Addition to Camping Adventure Part I

Granpa Jim reminded me of some other details that added to the excitement of the evening. Here is a written comment he sent to me, "not to mention the guy in the dark at the first Frog lake had had a few beers, had a pistol on his hip and warned us about cougars..." Seriously! The guy said, "Keep the little ones nearby. There are cougars in this area." Then he offered to show Jim what super, secret fishing lure he was tying on to catch fish there. That was funny. "I shouldn't be showing you this," he said as if Jim were going to head right down to the cougar-surrounded lake with his wife and grandchildren, in the dark, and catch every last fish in it.

Camping Adventure

*Some details may be a little exaggerated for added drama.



So Granpa Jim & Plain Grama asked if we could set aside a weekend to go camping with them before summer was over. We had already been out on two other camping trips this summer and with all the home remodeling projects to get to, we decided that Mark would stay at home and get lots of work done and I would take the kids. Because we were going with Granpa & Grama, I didn't have to do much planning at all. My responsibilities consisted of packing clothes, a tent and sleeping bags (and some chocolate chip cookies of course) and Granpa & Grama took care of the rest. I knew where we were going (at least I knew the name). I, however, didn't have to know how to get there. I didn't even have to drive. It was easy-peesy.





We got a late start on Friday because Granpa ended up having to work later than expected. But still, all was okay. We should have had time to make it there before it got too dark. So we set off toward a fun-filled happy weekend of camping. About two hours in to the trip it was starting to get dark and we were on a gravel road. "Are you sure there's a campground up here?" "Yes! We have reservations for Frog Lake. We followed the directions to Frog Lake." A couple of miles up this gravel road we stop to speak to the only human we've seen in about an hour. He's just setting up a pole to go fishing at dusk. Granpa pulls up and asks him, "Are we close to the campground?" His reply? "There's no campground on this lake. I've been coming up here for 20 years. There is no campground here." Fantastic!!! Where on Earth are we??



So with this man's help we learn that there are two Frog Lakes in the area . . . about an hour apart from each other if you know the back roads. Who's idea was it to name two different lakes the same thing within that close proximity?! Ridiculous! So off we drive to find another place in the vicinity to stay for the night. Yeah right! Like you could find a campsite without a reservation on a Friday night at 9pm. So we check a couple of places. No go. Keep in mind there is a 2 yr. old in the vehicle who has been sitting for nearly 3 hours!! At one point Granpa stops the truck in the middle of this nearly deserted road in the pitch dark so we can figure out whether or not to keep going or take a cut-off. We notice a car approaching from behind. So, Granpa starts to back up and pull of the road. Smash! Crunch! Bad noises! What was that noise?!? Fortunately, it was not us running in to the people behind us. The boat trailer had tipped over! The people behind us were totally lost too so we all sat in the middle of the road and commiserated for a few minutes. They easily got the boat trailer uprighted and we got going again. We drove about 500 feet and I said, "Stop! We're camping right here at this pull-out. I can drop a tent right there." And that's just what we did. We camped right there on the side of the road.



to be cont . . . .

Donuts & Purple Toenails

This morning on the way to church Elise asked, "When's it going to be Shawn's birthday?" "Well, honey, Shawn's birthday is a ways away, but my birthday is in just a couple of weeks. Whatcha gonna get me?!" was my reply. With hardly any hesitation she answers, "A doughnut!" A doughnut??? What a funny girl.

It's a beautiful day here today and the kids are playing out on the back porch. I just went out to check on them and see what they were up too. Here's the photo of what I found.

It's a lovely purple, shimmery shade Elise chose.

Cute Little Dessert

Thanks to my cute Demarle football shape tray, I just made the cutest dessert for my family. I coated the bottom of each shape with melted chocolate chips.

(Thanks for the great idea Carol! http://kerickcarol.blogspot.com/) Then I added vanilla ice cream that I had softened a bit. Next, I sprinkled the top with crumbled mint Oreo cookies. So cute! They came out looking like little boats. The kids thought they were fantastic. So did Mark and I, and we're very happy that we each get a second one after the kids go to bed. As I type Mark is wrangling the kids up, getting their jammies on etc. He's on a mission. I should make Demarle ice cream treats more often if he'll be so quick to jump-to and lend a hand at bedtime. For some reason 'Add Image' is not working. I'll have a cute picture to attach as soon as it decides it would like to respond.

