Salt of the Earth

Graham and I returned from Gilbert Ranch last night. We spent 3 days and 2 nights at cub scout camp with our new pack. Even though we came home tired, dirty and very hungry we had a blast. I’ll give the run down day by day. 

The first day (Sunday) Graham and I loaded up the Scion to head out for our annual summer adventure. We were both weary at first, since we are not very familiar with this new pack. The only thing that eased our concerns is that we both like adventure and we’ve always had fun at camp. 

After almost a 2 hour drive we arrived at Butte Creek, where the camp is. It was about 10 degrees warmer there than in Portland which made it very warm. After we checked in we were told to follow our Trail Boss, Michelle. She led us to what we thought was our camp ground then pointed up a hill and said we were ‘up there, way up there.’ This was a huge shock to us because originally we were to be on the bottom level due to adults with bad backs, injuries etc. We got bumped to the 3rd camp because kids in wheel chairs were there and some dude with a peanut allergy. The other thing was that we were supposed to have a flat bed truck haul up our gear to our site- and that didn’t happen. Everyone packed with the intention of not carrying their gear so when we were told we had to walk 1 mile UP we all cringed. SO we instantly became pack mules and started up the hill. By the time we got to our spot most of us were sweaty and ready to drop. Few boys almost barfed and I near went down for the count. After sitting for 5 minutes we set up camp. Even though we all brought tents (which added to our load) we all ended up staying in the tents that were provided.

After a few minutes we were told we had to climb back down the hill so that the activities could start. We filled the boys up with water and sun screen as it was still very hot.

Since the theme was  an old ranch the camp had some staffers dress up like robbers (aka the McNasties) and they road in and stole all the camp flags.  The boys had to find their camp flag- which was a fun way to give the boys a tour of the entire camp. I opted to sit in for the parent/leader meeting cause my legs still felt like jelly from the first hike up. 

After that we had our first staying which was games and activities. We ended up playing dodge ball and Coyotes and cactus. It was a lot of fun. 

Not soon enough it was super time. (dinner is lunch) and the boys had to put their class A’s on for flag.

Dinner was good- and the boys scarfed it up. Afterwards we had chapel and then the staffers put on skits for us. 

THEN we got to hike back up to camp to go to bed. It was much easier without gear but still a tough one. We had to pull a couple boys up cause they were tired. 

Graham fell asleep pretty quickly. I laid on my matt in my sleeping bag for hours finally falling asleep for about 2 hours. At around 4am i had to go to the bath room- which required a hike down to the road. 

And since it was dark I took a tumble and this is what happened. 

Thus ending my first sleepless night at cub scout camp. 

T

today my house was turned into a battle field. What started out with 2  boys having a water fight- turned into 7 boys and 1 girl getting soaked in my front yard. I went out a couple times to check on them- and they ended up all ganging up on me and soaking me (as per Thomas’ command).  It was a good day for a water fight. This is Graham attacking the neighbor boys. 

This is Thomas getting ganged up on by the two neighbor boys he just soaked and showed NO mercy. 

And in the midst of all of this Butters snuck outside and was chasing bugs and eating weeds. When I caught him he looked up all innocently at me.

After dinner my house was full of kids again- and then they all moved outside and skate boarded, played basketball and baseball. It’s a good group of kids so I don’t mind them being here. Couple of them hadn’t had any dinner and were hungry so uncle Buddy made them grilled cheese sandwiches. It’s so reminicent of my own childhood cause my house was the house where all the kids hung out. Buddy enjoyed all the noise and enjoyed watching them all play. 

It was a cool night- which is nice since it’s going to heat up in the next few days… ugh… i don’t like the heat. Oh well, summer doesn’t last forever. 

Tina

Today was very warm. We are one of the few that do not have central air in our house. UGH! On days like today I so wish we did. 

Tonight we went out side and did this:

Graham decided recently that he DOES want to play baseball so I’ve been outside every night pitching and shagging balls with him. I got him a T today to practice on. And yes, he STILL loves those crocs and wears them all the time. 

One of the neighbors asked me who Thomas was. When I said “Thomas, my son.” She was shocked cause Thomas has changed so much. She said “THAT’S LITTLE THOMAS?” It was funny. 

A few of the neighbor boys came over and played football with my boys. It was fun. Perfect summer night. 

It was a good night. 

T

This is me in the car heading down town tonight. We went to the Apple store so Thomas could try to get his ipod replaced. No luck. Graham and I headed over to Williams Sanoma which is one of the coolest place in the whole world. 

Afterwards we went here for dinner.

And if you are truly curious, this is what I had for dinner.

The day was pretty good. this evening is absolutely beautiful weather wise. Makes me happy that I’m living in an awesome place like Portland. 

