Baby Larva received a beautiful baby gift from my sister-in-law's mother.
It's a handmade quilt, with wonderful colors and sitching! I can't wait to place it in Baby Larva's room, the underside is so soft...I just know she'll love laying on it!
I'm hoping to get a few more pictures (good ones) before it becomes a favorite of the furry daughter!
Thank you, Mrs. Sister-In-Law's-Mum!
~Lone Butterfly )i(
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Sunday afternoon we were able to spend some time with Hubby's family. We were missing a brother because of his work obligations, but Hubby's grandmother had almost everyone else there at one of his Aunt's houses.
I don't have any photos of everyone together, but there were lots of little girls running around, before crashing from being tired.
Uncles always seem to become jungle gyms!
There aren't any pictures of the Caterpillars - they found a computer and were on Lego.com (a rare treat, since we never let them just "play" on a computer at home) with their oldest girl cousin the entire time (except for dinner). Considering all the breakable items in the house, it was a very safe place for them to be!
We had a great time, even though I was feeling a little tired. I really enjoyed seeing everyone, but I can't wait until tomorrow when I can have a long rest!
~Lone Butterfly )i(
Saturday, November 29, 2008
About midnight we realized that the rain was going to be more of a downpour. We had just enough time to take the Caterpillars to the bathroom before bed, then the rain came tumbling down.
I had done a lot of packing up and loading into the truck (and various places in the camper). Some things simply couldn't be left outside in the cold (like our laptops) - so they were "packed" but still not put away.
When we woke up at 6 a.m. it was raining hard. By 7 a.m. the rain had let off just a little, to more of a heavy sprinkle, so Hubby quickly took the Caterpillars to the bathroom, then I helped them get dressed while Hubby started loading pillows/laptops and other small things into the truck.
King showed up at the camper door, suggesting that we move breakfast up to the center of the small campground. Right next to the large restrooms, there is a lovely wooden pavilion - huge enough for the kids to run around and play freeze tag and Simon Says, even while we were cooking breakfast.
King didn't so much enjoy cooking snausage over a stove (very greasy), but at least the eggs weren't frozen this morning! (Just wet...)
Hubby's job was to pass out snausage - a dangerous job, because you never know if you'll come back with all your fingers. There are some serious carnivores out there!
The adults left the kids in the Pavilion playing Simon Says (Princess was making the boys be "flowers, growing flowers"), in order to load the cars. I sat with Queen while she finished packing up her camper, then we took the kids down to the Ranger Station.
There was an awesome diorama that we wanted the kids to see.
They, of course, also enjoyed all the stuff to buy!
By the time we returned to the campsite, Hubby and King were almost done collapsing the campers. Queen and I let the kids run around the Pavilion for a few more minutes, before we went to the restrooms one last time before heading out. We left the park by noon (YAY!) and had our final lunch at the same McDonald's we ate at on the way to the State Park.
It was a nice drive home. B10 and I rested, while CW and Hubby listened to the Georgia/Georgia Tech game on the radio. CW was quite happy that Tech was winning for the first time in over five years! (He's my little engineer!)
We headed to Mum's house to take warm baths, and relax. We'll have to wait till tomorrow to unload the camper, thanks to the rain, but overall - this was a successful first camper trip!
~Lone Butterfly )i(
Friday, November 28, 2008
Can it get colder in the morning?
I'm not sure, but the eggs can get even MORE frozen - which I didn't think was possible...
But the Caterpillars stayed in bed a little longer and were quite cold when they finally got up.
King loves to be the first one up in a campground and have his campfire going before anyone else can light a fire.
The Caterpillars joined Prince and Princess around the fire, while Queen and I took care of the rest of breakfast.
After cleanup, Hubby and I wanted to introduce the Royal family to geocaching - something my family very much loves to do while outdoors.
We went to our first site, which sadly we didn't find. Eight people were searching for one small ammo box - which makes me feel certain that it had been muggled (it wouldn't have been the first time this particular geocache went missing).
