Vacationing with a Crowd

This is our fifth annual trip to the beach with Chris' coworkers. For the last three years we have rented the same two 12 bedroom houses. These houses are oceanfront, huge, and beautiful. They are also full and loud! In total, there are about 42 adults and 18 kids, some of whom are teenagers. There are seven elementary school kids and four preschoolers. As the years go by, more and more people are making the trip. I really enjoy these beach trips because I often only see most of these people at the beach and at the Christmas party. It is fun to catch up with them and hang out.

We rent the houses in October because it cheaper (a lot cheaper) and people have more time to travel over a holiday weekend in the fall than during the summer.

Chris has worked for John for 12 1/2 years now. John hired Chris right out of college.

Here is a photo of Wesley with John and his wife. John went to the party store and bought all kinds of pirate stuff for the kids. This was a great idea and the kids have loved playing with the pirate stuff, including the bandanas.

Last year was perfect beach weather. The prior three years it was cold and rainy but last year was perfect. We were all hoping for a repeat but instead it is very breezy and cool - around 75 but windy. Here is one of the guys fishing on the beach in front of our houses.
See how windy it is? This is one of Chris' coworkers and her almost 4 year old son.
In the morning Chris and I walked 6 miles with both kids in the stroller. Ahh, I remember the days when we used to walk on the beach for exercise. Now we would have to put them in backpack carriers to do that.

After lunch at our favorite drive-in, we went to a little aquarium. We got in free because we are FONZ members. We are really getting our money's worth out of that membership! Here Wesley is pretending to nap on this turtle. He did take a nap as soon as he got back in the car.
One of the moms (the one with the kite) had the wonderful idea to bring a ton of playdough. This has entertained the kids for hours! Here is Wesley with a little 6 year old boy whose dad has worked with Chris for the last 12 1/2 years.
We eat most of our meals at the beach house. Actually at the "baby" house. All the families with young kids (Lydia is the youngest this year) stay in the "baby"house and everyone else stays in the other house. I am just happy that we are in the same house with the food because everyone comes to "our" house to eat and hang out. Now, some food does have to be stored in the other house.

On the first night we always have salad and lasagna that one of the wives makes for everyone. The second night is usually a catered BBQ meal - they bring the food and set it up for us. The Third night is usually seafood - crabs and shrimp. I did bring some homemade cookies but one of the wives brings a lot of baked goods. Here is Lydia enjoying one of her cupcakes.
Chris' boss does a lot of work in the kitchen. Here he is slicing meat for sandwiches. He first baked the ham and turkey and then he sliced it. At lunch time, he sets out platters of meat and cheese for sandwiches. Currently (during the Skin's game) he is deep frying chicken wings (they are very yummy and hot!). Early he sliced potatoes and deep fried those. See why I had to walk six miles on Saturday? The food comes out in force every few hours.
One of my favorte beach activities is playing Mexican Train with some of the other ladies. Last night we played until 12:30. My kids were up right at 7:00. Ugghh. Why didn't I go to bed at 11:00?
This little almost-four-year-old played with us for a little while before he went to bed. We had to help him but he really enjoyed it and he was so well behaved! He is the little boy with the kite in the earlier photo.

Surviving the Grocery Store

Going to the grocery store with two kids is always an adventure. Or at least it is with my two kids. I can't be certain that there won't be whining and complaining and bad behavior. About a month ago the whole family went to the grocery store and Wesley got to experience the joy of pushing his own little cart. This worked out great since Chris was with us. I ripped off the bottom third of the list so Wesley and Chris could fill Wesley's cart. It was great.

The next trip to the grocery store occurred while Chris was at work so I had the kids by myself. Wesley really wanted his own cart. After laying some ground rules, "no running into people, stay with me", we were off the fill our carts.