T

Not too much production today. Just hanging out with the family and enjoying our time off. The excitement today happened just a few minutes ago. Our 4 year old neighbor just came over and rang our bell. He had apparently snuck out of his house and came over here to play. His parents thought he was sleeping in his room. Kind of crazy. We walked him home and his parents were shocked to see that he was not in fact in his room. 

My picture of the day is of Thomas in Idaho.

We were at the water/amusement park and I was waiting in line for the bumper cars. this is one of my favorite pics of him. 

Here is another: 

He was all ready to go on the bike ride the first day. He did such a good job and hardly broke a sweat. 

And last but not least is one of my favorite pictures of Graham and me on the Idaho trip. 

We all watched Bee Movie together tonight. It was cute. The boys and I watched Jumper the other day. That was really suspenseful and good. We also saw Evan Almighty. Entertaining. 

Well, that’s enough from me for tonight.

T

This was possibly one of the best 4th of Julys I’ve ever had. What started out to be just a dinner with Uncle Buddy turned into a party.  Couple people invited themselves over- which was fine. Couple people just showed up. Couple neighbors brought chairs over just to watch our firework show. We had a house full of people- all good company. We had steaks, sausage, ribs, pasta salad, watermelon….. and so much more.  The last person to leave left around 11:20pm. Uncle Buddy brought over his ’special’ fireworks which left us all a little deaf. Cousin Vic and Ann came over with little Abby. 

After a good meal we all headed outside for some fireworks and a hair cut for cousin Vic. 

As soon as it got to be just a little dark the fireworks began. They continued for a good hour and a half and were just amazing.  The whole day was a lot of fun and something we will always remember. 

Earlier today when we were getting ready for all our company Thomas hugged me and told me: “I’m SO glad dad got a new job. EVERYTHING has gotten SO much better since then.” It was awesome. 

Happy 4th.

T

Ok, so if you haven’t figured it out, I have a new application that makes it WAY easy for me to add pictures to my blog. SO I am adding more pictures today. 

This is my baby, Butters. I love this kitten to death and he just only kind of likes me. He gives me 10 seconds of love at a time then leaves me. sigh….. always want what we can’t have. 

This is what our little Scion looked like right before our trip. We had to remove the bike rack. Need to have the hitch moved or something. This is a good little car and even better at the gas pump. 

My roses. Another favorite of mine during the summer. 

That’s enough for now.

T

One of the things I love the most about summer is fresh, local berries.  

This is what I made for dinner tonight

Home made lasagna. The boys loved it. I haven’t made it in YEARS and it was so good.

BUT this is what we had for dessert.

Thomas doesn’t like berries so i just put cream on his angel food cake and called it good. Good Stuff I tell you.

T

So Mick left this morning for a business trip. His flight was cancelled and he had to go to Seattle to catch a flight to San Francisco. In the process they lost his luggage and he may have to stay an extra day.  Poor Mick. 

My kitten (Butters) knocked over the frogs tank and water went splashing everywhere. The kitten, whom i love to pieces, is in a lot of trouble now and hiding under my bed. Not even those big, cute, innocent, blinky eyes are going to get him out of this one. 

Graham tried to heat up his lunch in the microwave without removing the metal handle from the take out box. Yeah, can we say fire? Everything was fine- we just have to replace our 400 year old microwave now. YIPEE!!! 

That’s 3 things that happened today. Other than that- we are just peachy.

T

Around 3am Mick woke up and said ‘I think it’s raining in the tent’. Sure enough, a fine mist was covering my face and i felt down and my sleeping bag was wet. Our Fly had come undone on one side and the rain storm had indeed come into the tent. Mick bravely woke up and went outside and fixed the problem. I pulled my sleeping bag over my head and went back to sleep. 

A few hours later we woke up, broke down camp and hugged our good byes. It was kind of sad. All these people live near us but i just got used to having them around. 

We headed to Cabella’s and found out it wasn’t open for another hour. On our way out we bumped into some of our camping buddies and we decided to stop for breakfast. After a nice breakfast we went to Cabella’s. (i LOVE that store). After an hour of looking around and comparing it to the on in MN we were on our way. We made good time. When I drove everyone else in the car was sleeping. It gave me a while to just reflect on our trip and just how much fun it was. I was thankful at how fortunate I was/ am to be able to experience something so incredible. 

It was good to finally be home and see our little furry kittens. I took a long hot bubble bath and laid on my nice, soft, new bed.  WE all went to bed early that night. All I remember is my head hitting the pillow then it was morning. 

Took a couple days to unpack and catch up on sleep but I’m back to normal now and ready to go back and conquer those last 12 miles.

T