Baker Boo

Alternate title: Learning to Camp in the Rain

Mother Nature really turned it on this fall. I’m always a huge fall fan (I think it’s my favorite season), but this year was especially beautiful - and long lasting. In fact, we still have some fall color down here. It was weird to see that with snow last Friday. [It also means that we have not finished raking yet because there are still leaves on trees. And now it's 30 degrees ...]

Anyway, in the midst of the glorious fall colors, we took our first ever fall camping trip with the Ps to really experience Baker Boo. We’ve been to Baker Boo before – but only in our infamous Vanneste day camping ways. We actually stayed overnight this time! The girls were off of school Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday that week, so they spent their first two days of break with Gma and Gpa N. Then Mike, Dec, and I took Friday off of work and preschool, so we packed up and headed up to the campground right after lunch. 

Friday was a perfect fall day. Some (cough ... Mike) would even say it was too hot. We got all set up while the kids ran around with the Pilcher kids, played in the leaves, peed in the woods (Dec), and generally had a good time. We enjoyed a lovely fire that night - complete with s'mores. And then the adults enjoyed the campfire after the kids all went to bed. The only not perfect thing about the day. It was SO windy!!

Saturday was not the perfect fall day. Friday's wind was the opening act for quite the line of storms that blew in overnight. Between wind and storms (and a toddler for the Ps), sleep was not amazing on Friday night. It rained  hard until almost 10am on Saturday, so we were pretty much camper bound. I did venture out to the bathroom to get a shower - and didn't even have to wait in line! The kids did okay with being stuck inside. We got out some toys and coloring supplies, Fiona did her flush and watched a show, and Mike grabbed the DVD player from his car so Q and D could also watch a show while they played.

We were all happy when the rain stopped enough that we could put on rain boots, sweatshirts, and raincoats, and venture outside! While the rain was done for the time being, it was very very muddy. Despite our best efforts, the camper floor took quite the muddy hit on Saturday. It was harder to play outside on Saturday - especially for the girls who were not into "mudfest" as much as the big boys were. But we hung in there and alternated between outside and inside time. It's an art to camp in the rain and stay entertained - and you can't do it well without practice. Or so we told ourselves.

The afternoon was saved by the fall festival at the campground. The rain had stopped and it was game on for fall fun. The kids were thrilled when we said "yes" to face painting (they don't understand that we're not against the painting. We are against spending $50 at ValleyFair for them all to get their faces painted) and they had a blast playing the "Boo Games." We let the kids run up on the little stage to pose for a picture. Dec got a little too into his superhero persona and proceed to "hulk-smash" Fiona in the gut. It was very hard to discipline him without laughing. It was SO funny ... for everyone except Fiona. But according to the subsequent training class manual, you don't hulk-smash your sisters.

There was another band of storms coming through that evening so they moved trick-or-treating from 6-7 to 5-6pm. This was a well-received move! The candy-hander-outers loved that they could see the kids' costumes - and we loved that we could actually see our kids! You have not trick-or-treated until you do it at a campground. No messing around with doorbells and candy every few feet. Kid nirvana!! We even found a site where they gave candy to the kids and shots to the adults. Brad and I took it for the team!

Quinn and Dec made it about a loop and a half before they were done, so Mike took them back to our site to hand out candy. Fiona and I continued on with the rest of the big kids and did about four loops. Right at the end of loop four, the rain started up again, so Fiona and I bailed back to the camper. We discovered the rest of our gang there with a very empty candy bowl. Apparently all our candy (and there were probably 75-100 pieces) was gone in under 15 minutes and Quinn swears she was only giving one piece per person.

The rain turned out to be just some sprinkles. So we ate a quick dinner and headed over to B loop to hang with Cheryl's family. The kids had a dance party and then we all walked over to see the evening entertainment. It was square dancing. Fiona and Tryg paired up, Quinn asked Jack to be her partner (and he happily agreed), and Dec partnered with super fun Aunt Carin. It was so fun to watch and the kids had a great time. The littles went back to the site with Mike, but Fiona stayed for one more dance with Libby. She ended up in a group one of the tallest men there, and he had to go under a bridge made with her arms. Cathy, Carin, and I died laughing!

