Still is the night... not when you are camping

We had a terrific first day of camping. Well, we did have a few time outs and "tactile reminders" here and there but all in all things went well. When we got back from our nature walk I realized that I had not gotten everything in order. I did not have a "bath bag" together with everything we would need at the bath house. So when I started putting it all together I noticed that the bottle of baby shampoo went critical and had a meltdown in my bag. Luckily I put it in a ziplock that contained the hazardous mess.

The CFO and I quickly devised a game plan. We took the triplets over to the bath house and I took Addison in while she entertained the boys. The bath houses only had one shower on each side (men's and women's). Halfway through the shower I realized I forgot to bring diapers! Good Golly! So the CFO took Addison back and I took the boys in the shower. The CFO had the nuke-doc watch Addison so she could bring diapers back and pick up one of the boys.

When I brought Jackson out to her I noticed a guy waiting on the shower. I apologized while telling him I only had one of three left to bathe:) I realized one great thing about a shower is the risk of drowning is greatly reduced! William and I washed up and headed back to camp. On a side note, I bathed in my swim suit. After heading back I realized that bath shoes are not good to wear while carrying a toddler up a dirt hill while wet.

Once back we got everyone in bed and the CFO got them down for the night. We then stayed up too late (midnight) roasting smores and talking with our friends. It only rained once during the night and we luckily had the rain fly on the tent. Unfortunately the nuke-doc has a one year old that decided it was time to play around 3am. He took him home and his wife stayed with their three year old.

Between the barking dogs (not ours) and three restless toddlers in a tent that was too small (I am now shopping for a new one) we did not sleep a lot. But we LOVE the mornings when you camp. We cooked 2lbs of bacon, drank strong coffee and the kids ate whatever they wanted. I told them that "normal" dining rules did not apply on campouts. For example Goldfish are not breakfast food at home and Pop-Tarts are "treats." Everything is game when you camp. I just wanted calories and liquids going in:)

It was while the first pot of coffee was brewing that I realized I forgot the bread to make monkey bread.... a seemingly "key" ingredient. So we stuck with coffee and bacon. Luckily no one has an ulcer yet:)

Seems that five minutes into the day baths were a memory long forgotten. Now I remember why I usually bathe at night on campouts. They are useless during the day.

Here are some key things I will remember for the next trip:

• Our excel (thanks to the CFO) checklist of what to bring
• A good tree for timeout (seems the first one had an ant problem)
• Put up the clothesline before you need it (Much easier to put it up in the light of day without four wet towels and wet clothes on your shoulders)
• Put on bug repellent before you think you need it. (My legs look terrible)

Here are pics of our friend's kids inspecting a bug/stick he found, an example of how much kids like dirt and a good timeout tree.

This country has come to feel the same when Congress is in session as when the baby gets hold of a hammer.
Will Rogers (1879 - 1935)

Al

Oh a camping we will go, a camping we will go..... day 1

As one of our good friends with Triplets said, we are crazy:) So yes, we went camping with three 2 1/2 year olds. On reflection, we had a GREAT time but we did have our moments. Like anything with toddlers it was a roller coaster. One of the things that started us (me) off on the wrong foot was that the kids did not go to their day out program on Thursday due to runny noses. I figured that with H1N1 running around most people would appreciate us keeping our germs to ourselves:)

So packing was haphazard to say the least resulting in the CFO "asking" me "would you like to make a camping checklist for next time?" I said "are you asking?" We laughed and she said she would put one together for next time.

The CFO took Friday off so we met the Mom and kids of our nuke-doc friends at 9am to pick out our camp sites and get set up. After changing our minds three times about what sites to have we finally got started setting up. Everything went well then we all left to eat lunch, pick up MORE stuff and get the kids a nap. The Triplets crashed in the van and I took a nap with them as we all sat in the van in our driveway while the CFO got the rest of the stuff together. Once she got all the kid's stuff together I packed the food. Looking back I packed like the kids were teenagers not toddlers:) Most of it came back with us. Oh well, luck favors the prepared.

We all met back at the camp site for dinner. We kind of cheated as I picked up fried chicken. Hey, it was on sale for $3.99 for an 8-piece dinner! Our friends from our small group came out and everyone talked, tried to keep the kids from running off and had fun for a few hours. When night came we broke out the glow-bracelets. Who knew those things could break? Oh, well.

The CFO and I took the kids animal/bug hunting. As with most things in our relationship we had role reversal. She got the animals/bugs and I kept an eye on the kids. Much of her formal education was in Wildlife Biology. So the kids got to hold their first frog.

When we got back we decided to get the kids cleaned up. More on that tomorrow.......

