Map to Heaven

Text to Jason: I just had to draw a picture of you and I up in heaven with God so that when we die Collin will have a map to look at and then he’ll know where we are at.

Cub Scout Mother Son Camp Out - Just me and the kids....

Friday 5pm - Sunny and driving to Camp Crown.

Friday - Setting up the tents 80', humid, and sunny.

Friday Night - Inside the tent - No rain yet - mid 60's during the night.

SATURDAY EARLY EARLY MORNING - LET THE RAIN BEGIN.
Let me start this by saying I haven't camped since the 7th grade.  I've never found it intriguing or had any desire to do this, but now that Wyatt is in Cub Scouts I need to embrace my inner camper.  So for our first time I'm not going to pretend that we had a great time, but it was a great learning experience.  Now that I've had a few days I can write this with a smile.

So with that being said I've been trying to figure out the best way to write down the new things that I learned.  I think the best way to share this is to tell you each item that has stuck with me and how I learned it.

• Make time to pack.  I didn't really take this as serious as I should have.  Sure I took 2 hours to research the best tent for our family and bought flash lights a week ahead but when it came time to pack Jason packed for the family while I finished up working.  We tried to remember everything, but failed miserably.  
• Ex: We were suppose to bring our own plates, cups, bowls, and silverware.  What we showed up to camp with was a handful of plastic forks, knives, and red solo cups.  
• Ex: You will need more than 1 can of bug spray for 5 people.
• Ex: It's great when you buy flash lights and batteries ahead of time, but even better to pack them and not leave them at home.
• Ex: Cheap-o ponchos from the Dollar General are no substitute for actual rain gear when the weather man calls for rain.  When camping this should be taken more seriously than when you are at home protected inside by walls, windows, and a roof.

• Leave children under 5 at home for your first trip.  I love Collin and thought this would be a great experience for all of us to have, but I was wrong.  Children under 5, and this number could possible go up to 6, have no place on a rookie camping trip.  Save this adventure for your 2nd or 3rd time camping at least.  Trying to get everything organized and set up while keeping track of an active 3 year old is impossible.  1 hour into being at the camp site both Collin and Ben were covered head to toe in mud and sand.  Apparently on one of their excursions someone saw a "real life bear" and then had to run and slide down a hill to save themselves.  I question finding a "real life bear" in Trevor, WI, but who am I to question this really... I wasn't on the hike after all.
• How to cook outside.  Even more impressive to see this while it rains for an entire day.  (SIDE NOTE: When was the last time it rained for an entire day???)  

Saturday Morning - making food - "Rain Rain Go Away"

• The Dutch Oven Diva came Saturday morning at 7am to teach us how to cook in 10-12" cast iron pots over hot charcoals.  She can cook bread, bake a cake, fry bacon, and anything else you can do in the kitchen.  It was truly awesome learning how to do this.  

  

  Dutch Oven Diva

• How to bake muffins inside of orange peals over a camp fire. (These were absolutely delicious.  Blueberry muffins with a hint of orange)
• How to eat oatmeal out of a bag.
• How to keep a fire going in the rain so that you can cook while raining.

• The power of salt.  Not just for flavoring your food.  It also stops the burning on your face from the oils of a really hot jalapeño.  "Erika - How do you know this?"  Great question!  Let me share.  For one of the Dutch Oven Diva's recipes it called for 1 diced jalapeño.  In order to make the dish not so hot I cored the pepper and put the seeds to the side.  Collin came to watch and touched the seeds.  Then he put his hands all over his nose and mouth.  We go to the tent right after this and he starts screaming in pain.  All the sudden it dawns on me what happened.  For the next 45 minutes he is screaming crying.  We tried water on a towel to wipe it off, swishing his mouth with milk, wiping yogurt all over his face and nothing made a difference.  Finally this wonderful mom, who was on the trip but I don't know, came over and said, "You need salt."  She went and got some from the kitchen tent.  Came back and mixed the salt with Collin's saliva and wiped it all over the burning areas.  Within 2 minutes the burning stopped.  I cannot thank this women enough.  She was our angel.

  

  Kitchen Tents

• Have a camping bin prepared ahead of time.  Keep this in the garage ready for when you camp next.  Stock it with eating wear, flash lights, extra batteries, old towels, rain gear, matches, garbage bags, small rug(s) for your tent, a small broom and dust pan to keep your tent clean, a pocket knife, extra tent poles, extra tarps, etc...  We will be doing this for sure before our next camping trip.

So all in all we learned a lot and I will definitely do this again with the kids.  (Next time I'm watching

Ms. Joann making muffins in orange peals.

the weather report before I fully commit though.)  We were planning on camping from Friday evening and staying until bedtime on Saturday before we left.  We ended up leaving on Saturday by noon.  The kids were cold, wet, dirty, and begging to go home.  I have to through out a BIG THANK YOU to Ms. Joann who put this trip together for 40 mom's and their kids.  She did a wonderful job with everything and I wish the conditions would have better.  I take my hats off to all the mom's and kids who stayed until Sunday.  You guys are real troopers!  

