Camping of Sorts

We regrettably had to bail on our ward camp-out recently due to swim lessons and other odd happenings.  In our children’s eyes, a promise is a promise and there is NO breaking a promise.  Our backyard camping and Smor’e making resulted.  We let the kids sleep in the tent outside until 12:30 when Will and I went to bed.  Yes, the over protective mother that I am did not let them sleep in the back by themselves.  I don’t care how safe the neighborhood is…either way, fun was had and all was good until 2:30 in the morning.  Annie came screaming into our room, “I’m not in the tent!  I’m not in the tent!”  Never a dull moment around here.

Monkeys in the Kitchen

Annie has spent quite a bit of time in the kitchen as of late.  I’ve started to run out of things to cook and bake that aren’t too complicated for little hands.  This last Sunday found Annie and I making Monkey Bread.  I had kind of forgotten about it after all of these years, but it’s so simple and sinfully delicious.  My little sister, Heidi always seemed to enjoy making it.

Besides the pie tin and the oven, 1 roll of Pillsbury rolls, 1/4c melted butter, and a little bowl of cinnamon and sugar is all you need.  I cut the rolls into 1/4ths, dip in butter, cover in cinnamon/sugar mixture and spread them out into the pie tin.  350 degrees and 14-17 minutes later, we are set for a fabulous treat.

What to Do?

Our cute little neighbor brought over a huge box full of craft projects for Hudson and Annie that she had outgrown.  The last week or so has found my kids knee-deep in art projects.  Hudson spent most of the time painting plastic dinosaurs.  These are Annie’s 3 favorites.  She managed to sew all of the sequins on her little purse by herself.  All I did was knot each one at the end.  Her dexterity was impressive.  She was also pretty careful painting in the dots on her lantern night-light.  Mostly in the lines is good enough for me.  The soap with silk flowers was by far her favorite.  She took them to bath that night and made great use of them.

On a side note:  Annie is obsessed with bar soap.  She will use an entire bar in the tub scrubbing herself over and over again.  I have finally started keeping the bar soaps every time we go to a hotel for her to use.  I need to find where they get their mini-bars or just buy a bunch of them next time because she is going to bankrupt me with soap otherwise.

Ode to Winnemucca

Leaving Winnemucca this time was like trying to pry myself from a hug.  You know the kind where you are swept off your feet and spun in a circle.  You can’t help being a little giddy, wishing it would never end.  I even had tears driving down the road.  We will blame that on pregnancy.

I feel like I am constantly living in a vacation at our house.  Let’s go to Disneyland, today feels good for Sea World.  Who wants to go to the Zoo, or the Wild Animal Park?  If we hurry, we should beat the traffic to the beach.  The Museum has an exhibit on Aliens…get in the car. I have felt very commercialized lately…and not in a good way.  I couldn’t help notice the billboards traveling this time…all advertising for perfumes, clothes, vacations, and food.  I wanted to pull my hair out.  As we neared Winnemucca, I found it endearing that the towns were now the main focus of the advertising…and proud of it.

Savoring the time with family was so easy and relaxing.  Most of the time spent was in a big circle sitting around talking.  It wasn’t about where we were or what we got to see, it was the WHO that was important.  The location would change from time to time – backyard, front yard, living room, etc.  There was so much of my stress and worry that was relieved.  I really just think it all got lost in the bigger picture – it just wasn’t really that important.  The commercial got left behind and I was left with my own thoughts and the unconditional love of a family.  Thanks Jim and Nancy!

Let’s Go Fly a Kite

Part of cousins camp found everyone at Jungo Playa.  I wasn’t able to go and although a picture is worth a thousand words, Will assures me the picture doesn’t come close to capturing the day.

Honestly, I never would have thought to fly my kite with a bike, but it seems to be a fantastic combination.

The kids rode as far as their little legs could carry them into the horizon and back again.  Notice the gloss on the ground-no mirages there.  The kids all came home covered in a fine white dust.