SHEW…

It seemed like a good idea to come home in the middle of vacation. I think it may have been a good idea but it’s been a busy day.

Laundry is done. Shopping is done. Co-op is over. We still need to reload everything.

Rascal, our pet quail ::::snort::: is still alive. We bought him a cage today and will pick him up in the a.m. so that he can spend the next week with a new friend. Heather will watch him. We hear he’s been getting out of his box….The manager at the pet store printed off a lot of info for us on raising a quail. He said they used to sell them but no one around here would buy them because they are everywhere and can go out and shoot them etc. He recommended we buy an 8 ft cage…YIKES. We may have to add on to our home.

Co-op went well. I need to go pack things away. One funny: I bought these little bags of Sundrops last month. They came in 12 and we had 8 left…so they are a TREAT. WELL….when I was inputting Melody’s order she had Sundrops on there and I thought “I should order some more”. I copied the number, changed the quantity to 12 and clicked order. Hmmm…next time I’ll have to bit more careful about my order. {G} We have lots and lots of treats. 12 big bags…

We also got a case of organic graham crackers – I know – I KNOW – I have the recipe to make them but honestly…I have to get out of the kitchen and mentor my children sometime….so I bought them. They are all things that Zander can have….and best yet there is a recipe to make crusts with honey so I’ll give that a try for fresh strawberry pie….

Really need to get going with a few last chores…..tomorrow will come early. Just found out its Fiesta week in San Antonio…argh. We function so much easier in smaller crowds…We also found out that it is supposed to storm all week at Canyon Lake…BUT that it is supposed to be in the 70’s and 80’s and that will be nice. We’re excited that we’ve heard from three families so far….we’ll do the zoo with Tingles on Thursday, Sea World with Lowes on Friday, spend the night at Raths on Saturday and see how many other folks we can fit in. {G}

A Tale of Two Campsites….

Why does your family go camping? What does your family do while camping? We view camping as a chance to get away “from it all”- as a family. We leave the phones, TV’s, music etc at home. We spend lots of time hiking, fishing, exploring the area, reading around the campfire….but that is not the way ALL view camping.

We loved the Abilene State Park. The center of the park is an awesome brick swimming pool built by the CCC’s in the 1930’s. The pool is not open until Memorial Day but the park was wonderful. For most of the week we were the ONLY ones in our circle…and there were only 3 or 4 of us in the whole park. The bathrooms were a bit of a walk. We were surprised that there were no bathrooms or outhouses IN the camping circles. Mike commented that the parks must plan now that most are “self-contained”. The only circle with bathrooms was the tenting circle (we have a pop up). The bathroom situation insured that I walked at least a mile each night for mid-night runs to the potty and several miles a day….which was “good”. The park had lots of fields for playing. There was a very pretty pond for fishing….though there were also lots of water moccasins around. There was a volleyball pit. We had this paradise to ourselves.

The first day was very hot.

The second day was hotter still. (It was 98* where we were and I hear went over 100* here!) To avoid the heat we ventured to Dyess AFB and checked out the Grand Opening of their BX. We ate at Charley’s in honor of BreAnne.

The third day we survived a very wild thunder storm – in fact the park ranger came to tell us that it may move to “tornado warning” and if so we were to go hunker down in the bathrooms. Does that seem symbolic? {g} I sort of think if I’m going to meet my maker I’d rather do it from the pop-up than a bathroom. We went geocaching this day.

The fourth day it was cool and stormy off and on. We attempted some more geocaching. We discovered that Mike can go 4 wheeling in the mud in a 15 passenger van. It was wild or awesome depending on your age. {G}We found a couple of caches but the ones we really wanted to find were on a road that was barricaded.

The Fifth day was Friday….it was the best of times and it was the worst of times. Two huge ROAD WHALES arrived to share the turn around at the end of *our* circle. Haven’t you always heard that these road whales are great because they take no time to set up???? WELL….out of the huge 5th wheels and busses stepped two older couples. Ah – it’d be quiet after all. Then all manner of things began to come out of the recesses of the Road Whale next to us. Tables, strings of lights (red, white and blue), dogs without leashes, new TV’s, DVDs, PINK FLAMINGOS, neon Pink Flamingo lights in the windows…all in all it took them as long as it takes us to set up. THEN kids and grandkids began to arrive. They were a friendly bunch….but oy vey. They seriously broke the “2 cars per spot and 8 people per space” rules. However, today I was able to observe the PINK FLAMINGO DANCE…I kid you not. Zander had a blast with all the kids…and we were constantly hauling him out of the road whale next door. {vbg}

To gain some perspective and relief from the urban camping next door we headed to town and discovered Fort Phantom Hill. This is COOL. We love to explore old forts.

The Sixth day - Saturday we visited Buffalo Gap.