It was very late and was a short time around the campfire before the wheels fell off. Hard. Trainwreck at site D-9! And quite honestly, at the Pilcher site as well. The evening ended with Brad, Mike, and I around the campfire. With no wind and no rain. Yay! The night went better for sleeping for all. And then we packed it up pretty early on Sunday morning. Which was good because all things needed to be de-mudded when we got home - kids, dog, camper floor ...

Family Favorites

Sometimes you need to blog about your fall camping trip and Halloween and instead, resizing photos sounds easier and you decide to share a few of the group photos from the Family Pictures Round 1 and 2 adventure. Because it's Thursday and stories that require a lot of words also require brain cells. And you are out of them.

Or you are posting family pictures by popular demand. Because you give the people what they want. It's one of those two.

**If it looks like we just picked a random spot in our yard and crammed together for a family photo, it's because we picked a random spot in our yard and crammed together for a family photo. While Round 2 went better, it was not without its excitement. In that it started raining within 5 minutes of us going outside. Coming soon to a blog near you ... really cute photos of my kids playing in the rain. Taken after group photos were cut short because of the high probability (according to short people) that they would melt in the rain. Naturally.

Mike saw - and then caught - a snake.
And the kids all tried to use me a shield.
Then the snake peed on him. And we laughed.

It looks sweet. But this is Fiona scowling
and me telling her that I need her to pull it together.

The Saturday We Didn't Do Anything

Last Saturday dawned bright, sunny, and a not-so-warm 33 degrees. The temperature was important because my friend Beth was on her way over to drop off her two kids with Mike and pick me up. Because she and I had decided several months ago that running a 5k at the end of October sounded like a super good idea. At 33 degrees, we questioned that decision. But we were really glad we powered through.

We were both pretty chilly at the start of the race, but by mile 2, were overheating. Beth and I are good running partners and go at about the same pace. We had run this race together before, right after I had Declan. But I was dying from the plague and Beth had a hurt foot. This time felt better for so many reasons. It is also safe to say that we drastically improved our time!

Mike brought all five kids down to see the end of the race - and we cheered on Beth's kids as they ran the half mile race. Then we headed home so that I could take a nice long, hot shower and try to loosen up my leg muscles. Everything felt good while I was running - but standing outside for quite a while after really tightened my muscles up.

After I got out of the shower, the kids and I made a final trip of the season to ValleyFair. We met Makai's family there and rode our favorite rides one last time. We also headed out to the Great Pumpkin Fest and did a little trick-or-treating. The kids only lasted about an hour and a half before they were cold and hungry. We swung through McDonald's on our way home for a late lunch.

While we were at ValleyFair, Mike was home taking down the trampoline and working on the leaf situation in the back yard. After lunch and a very short rest time where no one really rested, Mike and Declan took a load of leaves out to the farm to get rid of them.

When they got back, Quinn, Dec, and I headed over to the pumpkin patch to pick out our perfect pumpkins for carving. We spent a lot of time searching for just the right ones and they were very cooperative in taking a couple fun pictures for me. They know that their mama loves photos of kids in pumpkins in the fall! Thankfully Declan picked a small pumpkin that Quinn could carry because we had quite the adventure carrying two pumpkins across the very large parking lot. Quinn and I took turns carrying Dec's - and I had hers. We were all tired and sweaty when we got to the car.

A few weeks ago, we had made a trip up to Trader Joe's (we go for dark chocolate peanut butter cups and hummus. We get other things - but those two are a good enough reason for us!) and the girls talked me into buying a Haunted House kit. It's like a gingerbread house, only a Halloween version. We decided to put that together after we got home from the pumpkin patch. It was so much fun and they did a great job working as a team to decorate it.

I noticed Dec messing with his nose during the decorating and told him not to pick his nose. He had a funny look, so I asked him what he was doing. Yep. He had stuck one of the little candies up his nose. Because of course he had. So he took a quick detour into the living room to have his dad perform some candy retrieval. Then we had a short training course on NOT sticking things in your nose. Or your ears.

We also called Grandpa J to wish him Happy Birthday, gave Dec a haircut, and gave all the kids a shower.

And yet, at one point in the day, when I sat on the couch for ten minutes, Fiona asked me why I was laying around all day. True story. Clearly we didn't pack enough into the day!

Twelve Years

Two weeks ago (October 15 to be exact), Mike and I celebrated our twelfth wedding anniversary. Due to some well-advised (ill-advised?) family photos bribery on my part, we got to take the kids to Valleyfair to celebrate it. I don't suspect that is exactly what we imagined twelve years ago, but we have always wanted to have a family together and I'm pretty sure those babies who got married all those years ago would approve of where we have ended up!