Granola

I've been making homemade granola for my husband for years. He takes it to work every single day. Recently I went on a Girls Weekend and brought my granola along to share for breakfast. Several people asked where I got it from so I thought I'd share the recipe. You can of course put whatever you want in, but this is typically what goes in it at the Mullenbach house.

3c. rolled oats
1/4c. wheat germ
1/4c. powdered milk
1/4c. bran flakes
1/4c. rice krispies or cheerios
1/3c. oil
1/3c. honey
few Tbs. peanut butter

Bake rolled oats at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.

While that's baking combine dry ingredients in a bowl.

Combine wet ingredients in a separate bowl. (I like to microwave the peanut butter a bit to soften in and make it easier to mix.)
Add dry ingredients to rolled oats. Mix thoroughly.
Add wet ingredients. Mix thoroughly.
Bake for 15 minutes. (You can stir it half-way through but I like some of it to be a little crispy, so I don't stir it.)
After it's cooled, transfer to an airtight container.
That's it.

Anything that could go wrong . . .

Yesterday the big "serious" part of our remodel for the half-bath/laundry room got underway. When they started digging up the floor with the jack hammer a water line got nicked and they immediately had to turn off the water to the house. This was before we had even brushed our teeth. Then as they started to repair that little problem, they discovered that the base of one of the walls in the laundry room is being eaten by ants. So they pulled out a piece of a 2x6 that was completely chewed up and will need to be replaced. Fortunately Mark can do that without too much trouble. Soon after they got the water turned on, they discovered the water pressure in the house was next to nothing. I went away for 2 1/2 hours at that point and came back to see that they were still working on it. Eventually, debris in the kitchen faucet was located and found to be the culprit. (A few days before, our hot water heater had been replaced and the thought is that rust and junk on some of those pipes was knocked loose and eventually got logged at the kitchen sink.) But shortly before that was figured out, I went to use the severely-reduced-pressure kitchen sink and found my feet getting wet. I thought the plumbers had forgot to hook the pipes back up under the sink but that wasn't the case. The pipes had completely worn out from old age and just by simply getting bumped they had come apart! So with a 5 gallon bucket paced under the sink, the one remaining plumber left for the day. I left a message on Mark's cell phone saying, "Um honey . . . I've got a project for you tonight."
These are all minor, fixable things and I am grateful for that. I am fully aware that things will not go smoothly all the way through this project so I am keeping a joyful attitude (so far). Hey, I wasn't even the one who had to fix all the problems. I just smile and say, "Let's go out for dinner tonight, Honey!" I respect the hard work and frustration the guys went through yesterday and I think my husband is just a stud muffin for how quickly he can fix just about anything. I often call him My Jimmy-Rig Super Hero, but not everything he does is Jimmy-Rigging . . . most things are done right. I think I need an additional nickname for him! Any ideas? (My friend Jen Henderson http://allthingshenderson.blogspot.com/ has run polls on her blog to name things like her new sewing machine. I believe Opal was the winning name but she doesn't really like Opal so I noticed her calling it Opal Francis the other day. Jen's blog is great. She updates it all the time with funny stories about life and she does a weekly "column" on Praying for your Kids.) Maybe I should run a poll too and get some great ideas from you all for Mark's new Mr. Fix-It nickname.

Potty Training!!

The Joys of Parenting
Shawn has been in big boy underwear for a whole week now! Wahoo! It is so exciting every time he gets on the potty. I assume the novelty will wear off eventually, but for now it's a very big deal around here. A friend of mine (Jen Roth thank you!!!!) passed on a great insight from her pediatrician about potty training kiddos. There's a window of opportunity when they're about 24 -26 months where they might show some interest, and if you really stick to it, they will potty train. If not, you might have another year in diapers, especially for boys. Well Shawn is 26 months and showing some interest. So two days later I said, "Okay, this is it!" and in to underwear he went. He has done fantastic! In the last couple of days he has reached the point where he will tell us he needs to go and we're not having to annoy him every 20 minutes, "You gotta go potty? You gotta go potty? Want to try and go potty?" Yesterday he was playing on the back porch and actually had the where-with-all to STOP PLAYING and COME INSIDE! He ran to me with great excitement, "Potty Mommy! Potty!" Oh! I was filled with such joy and pride in my son.