A Week, Briefly (May 16, 2022)

 We did it!

We went camping!

And it went well enough that we might do it again.

The week leading up to the camping trip and the preparation for the camping trip were rather stressful.

Poor Sugar Bear was the victim of an accident caused by another toddler's mischief, and I called her mother to meet us at the emergency room.  Sugar Bear is ok, but it was terrifying while we waited to find out.  It was an emergency I'd never faced before in 22 years of mothering.

How grateful I am that her parents still trust us to care for their babies!

How grateful I am that there was no permanent damage done!!

The second math booklet is finished!

Little Princess did several hours of MEL chemistry, and her cute assistant was quite faithful.

We were able to do Math Monday and Library Tuesday.  

Storytime--with varying levels of interest!

But the accident happened as we were trying to leave for the park on Wednesday (though Sir Walter Scott took my youngest 6 to the park later that day), and we were packing all day on Thursday.

The dinosaur origami book we borrowed from the library inspired an entire day of crafting pieces of this dragon costume.

Every single one of our babies was picked up later than usual due to work, medical, or personal emergencies for their parents.  This made getting packed and out the door much later than we'd hoped, and in the end, we arrived at camp 18 minutes too late!!

We sat at the entrance debating what to do for several minutes.  Fortunately, the night supervisor saw us and opened the gates when we provided proof of our reservation.

We set up our tents by flashlight, slept poorly, and somehow managed to have a lovely day.

The smoke got in Ladybug's eyes.  Instead of moving, she wore her sweatshirt backward and pulled the hood over her face until the wind shifted.

So eager to get in the water--these two are testing the depth and stability of the shoreline.

For Baymax the fire was magic.  He played with his smoldering "magic wand" for a full hour or more.

The funniest moment came during a game of catch when Nature Angel tricked Brother into missing a catch after he'd been tricking other kids.  He expressed astonishment.  She yelled out, "That's the oldest trick in the book!"

Beowulf looked confused and yelled, "The oldest chicken butt!?!?"

And we fell down laughing.

We explored the camp, wandered around the lake, skipped rocks, burned our paper trash, took naps, played games, and ate heartily.  It was a long, gentle day. 

Mister Man was the first to fall into the water.

Belle fell asleep in the middle of a game!  The doggies are not used to so much exercise, and they napped hard, too!

Marshmallow

We slept soundly through a rainstorm in the night, and the morning dawned gray and chilly enough to make hot cider and toasted egg sandwiches quite welcome.  Sir Walter Scott took the younger 6 hiking while I took the older girls to an antique shop (Little Princess was on crutches and not up for a hike) where we bought beautiful books.

Little Princess also bought an old Oster stand mixer for a few dollars, and she's using it today to mix up a homemade cake.  It's a wonderful workhorse that is probably as old as I am and will last Little Princess until she is older than I am.

The kids enjoyed cooking some of their own meals over the fire, staying up late, waking up early, wading in the lake, climbing a "cliff," swinging in the hammock, being filthy, playing family card games, skipping rocks, and eating with less supervision than usual.

One foot without a shoe for two days, and one foot with a shoe for two days!

Hammocks are not always peaceful places.

Mister Man was very pleased with our haul of old books.  He rested happily after hiking with a copy of The Swiss Family Robinson.

Nature Angel said that next time she'll bring her sketch book, her guitar, and her journal.  Those are all great ideas, and I told her so, but I also pointed out, "Without those things, you were forced to interact with the rest of us.  It is unlikely that you'd have chosen to play catch or tag if you'd had your sketchbook or guitar.  We made some really good memories because we had nothing else to do but seek company in one another."

She agreed.

The best camping meals are the simplest--like hot dogs over the fire!

Everyone agrees that we'd like to camp again!