The purpose of life is to fight maturity.
Dick Werthimer

Al

It's a vacuum, it's a robot, it's a toy....?

YES! Roomba is all three! It does a great job as a vacuum. It cleans up almost everything from dog hair to Cheerios the kids have dropped and crunched under foot. It is also a robot. You can program it to vacuum on its own on certain days/times and it returns to charge once it's done.

But I just learned this week it can also be a great toy for the kids! It is similar to the game I use to play as a child where there was a "shark" in the water (floor) and I had to avoid it as I moved around the room. Well, Roomba is now the "shark." Maybe I need to put a fin on it:)

The kids later started putting their trains on Roomba to go for a ride.

A lot of fellows nowadays have a B.A., M.D., or Ph.D. Unfortunately, they don't have a J.O.B.
Fats Domino (1928 - )

Al

Prudence or paranoia?

The older I get the more, well, "prudent" I get:) Up until recently my only ICE (in case of emergency) supplies was an extra bag of chips. Now I have about a month's worth of food and water. Recently a good fried sent me their family list of ICE supplies and I noticed some holes in mine so I am building mine up a little more.

This is something I think about on a semi-regular basis. When do we just go on faith that everything is in God's hands and when should we be prudent? For instance jumping out of an airplane and relying on God would be a bit foolish in my eyes. But you could also go on the other end and have a stockpile of food for 6+ months and uber-goony guns of a small well funded army. I know people that I think may fall on both ends of the spectrum, especially these days. There are probably more than you think on the gun side. Don't believe me? Try buying some 9mm ammo. You are looking at a 2-3 month wait. So this is not just your Ruby Ridge gun hording people, this might be your neighbor. Part of it might be the fear that our Democratic Congress and/or president might put some old and/or new gun bands in place. But I digress...

Back to the original post. Let's use the H1N1 flu for instance. Yesterday I posted on Facebook "is anyone else nervous/paranoid about the flu." I got responses from God is in charge to load the guns. So I ask (you don't have to actually respond) what is prudent and when does it cross the line to not trusting God. You could stay at home until this passes or go about your life as normal. But wouldn't you feel bad if you did the later and your child became the 2nd or even the one millionth death in the US? So faith or prudence, here are a few examples to mull over....

• Do you lock your doors?
• Do you get a flu shot?
• Do you have regular check ups with the Doctor?
• If there is an illness at your kid's school would you keep them home?
• Do you have emergency supplies?
• Do you have smoke/CO2 detectors in your house? Do you test them monthly?
• If there was no helmet law would you wear one on a motorcycle/ATV/bicycle?

Sorry about all the questions this early but what can I say.... I don't have many adults to talk to during the day:)

A couple of funny pics from yesterday... William asked for me to take a picture of his elbow to see his owie. Then I heard something during nap time to find Jackson sleeping at the top of the stairs. Never a dull moment:)



I always admired atheists. I think it takes a lot of faith.
Diane Frolov and Andrew Schneider, Northern Exposure, Seoul Mates, 1991

Al

I love CEREAL!

Why clean?

We seem to be assisting several colonies of ants in survival. It seems every time I turn around I need to put another ant bait somewhere. We live in a 20 year old home so it is not exactly air and bug tight. Between our dog and the Triplets I sometimes vacillate between being a clean freak and saying oh well, I will just clean that after the next meal.

Part of what I am up against is a dog that likes to play with his food. He takes pieces into other rooms of the house them throws them in the air to try and catch them. He is a VERY good only dog:) The other and more challenging obstacle(s) is (are) the Triplets. They LOVE Cheerios, Goldfish, and other crumbly snacks. So I find them everywhere! It is almost like they hide them from me. Not to mention the VERY annoying gravity storms they have where they fall down for no reason or the cup/bag leaps from their hands "on its own." We had this happen at Church Sunday with a bag of Cheerios. It turned out to be a good thing as Jackson was occupied for the next 10 minutes cleaning them up:)

Add to all this keeping the Toddlers clean.... Yes, those specks on her neck are from blueberry pancakes. She even had it IN her ears and on her legs. COME ON! Are you kidding me?




Everyone is born with genius, but most people only keep it a few minutes.
Edgard Varese (1883 - 1965)

Al

Is it bad when a Toddler's lips turn blue?

The CFO panicked a little when she came home to find William looking like this. She did not have the benefit as I did of seeing him enjoying one of his Easter gifts - a ring pop! Of course then Jackson also wanted blue lips/tongue. What a bunch of sheep Toddlers are:)


Nothing is really work unless you would rather be doing something else.
James M. Barrie (1860 - 1937)

Al