First Camping Trip of 2013 Summer

This is the May 15th post :-) Today we invited friends to visit, and stay the night while we prepared for our first camping trip of this season. So, to become prepared for our camping trip, we needed to create a huge mess of paper mache while we ate pizza and drank gourmet sodas. Creating got us in the spirit we needed to talk about some of the previous camping trips we have experienced, and discuss this trip. After a full day of screwing around, er...planning, we ventured to our favorite local hotspot to purchase some sustenance for our 3-4 day trip. This trip, only one of my fabulous offspring is joining me. This is exciting! I think this means it will be more simple, which I really do enjoy sometimes. Our tent has held up through over 50 campouts, and I am guessing, a few hundred children. Our last lantern purchase has been our best, and we love toting our white, down comforters along with us to camp. One of our latest traditions has become drawing on the comforters with permanent marker. It does fade once the comforters have been in the sun for picnics, and washed upon our returns home, and that makes it more fun, because we are beginning to see layers developing. Just like in our family. Mady has invited her boyfriend to join us on this trip. I am looking forward to at least being present with them in the car. I am uncertain what kind of time we will each make for one another for the duration of the trip beyond the car. I am planning on hiking at least 2 days about 10 miles each day. I hope they will join me for part of the trail. These two are a dynamic pair and their care for one another rubs off on those surrounding them. Caring for others can be an intense part of growing up. To continue on my path of learning to care for others, (outside my family as well as in) I enrolled in a General Psychology course and Chem I with a lab for summer sessions. Mady will be away with her grandmother during most of this summer, learning to train horses. Our family is beyond excited for her. She has asked for her Algebra course to be sent to her, along with a grammar review, and books added to her Amazon account. The boys continue learning spelling through online searches and Scrabble while I continue to read to them. Their hand eye coordination is improving every day, and they are very active between mud runs, riding bikes, trampoline jumping, fishing, and the occasional hike. Niki is enjoying marking off, or checking off, accomplishments right now. My plan is to establish a month long schedule for her once we return from this short trip. I think we can develop a couple of lists and she can chose what she works on each day. This way she gets to chose and she can check off the lists and see what she has accomplished. Her reading is slightly above her grade level according to her age/grade. She has participated in a couple of art shows this year as well as gymnastics. She is interested in participating in art classes, which I also need to add to the weekly lists. We all volunteer in our local community in small ways almost everyday. Some of the most exciting news of the last 9 months has been Dom beginning a new career. He is enjoying his job immensely. He gets to blow things up! He is also taking some welding courses. We have learned so much in the 2 years that I have not kept this blog up, mostly about ourselves, and our family. What works for us, and what does not work for us. What we can become accustom to, and what we do not want to become accustom to. I am looking forward to the next couple of years. I am looking forward to some sleep too.