Camping

It took two hours and 50 minutes to get to our Vermont campground. What a gorgeous drive.

We had an enjoyable weekend, despite the rain, which at times on Saturday, was heavy. It stopped both nights (Friday and Saturday) in times for s'mores though.

The boys had a fabulous time swimming in the river. Yes, I swam too, on Friday night after setting up camp, and Sunday afternoon after breaking down camp. The water in the river was beautiful, but all those rocks really hurt my butt. And today (Monday) my ankles are killing me too. Okay, thanks to D, here's a photo of me trying to get comfortable out there on a rock, to let the water flow over my back the way I was instructed:

Yeah, I nearly killed myself doing it, but my kids will always have the memory of me giggling my way up the river. Even if it meant a few bruises along the way.

I'm pretty proud of the progress I'm making with my scarf. Even if there are gaping holes all over the place. L was good about fixing up some of my mistakes, and it was also cool to watch her knit for a few moments, and compare her technique with her mom's. She was also very good in telling me that some people do lots of mistakes like mine on purpose for a certain "look". I wish I could remember the term she used, it was really cute.

I don't know that I'll ever get those tiny finger movements down, that both D and L do, but I'm perfectly happy with "good enough". Will I get the bug? I honestly don't know. For now, I'll finish up my scarf and see if I miss doing it when it's done.

Our friends camp at this place pretty regularly, and L has become friendly with one of the women who work there. So she ended up marching in a local parade representing the state park. The parade was about ten minutes long, and was about as hokey as they come. What a hoot. I especially enjoyed the Cairo Hillbillies Clan, and bagpipe group consisting of one man. The boys especially liked the ridiculous amounts of candy they got (kind of bummed here that candy is what parades have become all about for them; I don't remember candy at parades when I was a kid).

Overall we had a fun weekend. My only regret is that our campsites, although next to each other, were further apart from our friends' than I had hoped. Which meant that once the boys were in bed, we couldn't go next door for some grown-up visiting.

Lots more photos can be seen here. Or by clicking on the link at the right.

Around the dinner table that night: "What was your favorite thing about this weekend?".
Me: Making s'mores around the campfire with our friends.
B: Fishing.
R: Swimming in the river.
E: Everything.

A wet weekend

Friday morning we packed up the car for our weekend of camping, and headed up to Old Sturbridge Village. R was incredibly disappointed that the Saw Mill is still not up and running. However we did spend some time at the Carding Mill, which we had never seen in action before. It was very cool. Of course the boys spent some time playing along side the stream which powers it. We enjoyed noticing how much higher it was once the mill began running.

We also got to see a "fire balloon" set up and launched, and enjoyed the Tinsmith, which we had missed the last few times. The heat was brutal and we took some time for a 21st century Icee and all ended up with blue tongues. We didn't' get to do too much since we had arrived pretty late.

When OSV closed we headed over to our campground next; Jellystone Park, which was only about a mile away. While I was inside paying the balance on our site, it started to pour. We drove to our site and sat there for about ten minutes debating whether to go home or find a hotel. We ended up in Hampton Inn where the gave us a very reasonable rate. The boys had a great time there. They love staying at hotels, where they get to swim in an indoor pool and jump on the beds all they want.

E as he's jumping and with the heavy breathing the exertion is causing: "Woe I'm so excited we even have a fridge...we can put everything in there...I'm hungry...hey we even have a freezer...we have a bath and a shower...hey Mama, you know, you know, you know, we actually, we actually, we actually...um nevermind. I'm in a hotel... I'm in a hotel... hotel... hoteeeeeelllll... I'm in a hotel." Yes his song was so cute that I wrote some of it down.

We went to Pizzeria Uno for dinner where we got really bad service, and at least saved a few bucks on the tip. Even R commented that crappy service seems to follow us around. Is it because we have kids? Is it because we drink water, and the waitstaff knows the check won't be that large? I wish I knew.

We had a fun night in the hotel and went swimming very early in the morning. I was pretty psyched about the "free hot breakfast" but was incredibly disappointed that the hot part was french toast sticks. There was very little of what I consider to be healthy food there to eat. Sugar and carbs to the max. At least they also had sausage which I alone seemed to enjoy.

We check out and headed to our campsite. We spent the rest of Saturday playing miniature golf, swimming, riding bikes and of course, eating smores. We won two free games in mini golf and the boys and I played while B packed up the car on Sunday. After packing up was all done, the boys headed to the "Aqua Center" to pay for some more swimming, and really, just a big slide. They had a great time on it, and went down dozens of times.

We had a really fun weekend despite having to stay flexible. It was a cool adventure. I'd definitely advise skipping this particular Jellystone park though. It was so overpriced, it was a joke, and the spots were all teeny. No privacy at all. I could stand in the center of our site and turn in a complete 360 and see other sites from all angles. We had to pay for the mini golf, and also the "Aqua Center" which was a large kiddie pool (only up to three feet) and a giant slide. We will never go to this campground again, and I strongly suggest avoiding it to anyone considering it.

Camping in New Jersey

This past weekend we headed down to New Jersey for the boys' cousin Sean's first birthday. His family owns a nice in-ground pool and the boys enjoyed the entire day swimming in it. Uncle Matt even brought out these really cool motorized boats for the kids to ride. All the photos can be viewed by clicking on the link on the right. There are even a couple of me.
The drive to Uncle Matt's is 3.5 hours, so we camped in a nearby state park. We drove down to the campsite in NJ on Friday, attended the party on Saturday, and came home on Sunday morning. It was a decent campground, and since it's a state park it was inexpensive. Plus our site was right next to the relatively clean bathroom, so it worked out well. We'll probably stay there again for Neil's birthday party in August.