine beaming into our camp? Well, for some odd reason--Im thinking it's due to an animated Book of Mormon video they watched--every time Nathan and Ashley would see these rays of sun in our camp site, they would stop what they were doing and look up into the sun! Nathan would calmly come over and announce that it was Jesus! Ashley, more of a soap box, Methodist preacher type, would announce at the top of her lungs, "JESUS CHRIST!" With such excitement, I think the whole campground turned to see who's daughter was taking the Lord's name in vane!
An older couple camping next to us, finally came up to me after they had packed to leave, and told me how much "enjoyment" they had had watching and listening to us!
"Woman!" thought I, "If Jesus wasn't apparently visiting my campsite every few hours I'd slap you silly!"
This time we tried hiking the North trail...again, I don't think we made half a miles journey before stopping to swim at a perfect little beach! Never mind it was windy and 65 degrees out! But what made this walk particularly special, were two events. First, my cell phone suddenly got reception and told me I had a voice mail. It was from Daniel's school, informing me that Daniel had been marked absent today.....Uh???? ex-squeeze me? Baking powder? (if you don't know what Im quoting, then you don't belong in this family!)
So I called them back. WHAT!?!? School started today!? Great! First day of fourth grade will always be remembered on the banks of Timothy Lake. Daniel missed the first two days of school....*sigh*, I am a horrible mother.....it's true.
Okay, now the water is crystal clear...it's only murky because Nathan is pulling up mud in his fists. Which brings me to the second reason why this walk was memorable! It reminded me of a story I once heard from my Dad, when he was a little boy. His big brother was standing aloft in the top of the barn, and told "teddy" to throw a rock at him.....well, My dad did...and hit him! But how can you punish him for doing what he was told to do?! And so it was.....
Daniel was standing aloft on the tree stump, and was telling Nathan to hit him with mud....however, one thing about Timothy Lake is that there are a lot of rocks! So Nathan was throwing rocks and mud trying to hit Daniel! I have never seen my little four year old more happy, giggly and content than he was that day throwing rocks at his big brother--and me sitting behind him, encouraging it! ;)
This was the bridge we discovered..or at least that's what Ashley called it!
A pretty view from the lake's shore. Mt Hood in the distance....
More Marshmallow eating! Right off the stick. Ashley insisted they be charcoal black before consuming them. She enjoyed setting them on fire and then blowing them out at least three times!
That happens to be a stick I stole from some condos in Pacific city while we were at the beach a few days earlier. As I ran away with it, I caught the eye of one of the house keeps, and promised her I'd bring it back after I was done. Through the window, I couldn't tell if she thought I was crazy, or if she understood I was lying and resented me for it!
Anyhow, it made a great stick for dough boys and roasting marshmallows!
Day three:
Lots more swimming, and exploring! Cause basically....that's all there is to do. We had a nice grove of trees and ferns next to our camp site that kept them entertained. They got to explore and build forts, and I gave Daniel permission to use his pocket knife.....that is, until Nathan was stealing my boning knife from the kitchen supplies and trying to be a hero again! Boys should never have knives....
Day four was spent cleaning up and packing out! But we drove around the campground to select the best site for next year. Right on the water too. This was the view from the fire pit!
Now, one more story before I close the epistle of Jenilyn's camping trip. Every night I insisted that the kids go to the bathroom BEFORE they got into bed. Which they always did--happily! However, for some odd reason, the last night was spent taking turns unzipping the tent and sending each child (at least twice) into the bushes to pee--cause I was too tired to take them to the bathroom down the road. That included little Miss. Ashley--who was stripped of her bottom half and sent to 'squat' in the bushes next to the tent! You bet'cha!
So, the next morning, I found that they hadn't strayed too far from the tent. I had laid a large tarp under the tent so we could have a....welcome mat, if you would, to take off our shoes etc, before entering the tent. Well, they had--collectively--made a small pool off to one corner. Now, whether this had been pre-meditated or they just didn't want to walk on the dirt at night...I will never know. But it was a funny thing to wake up to.
My three beautiful, wonderful, fun, enthusiastic,charming, loving, energetic and happy kids!! How I love them sooooooo very much! They are my whole world! I loved camping with them--teaching Daniel to build the fire, holding Ashley's dirty little hands and watching Nathan try to catch all the little chipmunks.
They are so precious to me, and I will always remember this summer I had to spend with them. I know they miss their Daddy a lot, but selfishly, I enjoyed having them all to myself this summer!!!
