Monday we went up to the Air Force base and had our taxes done. It was nice to get that taken care of, though it was a long day for our kids. They were incredibly patient as we waited and waited for the really, really slow computers to do their work. They made sticker pictures and then we wandered the building. That was actually a bit interesting as it appears to be some kind of old storage building/warehouse turned into an office building. We pretended it was a maze and had quite an adventure!
Wednesday we went the Seminole children's museum. We went earlier this year and Nina just recently noted that we hadn't been there in a long time, so when friends called and invited us to go, we jumped at the chance. The kids, of course, love going! We enjoy going with another family, so we can get a little grownup conversation out of it.
Yesterday the same friends called us and asked if we wanted to go camping. So, with a group of seven adults (3 sets of parents and one aunt) and 10 children, ages 8, 6 (2), 5 (2), 4, 3 (2), 2, and 1 we set out to camp right next to a lake. While it may sound like a recipe for disaster, it turned out to be a lot of fun. We made (or attempted to supervise the making of) many mud cakes, pies, dams and other creations. Our children attempted to raise the level of the lake by filling it with dirt. We managed to consume 4 (or maybe 5) bags of marshmallows and oodles of hot dogs. We (the adults) then tried to reclaim all of our belongings (tents, clothing, chairs, etc.) from the evil marshmallow monster... Some of the children and a couple of the dads slept. The rest of us enjoyed (??) the beautiful fully moonlit night with its delightful Oklahoma wind. (Yes, I should be sleeping, but aren't you all glad I'm writing instead?) I do admit that we wondered if all the packing, unpacking, setting up, taking down, repacking, and putting away are really worth it, but we decided it was. Our kids were so happy! Michael told me that camping is his favorite! And, hey, it's a whole day in their lives without any argument over how much TV they watch.
Jon is happily wishing everyone a happy Spring! He has been looking forward to today for weeks. He is certain that now it will be warm and beautiful. I hope he's right. I'm ready for some consistent weather.
Speaking of the weather -- Derek and I felt we did an awesome job preparing for this camping trip (esp. since we pulled it all together in a few hours). We took plenty of blankets and did use them all, but also kept all of us warm. We had insect repellent, plenty of food, sufficient clothes (though we went through even the extra sets -- there was a lot of interaction with mud), wood, lighters, etc. We even thoroughly complimented ourselves for getting everything on our list. Then today it turned out to be summer (I think the weather control person here needs to check the calendar). One thing that we never considered in all our prepping -- sunscreen. And, yes, we were next to the water all day. We all came home baked, except Nina. We have no idea how she escaped -- she's the "fairest one of all." Interestingly, Derek and I came out far worse than the children, who were actually in the water.
Here's a slideshow of the museum and camping trip (yep, the same one that's on the sidebar)!
7 comments:
I am so jealous. Our favorite thing to do is camp. Yep, me. But I do have to have a camp trailer. There is something about just getting away into the great outdoors. It looks like your kids had so much fun.
Having tried camping while pregnant, I think you're nuts. But that's just me. :-) Hopefully you had something good to sleep on because sleeping on the ground while pregnant just doesn't work.
It sounds like you were busier during your break than you are normally. It's good that you had such a fun time, though.
Happy Spring Jonathan! I am so excited for spring as well. It looks so nice in Oklahoma. I wore shorts and flip flops earlier this week--it was actually a really nice day for here. Then later in the week it snowed again, of course. I hope spring will come and stay. Anyway, your spring break looked like a ton of fun. I loved the pictures!
Like Meg, I am amazed that you went camping while being pregnant. I have a hard enough time getting comfortable on my big, nice, soft bed. How did you do it sleeping on the ground, in a tent? And what about the bathroom! I go about every two to three hours right now and there's no way I'd want to get up that often while camping. You're better than me, I guess.
I too wondered about the pregnant thing, but looks like that's been covered. :)
That museum sounds/looks like so much fun!
Mary,
When your kids get big enough, there's an awesome museum on 25S in SLC that we went to 2 or 3 years ago. Well worth the drive.
I'm finally getting a chance to check out your blog, and I love it! Your kids are so cute.
Dan and I are hoping to take our own camping trip this summer. It's spring break for us now, too, and we were going to do it now, but unfortunately must spend the holiday packing. I'm glad you had a good time.
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