We ate a quick lunch after church and headed over to the park about the time the Vikings/Packers game was kicking off. Solid plan! There was nobody at the park. Like nobody. Like so nobody that Mike walked up to Power Tower, got right on, and was the only one riding it!! He also took advantage of a very short line for Steel Venom. It was ah-mazing! And oh so much easier to keep track of all the short humans!

Before we went, the kids picked their "must rides" for the day. I have owed Q a ride on the hot air balloons for a couple trips; I had promised Fiona another round on the Scrambler; and Declan insisted we finally make a point to ride the Ferris Wheel.

Not only did we meet all the small V requirements, but we also took a couple trips on the carousel, checked out our favorite kid rides, did a family trip on the flying eagles (we aren't convinced that Bugs was really tall enough to ride solo ... but it helped out the uneven math, so we went with it), scrambled the whole family on the Scrambler, and stuffed our faces with cinnamon pretzel bites. Everyone enjoyed our inaugural Ferris Wheel trip - despite great trepidation by the blondes as we got on. There was a lot of spinning and Mike and I were about spun out by the end - but we all had a blast!

We loved checking out all the Halloween decorations in the park and made sure we boogied out of there before it turned into ValleyScare at dark. Our kids won't even watch The Incredibles because it is "too scary" (sigh) ... so we are pretty sure that ValleyScare would not fly for them. We were still able to spend almost four hours there (with no stroller, thank you very much!). And the nice thing is that it is really easy to get them to leave with absolutely no drama when the threat of zombies is imminent!

We finished the day with a visit from Auntie Tracey and Nate, spaghetti dinner, and some DQ cake thanks to Tracey. There may have even been a shared Crown and coke to toast the day. It's been a good twelve years!

Twelve years later. Not too shabby!

The Three

We had homemade chicken noodle soup tonight for dinner - made possible, in part, by 30 minutes of concurrent iPad time for the three. This sounds simple enough, but if there is one thing I'm known for in these parts, it's my stingy-ness on the screen time.

We recently solved two rather annoying issues with a single chart. Issue 1: constant requests for iPad time, which I say no to 99.9% of the time. Issue 2: dinnertime manners. Or more specifically, the sudden absence of them. Thus, they can now earn an X by their name on the whiteboard for appropriate manners during dinner. And five Xs equals 30 minutes of screen time. Woe to the child who asks for screen time before he or she has the required Xs! Tonight was the first payoff of the chart. I liked that they earned the privilege. Mike liked that they were quiet. They liked their screens. Everybody won.

This is F's "I'm almost out
of smiles" smile

Fiona told us tonight that she told a friend in YMCA after care (the big sister of one of her classmates) about her scars, her surgeries, and her button. This is the first time she has willingly shared her story with a friend. She said that she was nervous at first, but was glad at the end that she had shared. And you know what, that friend had had a surgery too! It was a great step for her to start to navigate how and what - and with whom - she wants to share. We are so glad it was a positive first experience. And ironically, Mike just leaned over and showed me that it is World Spina Bifida + Hydrocephalus Day. Even cooler.

Sweet Quinn is generally not a fan of dogs - except Yogi. Terrified and petrified are two words that come to mind. Our neighbors who walk the girls to the bus each morning have a sweet, yet hyper dog named Basil. Quinn and Basil are not BFFs. Ms. Katie has been nice enough to put Basil in a bedroom or outside for the few minutes before they go to the bus. But Basil's presence often makes Q choose not to go over and play on the weekends. This week, she has decided that she is willing to try co-existing with Basil and is doing a great job. We are all so proud of her and Bugs, Ev, and Jonah have been so kind and encouraging.

Dec has settled in beautifully at preschool. The group of kids there is perfect for him and he seems to be effortlessly making friends. He's just his goofy self and they love him for that. We are also thrilled that the boy finally has some friends his own age! His imaginative play has skyrocketed and it is the most fun to listen to the games he makes up. A few nights ago, I found him with several of his sisters' Barbies out and Spiderman was alternately saving them and "hamming" them with a hammer. We've found that Spiderman is a bit unreliable in his heroics!

Speaking of accomplishing two things in one action, you have an update on the three and I got to share the fun group photos from our family picture adventure. Again, everybody wins!