"Camping"

(This definition is for my beautiful, dear friend Julie Lyn, who informed me I was "Doing it wrong" when I sent her a picture of our "Campground".)

Taken from dictionary.com.  Camp:  tents, cabins, etc, used as temporary lodgings by a group of travellers, holiday-makers, Scouts, etc.

That being said I must also say that I don't do tents. 

I don't do sleeping on the ground.  

I definitely don't do cohabitation with bugs. 

 Or bears.  

Or racoons.  

Or anything else that isn't human, dog or cat.  

Now don't get me wrong, I have done my fair share of camping in my life.  My folks used to take us to Lake Shelbyville every year where we did the whole cooking over a fire, sleeping in tents and swimming in a lake you can't see the bottom of.  (Another thing I don't do.)   

I vividly remember the last time I did go camping like that.  I believe I was 24.  My then very outdoorsy boyfriend suggested we go camping in Southern Illinois over Thanksgiving weekend.  We visited with my family beforehand and told them how we planned to go camping to see some waterfalls and such.  Every one of my family members told me that I wouldn't last and I would be back at my mom's house before the weekend was over.  I was very offended and defiantly told them they didn't know what they were talking about, I was tough enough and to shove it.

(Very important side-note:  I am the most stubborn bullheaded person you will ever meet.) 

So off we went on this camping trip.  I made it through the entire thing.  However it was so cold it never got above 20 degrees the entire trip.  It was so cold, in fact, the freaking waterfalls we went to see were FROZEN.  In the evening we made a fire, drank a bunch of whiskey, I made a stew with 1/4 cup of pepper.  I had on coats, hats mittens and blankets.  

Even after all that I still couldn't feel my feet.  

So we went to bed.  I was wearing three pairs of woollen socks, two flannel pants, a t-shirt, long sleeve shirt and a hoody all while wrapped up in one of those mummy sleeping bags that is supposed to keep the crazy people who like camping in the mountains in winter warm and had it completely zipped up.  Still I froze my ass off.  For two whole days.  But I did it.  (see side note.)

Luckily, the Mister agrees with me and my camping ideas.  So when we took our family camping this is how we approached it.  I must say it was quite lovely.

  

  

Baby Backpack!!!!

 And when we were done exploring the beautiful outdoors this is where we slept.....

 Our little cabin getaway in the woods!

The Mister even made me a fire........(sans bugs!)

   

 And every morning after we rolled out of bed we stumbled out to the deck overlooking the lake to bird watch and sip on our coffee.  That was made over a fire.  From the gas stove.

Most perfect camping trip.  

Ever. 

Wata Pak

I hope everyone enjoyed their long holiday weekend.  We are very excited to be starting school this morning!  In fact we are so excited we all were up before or right at 5 am!  I hope we can keep this momentum going through out the year!

Since our vacation extravaganza, Little Miss Clara has demanded to go to a "wata pak" every single day.  Since yesterday was the last day we could I looked for the most fun + closest one to us and had a swim day with the girls!

(This was taken at Mt. Olympus in the Wisconsin Dells.  We are waiting for a 9 ft wave to crash into us.  If you ever get a chance to go there please do not pass up on Poseidon’s rage.  It was AMAZING.)

"Now it's back to school, back to school, to prove to dad I'm not a fool, I got my lunch bag packed and my boots tied tight, sure hope I don't get in a fight......."

Happy first day of School to all you crazy kids out there!  

(Especially to my favorite 7th grader!)

Family Vacation

So an over worrier, a perpetual planner, a tween girl, a toddler in the midst of her terrible two's and a puppy went camping for a week in the backwoods of Wisconsin......

That's it, folks.  That's the entire joke.

But seriously, the Mister and I took our entire brood to a little place called La Valle Wisconsin last week to have our very first family vacation before Rhiannon starts 7th grade this year.  It was a smashing success, for the most part.  

This right here was my absolute favorite part of the week. 

I swear this porch was made just for me.  I actually made the Mister take this picture so he could recreate it for me someday.

The book I'm reading in that picture?  It is called The Dirty Life: A Memoir of Farming, Food and Love.  I finished it in 4 days.  I loved it and highly suggest you read it.  Yes it is about a couple who put their entire life savings, blood sweat and tears into starting their own "whole diet" farm.  But it is much much more then that.  It is also about her personal struggle with whole heartedly accepting her new life as a married woman.  

As someone who has always been a fiercely independent woman, this speaks to so many emotions I am having right now in accepting this strange new role as Wife I have taken recently. I have been secretly wondering if everyone had a feeling of losing a part of themselves after they wed and it was just something that wasn't talked about, or if I was just a horribly selfish person.  I am glad to learn at least one other woman felt the same way almost to a T.

I know this rain we are getting is probably ruining some of your Labor Day plans but I am loving the pitter patter on the windows mixed with my old scratchy records!  I hope you all are having a safe and happy weekend!

Another Friday night in Good Ol' Clinton County...

Just another Friday night.  Sitting with a Busch watching the babes run through Grandma's sprinkler.  Nakee.  

Country living at it's classiest.  

In other news....Check out my Mama's garden!  

Happy Weekend Folks!

Potty Training Woes

Truth time.

I am in potty training hell.  

I've tried naked potty training.  

Doesn't work.  

I've tried just putting her in undies and asking her if she has to go potty/putting her on the pot every twenty minutes.  

Doesn't work either.  

She will actually sit on the pot for twenty minutes and then go right after I put her pants back on which equals me doing ridiculous amounts of laundry. 

Is it normal for a kid to not care about having wet pants?

I really really want to put this kid in preschool.  I'm really really tired of changing diapers.  She is old enough and smart enough to do this!  

What can I do to help her understand that going potty in the big girl chair is fun????  I'm pulling my hair out in frustration!

Visits with Verna

We had a fantastic weekend filled with travelling, birthdays, running, paint, and spending a little time with my all time favorite woman in the whole wide world. 

I love you Grandma!  Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to hang out with me and my brood!

Happy Monday, Folks!

Birthday snapshots

Last night we decided to drive out to the suburbs to go to the one and only Joe's Crab Shack in the greater Chicago are for their Cajun Crab Boil.  However, with the weather as it was, (rainy rainy rainy,) google had predicted it would take us over an hour to even get there.  The Mister proposed we just make it at home.  After looking up how its made I couldn't believe how easy it actually was.  You literally just boil everything.  So off to the grocery we went and about an hour later we had the most delicious meal one could ever imagine.  Here are a few snapshots of the night.

*If you are a novice at eating/making seafood boils please be warned.  We have enough leftovers to feed a small army.  2 lbs of crab and 1 lb of shrimp doesn't sound like a lot of food.  It's a boatload.

 Here the Mister is "popping" open the first bottle of wine, only to find it was a twist off......

The delicious vegetables....

Taking all the goodness out of the pots....

 At this point we tried calling all the friends we could to see if anybody wanted to come over for a last minute meal.  The amount of food we made was beyond ridiculous. 

One of the best part of this meal?  the 29 cups of stock that I now get to use to flavour all sorts of delicious dinners in the future!

I wouldn't be a birthday without the cake, right?  

This is a triple chocolate mousse layered cake complete with white and dark chocolate shavings.  

Perfection!