Luckily, Prince found our second geocache - only 4 miles away. He really enjoyed the discovery!
But that took us until almost 2:45 p.m., which meant we had a very late lunch in this tiny little town at this tiny little restaurant.
It was a GOOD restaurant, see the fried dill pickles! Everyone enjoyed it, including the delicious frozen custard for dessert. I passed on the custard and had my fill of the pickles!
We split up after our late lunch, so Queen and I could find a grocery store and buy more snasauge for breakfast. King and Hubby had to refill the Royal's propane tank (very important in this weather).
Tonight was a very special night for B10, because Hubby taught him how to correctly build a fire. B10 was allowed to set up the fire logs himself and use the lighter to light the fire. He did such a great job!
CW was a bit sad that he was still a little young to be allowed to build a fire, so he made his own. Not to bad of a job for a first-timer! He'll be ready for real campfire building soon. King even said he would have used the kindling CW so carefully collected for our morning breakfast fire on Day 4 (except it rained, a lot...).
Did you notice the orange "griddle" on the fire - so CW could cook breakfast?
Before cooking, Queen and I walked up to one of the woody areas, where she had seen deer. CW, Princess and B10 came with us. Princess and CW seemed to enjoy the walk.
B10 on the other hand, well, he saw a couple of bats in the sky and couldn't understand why we kept walking! As far as he was concerned, he was totally satisfied.
For dinner, I had made a double batch of white chicken chili, which everyone seemed to enjoy with a couple of slices of bread and cold milk.
Hubby took the Caterpillars up to the showers again, while I sat quietly to watch the fire. The rain had just begun, it was a light sprinkle that made the fire hiss every once in a while. I had promised Prince that I would bring my computer and the Caterpillars over after they were clean to play one of our favorite computer games (Bookworm Adventures).
We had a great time playing, but I think my favorite time of the day was being able to sit and enjoy the fire. It's hard to believe we leave tomorrow.
~Lone Butterfly )i(
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Thanksgiving was on Camping Day 2, which began rather cold.
How cold? Did you know it was possible to freeze eggs? I didn't - however, freezing eggs is only an issue when you are making scrambled eggs. It is NOT easy to scramble frozen lumps.
Queen and I had breakfast going quickly, while King was cooking sausage in a cast iron skillet over the morning fire. The Caterpillars very much enjoyed the heat that early in the day!
After cleaning up breakfast and washing dishes, Queen and I took all the kids around on the 2.5 mile hike to the longest covered bridge in the state.
We managed to have a very enjoyable hike, through the woods and over odd wooden bridges and around waterfalls.
The Caterpillars were very sweet and shared their hiking sticks (mostly because the Royal kids had brought scooters, which they had been sharing!).
The view was beautiful of Watson Mill Bridge. We even had the chance to walk across the bridge - and thanks to B10 there is ONE photo of me camping. (Thanks B10!)
We also found a huge walnut tree - and weren't able to resist bringing a few back with us!
After the hike, we came back and began preparing Thanksgiving dinner. We went all out with the tablecloth, turkey plates/napkins, and actually sitting down together around one table. Our dinner menu consisted of: yeast rolls, turkey with gravy, sweet potato/apple mash, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, dressing and asparagus.
It was delicious and enjoyed by all.
We needed a bit more firewood, CW was in the right place at the right time and was able to ride with the campground host on his golf cart to get a few more bundles.
After the lunch cleanup, I set up the laptop so all the kids could watch Kung Fu Panda together. Queen and I sat with them and knitted for a while, just generally resting before putting potatoes on to bake for dinner.
We used leftover taco toppings and other goodies to top the baked potatoes. It was a light dinner, but just enough after our huge lunch! Especially when you include a dessert of pumpkin pie and roasted marshmallows!
CW loved wearing the red "firegloves".
After another round of showers, the Caterpillars were allowed to watch the Space Station IMAX film. They didn't make it to the end of the 45 minute movie, before crashing out on their bed.
One more great day down, only one and a half to go!
~Lone Butterfly )i(
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