So we did as we were told...
The birthday kid camping it up!
One of the first things we noticed when we reached our destination. Ummm...
Lucky for Wilson we were way too far from home to start doing
something as crazy as obeying the rules!!!
Although I think it's possible the guilt of breaking the rules may have drove him to drinking.
He's looking pretty ashamed of himself. We love you anyway Wilson.
Conner loves you especially. So much it'll make you want to die.
After spending fifty hours setting up camp, it was time to relax!
And then apparently it was time for Jarom to be abducted by aliens.
We'll miss you buddy ol' pal!
What I love about camping is watching the kids figure out how
to entertain themselves without the benefit of T.V., Nintendo or iPods.
They did pretty good.
Does anyone else's kids do this? They play fine on their own until
you (stupidly) interrupt them, and suddenly it's the worst thing in the world that
they were all on THEIR OWN!
"Mommy!... mommy... I was all ALONE in here!! Did you know that Mommy???"
Tragic.
Whittling is always a great idea. Who doesn't love seeing a child madly chop away with a dull
knife on a skinny little piece of wood? Not me, that's for sure.
(Dandruff or ashes. Your call)
Playing with the shovel was a big hit this trip with our kids.
If one of those kids was Jarom, playing with the shovel starts
out with a ritual dance.
Then it's time to dig. Nice technique!
While the digging is happening, daddy will shout out for the
millionth time that day, "Stop digging up holes all around the camp!!!"
After the digging and ignoring your daddy is done,
it's time to fling the damp dirt all over. It's especially important
not to check and make sure that there is anyone in your path. That way,
you can get dirt all over them.
At some point we all got bored enough that sitting and watching a yellow peanut M&M melt
away was thrilling. If you're wondering (and I know you are!) peanut M&M's will actually not melt
just sitting on fire wood. It will stay there forever and a day. Until you lose your patience and poke
it to death with a stick. Which we might have done.
If you are a daddy, you will spend your free time napping away (wrapped up in a lovely pink blanket,
no less) until your cutie pie daughter wakes you up... "Daddy? Daddy we are so hungry. Please feed
us daddy. Mommy doesn't know how to cook campfire food."
Only his daughter could get away with doing this.
And she KNOWS it!
Majority of the time though was spent down at this little beach area just down the hill from our
little homestead. It was wet and dirty 24 hours a day, but they didn't care of course. If they were
the one person solely responsible for laundry they would have cared A LOT!
Their dirty nasty socks might have been changed a hundred times a day,
but they had so much fun, I guess I'll just go ahead and say it was worth it. I'll say it,
but whether or not I mean it is another matter.
Eventually we stopped lazing around and forced ourselves to do
some hiking around.
It was slippery and damp, and my little Lena needed a bit of help. At one point her father told
her to steady herself by placing her hands on the big rocks all around, to which she shockingly
replied: "NO daddy! They are all covered in GREEN!!!"
Sheesh daddy! How dare you?
My children are never quirky or weird.
NEVER!
Wes' children on the other hand, are very quirky and weird.
Two of my favourite people, being all cute.
Because it is "winter" here in Australia right now, it gets cold at night. Not freeze to death kind of
cold, but cold enough that your second son will wake up in the night, teeth chattering:
"M-m-mommy... I'mmmm s-s-s-so c-c-c-c-c-COLD!"
The reason I had to share this picture is because I love that Conner is stirring his hot chocolate
with a knife. It would seem that we (fine, I) didn't pack enough spoons to last us the whole camp.
Either Wes has got some smoke in his eyes, or he's super sad it's the last day of camp.
AWWWW!!!
And now for your viewing pleasure! Some camp videos...
Whenever we go camping, we are always joined at some point by Australian wildlife. Usually
birds... and this time was no exception. We were graced with the presence of turkeys...
And here's the fam. sharing their favourite things...
Since I'm in such a sharing mood, I will go ahead and explain my favourite part of camp a little more.
As evening was approaching one day, and Wes was getting ready to make some hot chocolate (over the fire), I looked up and noticed him sitting there "stirring" an imaginary pot of milk. According to him he wanted to figure out the best place to stir the milk, and it was no laughing matter at all, but we couldn't help ourselves and laughed over the matter for the rest of camp.
Camp ended on Conner's actual birthDAY, so once we arrived home that afternoon, we whipped up
a cake (nothing fancy because of lack of time), went out to dinner, and of course... opened a mound
of presents....
I think he must have turned seven this year.
The child and the mound.
When you are seven, you show your appreciation for your gifts
by flexing those "Man of the House" muscles and lifting those presents
high above your head.
Up they go.
This rule doesn't able to books though. Books just get a smile.
A rosy cheek smile. The best kind.
There we go again. Much better.
Happy Birthday Conner!!