Category Archives: outdoors

Let’s not do that again…

Oh, weather and it’s unpredictability. We had been watching the weather app (which is usually pretty accurate) leading up to the weekend and decided to still go camping when the forecast said there might be a shower at around 4pm and then at 8pm. After that, Sunday was supposed to be a bit overcast, but there wasn’t supposed to be any rain, and we figured the kids would be fine with a little damp.

True to the prediction it started raining around 4:00 and about half an hour later we arrived at the campground. It wasn’t coming down really hard, so Josh and I set up the tent and everything in the rain and then got the kids inside the tent. It decided to keep on coming down, though, on and off with only a brief respite here and there where Enzo and I would run to the bathroom and Josh grilled up some hot dogs. Still, the rain continued, though, and the kids were kind of whiny. They didn’t want to get wet, but they were bored in the tent, which was also starting to drip here and there. We decided to distract them by singing Happy Birthday to Josh a day early and eating his “cake.” (I am not a professional cake decorator).

Thankfully with the clouds, it was getting a bit darker and we were all a little chilly so we decided to crawl into bed and watch a movie. .. until we started getting dripped on… A LOT. Josh and I ran outside and grabbed a tarp and managed to slide it between the roof of the tent and the useless little tent “tarp” that came with it so we could stop getting dripped on. We crossed our fingers that it would stop raining soon and then tomorrow we could dry out a bit. Except, it didn’t stop raining; it rained pretty much all night and the next morning continued to rain on and off. Phoebe was especially whiny and the other half of the tent was wet, which made both kids whiny. We got some breakfast ready for them, but every time I left the tent or stood up or did anything Phoebe would start crying because she wanted to sit in my lap. I tried to bundle her up, but she was over it. I had to listen to her wail when I went outside to go to the bathroom, and get coffee, and when it started to rain harder Josh and I shook our heads and decided to pack it up. We had no way of knowing if the rain was ever going to stop and we doubted our camp neighbors wanted to hear the weeping and wailing and whining coming from our campsite for another day and night. So, as quickly as possible we packed everything up and back into the car we went.

Lessons learned:

Never trust a weather app.

Unless we get a camper it might be easier to hold off on anymore camping for a couple of years with our kids. Enzo might have been okay, but Phoebe was a hot mess. “I wanna go home!!!!”

Feathered Friend and Contemplation

“You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting –
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.”
― Mary Oliver

Bring it on!

I am planning on a busy weekend spent mostly outside thanks to a good forecast. I bought a deal online for some plants from a nursery nearby, so we’ll be heading there, but also will have to clean up the spots where our new purchases will be going. One area is completely overgrown with chives and I’m thinking a smaller lilac bush would be perfect there. The kids will most likely be content to help us for about 10 minutes before they’re bored, but they love being outside and will find plenty to occupy their time.

With luck we’ll be able to eat outside tomorrow night, but we’ll see. I’m planning on homemade pizza and ice cream because it is time to bust out the ice cream maker! Then we just have to all decide on a flavor, which will mostly depend on what we have on hand.

Then there’s camping prep to do! I want to try and pare down what we bring with us, but we enjoy a certain amount of comfort when we camp so I’m not sure we’ll be able to leave out too much. One day we may just have to get a little camper. In the meantime, our giant tent is good for when it’s buggy outside so that way there is plenty of room to still have fun without being bitten to death. I’m hopeful, though, that this year it won’t be an issue. So far the mosquitoes haven’t been bad at all and considering we’ll be headed north, I think we’ll be okay. And by north, I mean very north. I almost wish I had a passport since we’ll be so close to Canada. Haha!

I’m hopeful it will be a good trip considering the drive, but it wouldn’t be the first time we packed up early if it just ends up not being enjoyable. With luck we’ll see some wildlife and there are plenty of trails to walk on and, worst case, a town close by where there’s a park if we can’t exhaust the kids near the campground. Absolute worst case, I’m not against slipping them a bit of melatonin (we use only the amount and type the doctor recommended and not regularly – usually just for Enzo when he’s having an especially hard time shutting down). We are also not completely against letting them wind down with a show on our portable DVD player, especially if it means letting the campers around us also get some peace and quiet in the evening.