In the produce section an elderly man smiled warmly at the kids and said to me, "You have two little helpers." I looked at him, with what I am sure was a look of fear, and said, "I only hope we get out of here okay." He looked at me like I had said the most insane thing and went back to his shopping. I had visions of Wesley’s knocking over a tower of stacked cans or running into elderly people with his cart.

Wesley actually did a great job. He loved filling his cart and helping me. He only ran into my ankles once (boy did that hurt). Here he is enjoying his reward for a job well done.
Since Lydia quickly got over the fact that she wasn't getting her own cart and she didn't throw anything out of the cart, she also got a cookie.

I was so pleased with the easy trip to the grocery store that I tried it again the following the week. Well, the kids weren't as cooperative and Wesley missed out on getting his reward.

I came home with patriotic birthday candles that I didn’t choose to purchase but at least they were only a couple of bucks.

Later when Chris came home, he asked why I bought chocolate bars with nuts for our smores. I told him that I didn't and then he showed them to me. "Oh, I don't know. I took two little kids to the store with me. Oh, yeah that is the aisle where Wesley started knocking over the packages of adult diapers. Well, just be glad that I got any chocolate bars."

We will try it again next week. Ah, the teachable moments in public continue. For me and the kiddos.

Hold Your Ears - Wordless Wednesday

Monday Musing

Well, I think it is amusing.

There were spiders in the bathhouse at the campground this weekend. Since it isn't my house, it really doesn’t bother that there are granddaddy longs legs in the bathroom. Wesley was thrilled to see the spiders. On Saturday when we made a trip to the bathhouse just to see the spiders he said, "The baby-short-legs is looking for his daddy-long-legs."

I love that cute little boy and the sweet things he says.

Camping Locally

How many cars does it take for one family to camp 30 minutes from home?

Two. We needed two because we arrived at different times and I really wanted to take the double BOB so I could enjoy the 4.5 mile walk around Burke Lake. The BOB is huge and takes up a lot of space in the van even when completely collapsed.

I arrived at the campground a little after 1:00 and found most of the campsites were already reserved even though there was almost no one there. Two thirds of the sites were reserved for cub scouts who were coming on Saturday and about half of the other third were already reserved. (Groups can make reservations but family sites are first come.) The super nice woman at the camp store said that on Fridays people get there at 8:00 to reserve the sites that they want and then they come back in the afternoon and set up their tents.

We ended up with a very large campsite in section C that wasn't very close to bathhouse C but it was fairly close to bathhouse B. Some of the sites are too small for a seven person tent like ours. Being right by the cub scouts was fine because somehow the adults got them to all be quiet right at 10 PM for quiet hours.

After reserving our site and parking the van, I unloaded the kids and the stroller and walked around the lake. After the walk, the kids played for about 45 minutes at the playground at the campground while we waited for Chris to arrive. This playground is exactly like the one by the train and carousel.
Our tent looking rather fly.
Camping at Burke Lake isn't exactly getting away from it all. I did check my email once on my iphone. I turned it on to make a phone call and realized that I was getting a 3G signal and well, I just couldn't resist.

I didn't sleep well the first night because I could hear the traffic on Burke Lake Road and the Parkway. It sounded like motorcycles were racing (they probably weren't but it sounded that way.) The second night, I slept great with ear plugs in.

The worst part about camping in the fall? The temperature dropped down in the forties at night, so it was very cold getting out of the sleeping bag and going to the bathroom. Wesley had to go once each night (so did I). The weather was very different from when Chris and Wesley went camping in July with other dads and sons from our Adult Bible Fellowship.

When we camped in August we only had fires at night after Lydia was in bed but this time the morning temperature was chilly enough to warrant a campfire. I was relieved to see that Lydia had a healthy fear of the fire and that she stayed a safe distance away from it. Here is a picture of Wesley "reading" to Lydia by the fire. While Chris and Wesley were walking around the campground this large limb fell down on the road in front of them. It was about 20' in front of them when it hit the road. Chris and another camper moved it to the side of the road. This was, of course, a big thrill for Wesley.