Saturday Night Crew - Mid 40's during the night

Saturday Night Crew

Saturday Night Crew

My girls, Liz and Jackie, who stayed for the whole weekend.

Boobie Traps

Two nights ago Collin is tying pink ribbon all over the mud room.  "Collin it's time for dinner." The response I get it "Just a second mom I've got to finish making my boobie trap".  Ok - Whatever.

Finally finish dinner and everyone goes to the office.  Craft time - Riley has some project at school that she has to make a bunch of stuff to sell.  She leaves an open bottle of glue in the middle of the room on the floor.  Of course - You guessed it - Collin spills it and gets glue all over my floor.  "Ah, sorry mom"
Me: "Could you guys go play in the other room please"
Collin: "Come on Ben"
Ben: "Where are we going?"
Collin "To make a potion."
Ben "Ok" and they leave.

Enter Wyatt into kitchen "WHAT ARE YOU GUYS DOING!!??!!"
Collin: "Making a volcano."
Wyatt: "Mom!! They have water and soap all over the kitchen table and freezer door."
Me: "Could you please go get a towel and wipe up the water.  I don't even want to go in there right now" as I'm hot gluing pictures to pencils for Riley's craft project at school.

Now it's bedtime.  I ask the kids to go downstairs and get in bed while I finish cleaning up the messes.  You know the usual - pouring wet soapy newspapers out of cups and throwing out the left over noodles from dinner because they have dish soap all over them.

While I'm doing this Riley and Wyatt are reading the littles the riot act downstairs.
"HOW COULD YOU DO ALL THAT!" "DON'T YOU KNOW THAT MOM IS JUST ONE PERSON TAKING CARE OF ALL 4 OF US!" yada yada yada.  I go downstairs.
Riley: "Mom, I'm sorry.  I'm just so frustrated with them."  I get it.
Goodnight Riley.
Goodnight Wyatt.
Me to Ben and Collin: "Boys, why do you do these things?"
Ben: "We're making traps to catch the leprechauns."
Me: "Really? I think that we are a little out of season for the leprechauns."
Collin: "Nope.  They're coming."
Me: "Ok.  Goodnight boys."

Jason gets home and I share the night events.  He's cracking up.  "I know this is going to start something but I have to leave a note."
NOTE: "I've disarmed all of your boobie traps.  HAHA - The Leprechauns." With pieces of ribbon and newspaper all around it left over from the boobie traps and volcano.

Morning - The note is read.
Wyatt informs the boys that their plan was flawed because you have to leave gold if you want to trap a leprechaun.  Riley asks me if I wrote the note.  I can honestly answer no.  I had to rewrite the note to show her it wasn't my handwriting.  Then it was dad.  Wyatt answers "no - go get my journal.  Dad's handwriting is in there and it's way messier."

Conclusion: IT HAD TO BE THE LEPRECHAUNS!

How NOT to pay for your lost library book

Wyatt came home with a note on Monday saying that he still has a book out at the library.  I asked him to go look for it, but he never did.  I followed up with him later in the afternoon and he was going to look for it a little bit.  He NEVER went to look for it and that was the last on heard.

..... UNTIL .....

Wednesday afternoon when I receive this email from Wyatt's 1st grade teacher:

Hi Erika,

Wyatt is upset he can’t check out a library book and is working hard to problem solve the issue.    The book he owes is Let’s Mix.  It costs $6.00 if it is lost.  He asked me if I could take the money from his lunch money account on Tuesday and brought in gift cards today to pay for it.  I told him to put the gift cards in his backpack and told him that I was sorry that the gift cards weren’t for the library. 

Now let me add to this.  The gift cards he brought in were cards that my kids took from the cash register counter at the Goodwill Store and pocketed without me noticing.  None of the cards have any money on them since they are STOLEN. Normally I catch my people doing this, but apparently missed this one.  (Just another perk to taking 4 short people to the store with you.)

Now put yourself in the teachers shoes with this child giving her Goodwill gift cards to pay his library fees.  You can just imagine what was going through her head.  

Conclusion: Wyatt spent 3 days thinking of solutions to "how not to look for my lost library book".  I'll give him resourceful, but add LAZY to it.

My question really is: Wouldn't it of been easier to just look for the lost book????

At The Movies

Saturday I took all the kids to the movies for a birthday party.  (PADDINGTON for those of you who are curious.  I give it a B.)  When the movie was over the littles go sprinting out of the theater. I get out there and hear them laughing and yelling but don't see them. Then I spot them running around and around this man just yelling and laughing. He's standing there smiling but looking around like "who do these children belong to?"  Then his wife came over and they started laughing. Collin kept running around him. When we got in the car I asked the boys why they did that and Collin said "because running around people is funny."  He's right. It was pretty darn funny.