A Whirlwind Week

It's amazing what one family can accomplish in a week, if that's all they have together. We went for a drive, we went camping, hubby and I went on a date, we got things done around the house, we visited both my parents and his, we watched a few movies, had dinner out, took some naps, and did lots of cuddling.

We did not, however, eat a wild turkey dinner. Sigh. I was really hoping he'd get one this week, as it was the last week he'd be able to hunt before the season ends.

About the camping trip:

It's perfectly possible to wear a skirt while camping. And in fact, it might actually be more comfortable to do so.

Real Food while camping kind of sucks. We ate things like steak and arugula salad with goat cheese and a salsa vinaigrette, uncured turkey dogs with homemade buns and condiments, and granola with homemade yogurt and strawberry jam. There are certain times that junk food is just going to have to be okay - camping isn't the same without a bit of the convenience food.

Little Girls really only need some dirt, some rocks, a few sticks, and a source of running water to keep themselves entertained for an entire day.

Making your first grader do math on a camping trip is no fun for anyone. Not sure yet if I think we should just learn to get used to it, or if we should skip school work while we're camping. Regardless, listening to woodpeckers peck and water trickling down the creek and wind rushing through the trees all make it very hard to concentrate on carrying to the ten's place and comparing fraction denominators.

Wind sucks. Wind is ruthless, it will blow everything around and get it dirty and make you say naughty words when the bowl you just washed lands in the dirt.

Sleeping in a tent when it's 42 degrees at night is quite pleasant. Sleeping in a tent when it's 18 degrees at night is not quite so pleasant. Little Girls are smart and burrow deep into their doubled sleeping bags with their heads covered and little gloves on their hands.

18 degrees at night means frozen water in the morning. Frozen water means you can't make coffee. Always remember to keep a few bottles of water in the tent wrapped in sweatshirts so it doesn't freeze. A very cold morning out in the woods without coffee is a very sad morning indeed.

I hate using chemical cleaning products, but Clorox wipes are a wonderful thing to have when you're out in the middle of nowhere with Two Little Girls and all you have for a bathroom is a grimy pit toilet. Little Girls are too small to hover over the seat. Thank you, Clorox, for allowing me to feel a little better knowing Little Girls' bottoms were resting on a clean toilet seat.

I'm happy to report that I can still throw a football. The last time I tested that skill was the Powder Puff football game my junior year of high school.

Never forget the whiskey. When all else fails, whiskey will help you sleep, and it will keep you warm. We forgot the whiskey.

It should be expected that when you say "Do not get dirty again until after dinner," that it will be physically impossible for Two Little Girls to obey. They are surrounded by dirt, and it is not possible for small children to remain seated at a table in such a situation.

Save your old peanut butter and applesauce jars and pack them in the "camping toys" box. They make a great place to catch bugs for close observation, and make it far more reasonable to comply when a small child wants to bring her new friend into the tent at nap time.

We set up the hammock for the first time since we got it last summer. Definitely worth the trouble. A hammock strung between two trees in the mountains is almost as peaceful as one by the ocean in Mexico.

I'm perfectly capable of starting a good fire now, after watching my husband as many times as I have. This is good, because it looks like the girls and I will have to do some camping on our own this year if we want to go more than three more times. Hubby's latest schedule change gives him one week off each month. Big sigh. I'm not thrilled with that arrangement, but I'll deal.

Hope everyone had a great week. I'll try to get some more blogs done in the next few days, now that we're back to regularly scheduled programming.