Today we packed up and came home. Disclaimer: despite the Road Whale comments I’d love a nice trailer….and a wi fi notebook....and we love all of you who own Road Whales (just keep your flamingos at home!) LOL

Photos follow this post.....book reviews to follow....

A Photo Journal:

CCC watch tower

"When the whole world is your kitchen"...remember that laundry commericial with little unschooling girl that said "when the whole world's your classroom you need tide" or whatever it was? I kept thinking of that as we cooked this week. It seemed that I still spent a lot of time in the kitchen but at least it was a kitchen with a great view...and green bugs dropping from the trees above to chat...

Stratego....

The older kids bought this for ME one time in San Antonio when I took them out for a week of camping all by myself. The idea was that I was going to lounge around all week. {G} I had to fight for a few moments in the hammock this week...and then I had to share them with my favorite 4 yo. We handled the food thing fairly well until we got HOME and then he keeps finding food I thought was out of the cupboards. Tonight he's a handful...but soon we'll be away from home and there will be no hidden snacks to find.

"one campsite" - picture doesn't do the lights justice and you can only see one flamingo...

Our campsite - we love reading around the fire. There was a burn ban when we first arrived but after the good storms they lifted it. Mike read Patrick McManus to us (he's a pro at editing on the fly) and *The Magician's Nephew*.

Deer, armadillows, birds of all sorts, millions of bugs, snakes - but we were thrilled not to see one BEAR. {G}

My two peas in a pod...Jamin can at times be the most understanidng and gentle with Zander (he relates) or the hardest on him. I love to see Zander begin to reach out to Jamin and Jamin taking that "big brother" mantle on so readily. We absolutely love this age of opportunity...all ages are fun but we love the youth transition. Here our serious, 15 yo PLAYS with his youngest brother.
While everyone played kick ball or climbed various objects - Stacia and I read. She enjoyed the bookmark....I finished 31/2 read books and hope to finish a couple more next week at the lake. I'm determined to do my part to reduce clutter in our bedroom by reading down the "1/2 read" pile.

Geocaching!

We haven't been able to get out and do any geocaching this month. Mike downloaded a bunch of coordinates before we left town and surprised us with some. This was one of our favorite caches. It led us onto a private ranch. There were cows, oil pumps and oil derricks. Jamin found me a rusty horse shoe (you have to know how I decorate to know how special that is to me!) We had to climb over a fence to get onto the prorperty...but had permission to do that.

After everyone else had suceeded I began over with Stacia in the sling...the boys and Mike quickly changed that plan. {G}

Turns out the cach was in THERE....and doesn't this seem like a nice snake hiding place?? Can YOU see the cache?

We finally admitted the clouds looked ominous and headed for home. I love a good thunder storm and nothing beats camping in a thunder storm. {G}

Shots from Fort Phantom Hill! This is a great spot to have found…it’s on private property but they leave it open for people to visit. The Fort was used to protect settlers during the Westward Expansion. This stop wet our appetites to travel the OR Trail.

This photo is classic. {G} What is it about my boys and cannons?

We thought it was cool to check out this wagon...we saw the keg for dishes, knew where they would hang the jar of milk to make butter during the day's drive....and the little ones and I may really do the OR trail alone this summer....if only Mike and the big boys could do it with us....

Mike took this self-portrait to prove that he was WITH us. {G}

Buffalo Gap

(I decided to upload the first half of our vacation in chunks - this is the first chunk which will be the last chunk when all is uploaded - clear as mud?)

Buffalo Gap is a quaint historic town in West Texas. Here are some pictures from the historical museum, which spans 1880 – 1925. We’d like to go back here on a day when they have volunteers doing “living history”.

Cabin where 6 children were raised! Arielle is still talking about the lack of space - hey Adrienne - I think she has her mother's "privacy issues". {bg}

BG County Courthouse known for many jail-breaks and lynchings in the 1800's.

Our Preachers (Jared & Arielle) at BG Chapel

Zander continues his fasciantion with cannons

Just for the girls - reminded us of your room in Alaska

Couldn't resist a picture of Mike in front of this advertisement for his favorite drink!

We looked all over for Feingold approved Chocolate – found hollow Nascar cars {g}. We couldn’t find marshmallows without blue dye but realized
Zander doesn’t eat them anyway. When we arrived
at the camp there was a burn ban, when it was
lifted we had to do S’mores! Organic graham crackers
coming tonight. {G}

Home Again - I had hoped to have the whole week up in pictures. Not going to happen tonight...but here are two shots of home...

Stacia loves being home again where she can CRAWL and the first thing she went for were the Calvin and Hobbes books. {G} I am SO glad we have a day at home to do this laundry and throw it back into bags...we are at 7 loads and counting....There were 7 garbage sacks full of laundry