So, this is what's been going on with us. We went camping!! Oh it was fun! It was exactly what I needed.
We left Sunday after church. Well, not right after church. There was still some packing to be done. I wrote so many lists so that I wouldn't forget anything, but still ended up forgetting stuff. We had to come back for the eggs and my dutch oven. I still forgot the eggs. Ach! I also forgot our pillows. If it's not one thing it's another.
We get there, an hour or so later than we had planned, but we got there. The drive there was so beautiful! There were all these farms and little towns. We stopped and bought some eggs. I got to talk to my dad on the phone. We were talking about how I want a farm. I told him I want to raise rabbits to eat them. And, I want to raise chickens to eat them. Simeon pipes up, "I want to raise chips to eat them". He's a cutie!
We get there and I want Jarrod to start the barbque pit so I can get started on dinner (tacos!). I didn't think about the fact that the whole year that we've had that pit it has not once been assembled. Note to self: assemble things before to save time. Since he was busy on that our wonderful friend put our tent together. Thankfully we bought a tent. This thing was so spacious. Especially compared to the two little tents we used last time that we had to crawl into. I fell in love with this tent and told Jarrod I would be ok with taking it to Houston (instead of buying a trailer) and just setting it up in someone's back yard. He just laughed at me and said no. So, while he was puting the pit together and our wonderful, helpful, generous friends that seemed to have everything we forgot friends were putting our tent up, I was nursing Eliana. Yep, that's my hobby now. All I ever do. It so seems like it. Dinner was great that night. I love easy meals. Ask me about the chicken and pasta meal I came up with last night. Nummy nummy for my tummy, let me tell you.
When it started to get dark we were introduced to our neighbors. The small, cute, fuzzy, sometimes stinky neighbors. Skunks! We got a lesson from Jarrod about how they don't have to be turned away from you to spray, are perfectly harmless as long as you leave them alone, and how they are normally scared of you. Of course this last part is for the skunks that don't live in camping areas where they know they will be fed and not hunted. They were cute though.
We get there and I want Jarrod to start the barbque pit so I can get started on dinner (tacos!). I didn't think about the fact that the whole year that we've had that pit it has not once been assembled. Note to self: assemble things before to save time. Since he was busy on that our wonderful friend put our tent together. Thankfully we bought a tent. This thing was so spacious. Especially compared to the two little tents we used last time that we had to crawl into. I fell in love with this tent and told Jarrod I would be ok with taking it to Houston (instead of buying a trailer) and just setting it up in someone's back yard. He just laughed at me and said no. So, while he was puting the pit together and our wonderful, helpful, generous friends that seemed to have everything we forgot friends were putting our tent up, I was nursing Eliana. Yep, that's my hobby now. All I ever do. It so seems like it. Dinner was great that night. I love easy meals. Ask me about the chicken and pasta meal I came up with last night. Nummy nummy for my tummy, let me tell you.
When it started to get dark we were introduced to our neighbors. The small, cute, fuzzy, sometimes stinky neighbors. Skunks! We got a lesson from Jarrod about how they don't have to be turned away from you to spray, are perfectly harmless as long as you leave them alone, and how they are normally scared of you. Of course this last part is for the skunks that don't live in camping areas where they know they will be fed and not hunted. They were cute though.
The kids had such a hard time going to sleep that night. Especially Simeon. Picture this little boy, still in his sleeping bag, worming around all over the tent because he's so excited to be camping. He finally goes to sleep and greets me the next morning, quite loudly, with a "Mommy are you awake?" Have I told I love my son? I do, I really do.
So, we start the day off with bananas and milk. I try my hand at biscuits in a dutch oven. What takes 20 minutes to cook at home takes an hour when camping. I think maybe if I had a smaller dutch oven it wouldn't have taken so long. Mine is a 12 qt, the biggest one they had. I guess I thought I would be feeding every person I've ever met when I use it. I wonder if I can talk Jarrod into buying another one. So, we started out with bananas and milk for our breakfast. Thirty minutes later we ate our scrambled eggs. Remember when you make scrambled eggs that some of it will stick to the pan, so you should make more than you think you should. Yeah, I need to take my own advice. Thirty more minutes later we were eating biscuits. Ten minutes later we were eating more eggs. Note to self: Breakfast is better when eaten all together. Cook more eggs at a time and get a smaller dutch oven.
Some of our friends had to go to town to do some laundry (Their poor little one was sick all night, because of something he ate). They found out about a spot that was much warmer and nice for the kids. Did I mention how cold it was where we were camping? Yeah, it was cold. So, we set out to this warm riverside spot. It was fun! Simeon told us he had to go potty. There are no portapotties or anything of the sort to be found. So, like any other parent that has a boy you tell him "go in the river". Jarrod took him to the river, sat him down, and told him to go. That was the first time. The third time he "had to go" we figured he knew what we meant when we said to "go in the river". When I look over to see two little bare cheeks I knew he didn't know exactly what we meant. I'm hoping not too many people noticed. Especially the ones downstream from us.
