north shore chronicles {part I)

A couple of weeks ago we loaded up our kids and 89% of our personal belongings, hitched up the camper, and took off for the North Shore for a FIVE night vacation away from home. Now, let me just explain something here. The last time we took a vacation THAT long was back in the day when taking our one child on a trip over an hour away caused us to break out in a cold sweat and experience heart palpatations. Typically our camping trips (which are the extent of our "vacations") are two to three nights max. And much closer to home. So this trip was definitely a big deal (read: a LOT of work to prepare for).

Day 1: We actually managed to leave our house when we planned to! Pretty impressive if I do say so myself. After swinging through Starbucks to get my beloved nectar we hit the road. The older kids each popped a Dramamine and watched movies on the laptop (we don't have one of those fancy DVD players in our van). We managed to get by with only TWO pit stops and seven hours after our departure we arrived at our campsite. After getting all set up, we walked down to a nearby pizza place for supper (perhaps not very authentic camping fare, but it did the trick). The rest of the night was filled with exploring the campground. And then it was bedtime. Getting the kids to bed was amazingly not a problem. HOWEVER. At approximately 1AM, Wyatt decided to start coughing. And coughing and coughing and coughing. This, of course, woke him up. Being quite exhausted he didn't want to be awake coughing. And so he started crying. After trying unsuccessfully for about 20 minutes to get him to go back to sleep, I laid down and let him lay on top of me. At which point he coughed again and with that cough came vomit. All over my shirt and in my hair. At 1AM. In an unfamiliar campground. At 1AM. I had no choice but to pass him off to Aaron and take myself down to the creepy shower. Let me tell you. I was fairly convinced that I was going to be attacked by a bear or some crazed axe murderer. I wasn't. Phew. Still, not the start to the trip I was looking for.

Day 2: We met up with my family and went to Temperance River State Park (just a couple of days before the government shutdown). We first went down by the lake and had a picnic.

Wyatt couldn't wait to climb down the stairs and get closer to the water.

Elliot was curious about the (freezing cold) lake...

...until the waves chased him away.

After that little scare, he maintained a safter distance from the killer waves.

Ethan learned how to skip rocks. He may or may not have been a much faster learner than his mother. Ahem.

Wyatt didn't quite catch on to the whole rock skipping technique, but he did have lot of fun throwing the rocks.

Maya became a master in the art of creating a "moat".

After hanging out on the beach for awhile, we crossed the highway and went for a hike. Most of the trail is fairly close to the Temperance River.

The hiking trails we were on were just a little different from the ones we're used to (read: I was afraid my two littles would DIE if they were allowed to walk as there are steep cliffs everywhere) so Wyatt and Elliot always hitched a ride. Sometimes they were each in a baby carrier on my and Aaron's back.

And other times Aaron would carry one on his back and the other on his shoulders. Which put Elliot right where Wyatt wanted him.

community {garden}

Some good friends of ours (who also happen to be in our small group) have a very large garden on their property that they graciously chose to make a community garden this year. To kick off the season, they hosted a potluck/garden planting day.

Someone brought monster cookies to the potluck. Wyatt was a big fan. It's possible that his mother was as well. A very big fan.

Elliot got out his little trowel and dug a hole or two. The toy bulldozer also came in quite handy.

It didn't take Elliot long to discover a set of steps leading down to the lake.

He hopped onto the dock...

...and spent some time reflecting on life. Or contemplating jumping in for a swim.

After that it became a game to inspect the gap between the green and the dock...

...and take the leap over to the other side.

There was a kayak sitting near the dock. I thought Wyatt might enjoy sitting in it for a bit.

He didn't. My arms, however, were about ready to fall off from carrying him for so long, so I bribed Elliot with a juice box and got both boys back up the stairs onto solid ground where we checked on the progress of the planting.

Maya was busy digging...

...and Miss I was busy smiling.

Ethan, of course, stopped what he was doing to pose.

G-man made sure the post was solidly in the ground...

...grabbed a bit of dirt...

...and proceeded to put the dirt on top of the post. I'm sure this is a genius new way of planting.

Meanwhile, a (small) city boy received a lesson on hoeing...

...and Ethan got back to the business of planting seeds...

...and covering them with dirt.

There was a fair amount of random digging going on.

There was lots of learning, too.

And what day is complete without a good tantrum?

Brenna and A planted a nice, straight row of lettuce.

After all that digging in the dirt, a bunch of the kids went back down to the lake to hang out in the row boat.

Now, before you get concerned about the fact that none of them are wearing life jackets, let me assure you that the boat was tied to the dock the entire time.

After a hard day of work it was time to relax and enjoy the sunshine. Soon enough it will be time to begin harvesting! Until then, we will enjoy a weeding party or two. And if we're very lucky, perhaps there will be more monster cookies involved.

a big umbrella

We came home from, well, wherever it is we were one evening, and the sun was in just the right place in the sky for taking some great backlit photos. "Wouldn't it be adorable," I thought, "to get some pictures of Elliot with the giant rainbow umbrella?"

Adorable indeed. What I got was this.

A look of consternation (not to be confused with constipation which I can tell you with 100% certainty is NOT a condition he is afflicted with)....

...and annoyance.

After that brief and unsuccessful shoot, the other kids decided they wanted to have THEIR pictures taken with the umbrella.

Which at the very least yielded a smile or two.

And THEN I thought it would be fun to take some jumping pictures with the umbrella. So I grabbed Ethan and proceeded to do just that. Unfortunately, there were no jumping apparatuses in the setting sun so we had to go to the shady side of the yard.

Brenna wanted in on the action, too, so I shot a couple of her. And then I realized that even though it was still light outside, it was, in fact, past bedtime on a school night, so we called it a night and went inside.

kids say {ethan}

Last week we were in the van listening to our Glee Christmas CD (which for whatever reason keeps the kids happy. Even though it's May. They are clearly confused by all the cold weather we've been having.) The song 'Island of Misfit Toys' came on. Ethan was happily singing along in his endearing tone-deaf little voice when, near the end of the song, he asked, "Are they saying biscuit or misfit?" Let's just try that on for a second. "We're on the island of biscuit toys...can somebody pass the butter?"