On Saturday, the reward for riding around the lake in the stroller a second day in a row was playing at the big playground. This tunnel slide was Lydia's favorite. As soon as she got out of the stroller she headed straight for it and then went down head first on her belly. I kept telling her to go on her bottom feet first but if I wasn't there to make her she went down head first. I think it was just easier for her to get into the slide in that position.

Wesley and Lydia climbing the rock wall.

After the playground, we walked on around to the train and carousel. While I rode with the kids, Chris went back to the campsite to cook lunch. Lydia had her only nap that day in stroller on the walk back to the campsite and while the rest of us ate lunch. She only slept for about 30 minutes that day so she was sleepy on and off the rest of the afternoon. Here she is cuddling with Chris.

Camping so close to home gave us the opportunity to invite friends to join us for dinner. We had chips and salsa, black bean salad, and chicken fajitas. (We prepped everything Thursday night so we just had to grill the marinated chicken and cook the peppers and onions.) Our sweet friends showed up with banana muffins for us to enjoy with our beach eggs the next morning.

The kids had fun playing together. Here is the best picture I have of the older kids roasting marshmallows.

Yummy! Actually, after eating one s’more each night, Wesley just wanted to eat the marshmallows right out of the bag- less work and waiting that way.

Isn't this a great picture? This little 17 month old enjoyed her first s'more. Lydia had some also but Chris wouldn't let her hold it because he thought it would be too messy.

Chris ordered a nifty automatic coffee maker that worked great on the camp stove. With morning temperatures in the low fifties, the coffee helped to warm me up. Chris recently started drinking coffee occasionally and he enjoyed a cup both mornings.

Packing up to go home.

Before heading home, we put the kids in the stroller for one more walk around the lake. It was only 10:30 when we started walking but both kids fell asleep.

This is our last camping trip this year. We hope to camp next spring, summer and fall. I have a couple of places already picked out but if any one has any suggestions or wants to join us that would be great.

Round and Round -Wordless Wednesday

Fall Fun

We headed out to Cox Farms for a day of fall fun with MOPS. The kids had a great time. Here we are going down the big slide. Wesley got off to a faster start than Lydia (who was sitting on my lap) and I did but we passed him.
Both kids loved "driving" this little train. They also both pushed themselves in front of other kids to have a turn. That is something we have to address - waiting for turns.

Lydia went down a lot of slides on my lap. When she went down by herself in sitting, she spread her feet and one foot would always get caught which would spin her around and flip her over. She did much better on her belly, feet first.

Here is Wesley on the valcano slide. The next time down he lost his hat but we were able to get it back.

Wesley and Lydia did not like feeding these goats. As soon as we walked in the pen, the goats took wesley's cake cone of food. This scared him and made him cry which made Lydia cry. The nice lady who sold us the cone gave us another for free (without me asking) but I ended up feeding the goats.

Wesley climbed this obstacle course to get to a rope swing. The yellow ladder on the left wasn't very high and he easily climbed it but he did need a little help to get over the top of the blue ladder.

Here he is on the rope swing.

Wesley was very proud of himself for climbing up on the hay bales.

Here is a close-up of Lydia on a small slide. She got such a great workout just walking around the farm and up the hills to the slides. On one of her numerous falls she got a boo-boo on her knee.

Lydia and I are on the now waterless water slide.

At some point Wesley started asking for a hotdog. I packed a lunch to take with us and he ate it fairly well, but later he wanted a hotdog. So when it was around 4:00, I said to him, "If you get in the stroller so we can leave, I will get you a hotdog." He climbed right in without protesting leaving.

Here they are with their hotdogs and the pumpkins we got. The price of admission includes a small pumpkin. The kids really had a great day. We were there for over 5 1/2 hours. Lydia has never gone so long in the day without a nap. She fell asleep within a few minutes of the car moving. It took Wesley about ten minutes.