So, we start the day off with bananas and milk. I try my hand at biscuits in a dutch oven. What takes 20 minutes to cook at home takes an hour when camping. I think maybe if I had a smaller dutch oven it wouldn't have taken so long. Mine is a 12 qt, the biggest one they had. I guess I thought I would be feeding every person I've ever met when I use it. I wonder if I can talk Jarrod into buying another one. So, we started out with bananas and milk for our breakfast. Thirty minutes later we ate our scrambled eggs. Remember when you make scrambled eggs that some of it will stick to the pan, so you should make more than you think you should. Yeah, I need to take my own advice. Thirty more minutes later we were eating biscuits. Ten minutes later we were eating more eggs. Note to self: Breakfast is better when eaten all together. Cook more eggs at a time and get a smaller dutch oven.
Some of our friends had to go to town to do some laundry (Their poor little one was sick all night, because of something he ate). They found out about a spot that was much warmer and nice for the kids. Did I mention how cold it was where we were camping? Yeah, it was cold. So, we set out to this warm riverside spot. It was fun! Simeon told us he had to go potty. There are no portapotties or anything of the sort to be found. So, like any other parent that has a boy you tell him "go in the river". Jarrod took him to the river, sat him down, and told him to go. That was the first time. The third time he "had to go" we figured he knew what we meant when we said to "go in the river". When I look over to see two little bare cheeks I knew he didn't know exactly what we meant. I'm hoping not too many people noticed. Especially the ones downstream from us.
When we started to get hungry we decided to try out a little "hole in the wall" restaurant. Our friends decided to eat at the river. So, we climb into the Land Cruiser and head on down the road. We stop at the second restaurant we see. There were signs advertising "Fried Chicken", "Dinner starts at 5", "Home cooking". We park in back and walk around to the front. We step through the only door that didn't say "Employees Only", right into a bar. Here's this family of five, three small kids, standing in a bar. Oh if the pastor could see us now. Someone asks if they could help us. Jarrod's like, "Umm, we want food". A man gets up and says he hopes we like fried chicken. Well, if you know Jarrod then you know he LIKES fried chicken. Loves friend chicken. A lady comes up to us and asks if we wan to sit in the bar or in the dining room. I'm sure you don't have to guess our answer. We said the bar! Just kidding. They weren't kidding when they said "Dinner starts at 5". They had to turn the lights on for us and light all the candles at the tables. The lady asked if we wanted fried chicken (we said "sure") and said it would be 15 minutes. Then another lady comes in and Jarrod asks for a menu. Her response? "We don't have any. We are serving fried chicken today." She asks if we want some water to which we respond, "sure". When she comes back with the water Jarrod asks if they have anything else to drink. Her reply was "at the bar". We stuck with our water. I had gotten up to use the facilities. When I came back I noticed the floor was really leaning to one side. When Crimson spilled her water our assumptions were correct. All the water went to one side. The lady came back and asked if she could take our order. I didn't know what to say. "Umm, chicken?" Oh, she wanted to know what piece of chicken. The chicken was really really good. Oh, the gravy! I can't make a good gravy. I try and I try and I try.
After eating we head back to the river just in time because our friends are loading up to head back. We get back to the campsite and bring out the cars for the kids to play with. Whoever invented toy cars has got to be the smartest guy around.
Even though we ate that large lunch I wanted to cook the chicken we brought. I really wanted to use the dutch oven. Last Thursday we had went to the Farmer's Market where I had picked up some carrots, corn, red potatoes, and found some purple potatoes. How interesting, I thought. When I cut into them they were purple! I really didn't expect that. I figured they would be white inside, like the red potatoes. So, I threw those in the pot with the corn, carrots, red potatoes, and the whole chicken. It took about an hour and a half. It was good! It sure looked pitiful in that big ol' pot though. I must get a smaller dutch oven.
Later that night we packed everything up and sat around the fire. I was trying so hard to get at least a clip of one of the skunks. Let's see how well I did when I load the video.
The kids had no trouble falling asleep this time. We packed up the next day and headed out. We stopped at a Henny Penny restaurant on the way home. They had an advertisement that said "kids eat free everyday". That won us over.
And now we are home and everything is unpacked, washed, and repacked. And I want to go again. But, we are saving up so we can go to Houston in two months.
More pictures can be found at Flikr.com under the profile of Vernitta_W
A video of our trip can be found on our youtube site.
Camping!! That sounds like so much fun! Every year we say we are going to go..but don't. I guess because we don't have anything to camp with! :) What kind of tent do you have? Also..I think you are forgetting exactly how hot it gets here! Yuk! It would take a lot to get me to sleep in a tent here! Unless it's winter!
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