Sure, they look sweet and innocent, but the sibling squabbles started up around the same time Miss Phoebe entered the stereotypical “terrible” part of the twos. She knows precisely which buttons to push with her brother and will do so gleefully when there isn’t something else to occupy her time. I’m trying to explain to Enzo that it’s best to just ignore her when she’s being a stinker, but he thinks he should get the last word since he is the eldest. He has fully stepped into his roll as the bossy older brother. Some days it’s really kind of hysterical listening to the two of them whether it be when they’re playing nicely together or bickering over the most ridiculous things.

Happy weekend, all!

Metamorphosis

We weren’t sure if all of our butterflies would emerge or not, so we were excited to arrive home over the course of a couple of days to find them all delicately fanning their wings in their mesh home. I wish we could have seen them actually come out of their chrysalises, but alas, such is life. It was exciting nonetheless just to see that they had survived their transformations.

We decided we would release them over the weekend on Saturday, but it was so blustery that we held off until Sunday. I had talked to Enzo about releasing them and at first he didn’t want to because he wanted to keep them, but I explained that they would be happier if they could fly around outside. He agreed, especially after Uzi discovered them and knocked their entire habit off the bookshelf. Thankfully they weren’t harmed, but it was clear that it was time to free them.

Josh is truly a butterfly whisperer. He was the only one they cooperated for, so he would carefully let them sit on his hand for a moment while they stretched their wings. I think with each one, they only stayed until they felt a breeze or a gust of wind and then off they flew. Some took off immediately, while others hung out a little longer, but with each it was ultimately the same. They would wait for a breeze to lift them up off of Josh’s hand (or in one case the deck) and then off they went in different directions.

Neither Phoebe nor Enzo wanted to try and hold a butterfly and as soon as they were gone their interest in the whole affair had waned entirely. Our one worry was that birds would get them right away as I forgot about our permanent residents who apparently caught wind of what we were up to and started swooping around. Thankfully, I think the butterflies all escaped. We saw them later in the front yard when we went out to play and Josh to mow the lawn.

It was really fascinating to watch them grow from tiny caterpillars into butterflies. I think we’ll do it again when the kids are older and understand it a bit more. It was almost a little sad when they flew away, and I’m not sure why and then I looked deeper into the symbolism of the butterfly and it all seems to make sense. That, I think is a post for a different day, though.

Sports and things to add to my list of parental “fails”

Did you know that in order to register for things like T-Ball you have to do so really early in the year? Like February early? I did not know that, so apparently we’ll need to find something else to sign Enzo up for and depending on his mood he’s either interested in everything or nothing at all. We keep thinking that swimming would be good for both of them, but I really don’t want to spend a lot of money on lessons and have neither kid actually go in the water. The community center lessons are a lot cheaper, but they fill up quickly or there is never enough interest. So… back to the drawing board!

In the meantime, the kids can still practice a bit at home. Enzo really does have a good arm and seems like a natural. At the very least, maybe this year would be a good year to take the kids to their first ball game. They may not last the entire game, but we can always walk around and the food is good, so there’s also that.

What is it about baseball? I’m not a huge fan, but it’s one of the few sports I’m okay with watching and when I was younger I didn’t mind playing it either. I was awful at it, but it was still kind of fun nonetheless. Football just bores me and basketball is the same… plus the squeaky shoes. I can’t handle the squeaky shoes.

Enzo has always enjoyed sports. One of the very first television programs he watched was the Olympics… diving, I believe. Then has he got older he’d stare at football games and be totally mesmerized. Neither Josh or I played organized sports in school – well, he did for a short period of time, and while I liked running and was told I’d be good at Track & Field, I never joined.

We certainly won’t pressure our kids to join any sports or other extracurricular activities, but I think they might enjoy it. Now if we could just get our acts together and remember that you need to do things like register… well in advance. Hmm, maybe we can still find swimming lessons for them or gymnastics classes. They both like tumbling… mostly off of couches, but still!

Actually, Phoebe could probably use some balance assistance. The poor girl is not super graceful and is constantly tripping over her feet it seems. I have a feeling we’ll try and enroll her in a dance class considering how she loves to dance at home. I’m really just rambling aren’t I?

Okay, here’s hoping we can get these two involved in something or at the very least I guess I’d better start checking when I need to register for Winter programs since it seems like you need about 6 months notice. Add that to the list of things I never thought about before having kids.

Dino and Bunnies

Every day adventures