Father-Son Camping

FMCHE – our homeschool group – has an annual Father-Son Camping Trip.  This year it was at Itasca State Park in MN.  Eric has taken the boys each year (they’ve been at least two years old).  This year, Greg went out early on Thursday with friends.

Though Eric does this, it’s always during Spring planting.  However, it’s that bonding with ONLY boys that they need…and I think he (Eric) needs it, too.  To be around Catholic dads who support what we are doing and the goal we have in mind.

So, Friday, May 17, 2013 at around 3pm, they were packed and ready to leave the farm.  It’s about a three hour drive to Itasca. 

Louis, with his new ‘Cars’ fishing rod, above.  Graham fishing, below.  Eric said they caught a few fish.  One of the other dads is gracious enough to clean the fish and they’re usually eaten that day.

Oh, yeah.  It typically rains during their trip.  It makes Eric feel better about leaving the farm (this year we need the rain)!  And, it makes for wet everything at the campsite.  Raining makes it more of an adventure…wouldn’t ya say?

The guys are usually back Sunday afternoon, but with the rain here, it might be later this evening.

It’s Friday…

and I didn’t have a good title for a post, but wanted to summarize a few things that have been going on around here.

1. The three middle kids – Angelina, Zeke & Graham – have slept out in the tent for the last two nights.  They set it up at the end of the tree rows, so are a distance away from the house.  They brought our old covered fire pit and have been cooking breakfast and dinner over the fire!  Yesterday I didn’t see any of them until shortly before lunch when Zeke came back to use the bathroom.

2. Dash is making progress (FINALLY!) in getting his subjects completed. 

3. A new, larger pool has been ordered and the kids can hardly wait.  They spent a lot of time swimming last year.  We’ll need to do a bit of work to level the ground before setting up the new pool, but it will be well worth the effort.

4. I’ve made more progress on clearing the flower bed of weeds, but we sure could use more rain to soften the ground.  It comes up in clumps which I then have to break up to level off the surface.  I’m tired in about 20 minutes!

5. Almost all the supplies for the next school year are on hand and I’m almost done creating the necessary lesson plans.  I’d like to have all that figured out before heading to the MN Homeschool conference next week.

6. We finally have a broody hen!  She’s set up with a clutch of eggs and we hope this experiment goes well.

7. Cloth diapering is going well.  There have been days where we’ve only used them at night…sending Louis out to the tractor with cloth diapers is just not practical!  However, we have days, like yesterday, where it’s only cloth.  In fact, I did make the decision to order diapers for the new little one coming.  However, because my ‘little’ ones tend to be pretty big, I opted to buy the regular sized instead of infant sized.  The way I see it, we’d only be using the infant for maybe 2-3 weeks and then the baby would be into regular sized cloth diapers.  2-3 weeks is not enough time to justify the expense.

8. The vegetable garden.  It hasn’t been planted, yet.  But, today is looking like a nice day.  Maybe I’ll sneak outside and get it done!

20/52

Joining Barbara in commemorating the year in once a week posts … just whatever is going on in your life: the mundane, the crazy, the normal, the everyday.

Day 1: Progress on the Patio.  It almost didn’t happen today.  The grade change was larger than accounted for in the original plan.  But, they worked out the details by phone, added a retaining wall (with our approval), and started working away.  Thankfully, the semi loaded with our raw materials was able to turn around before getting too far out of Fargo.  Below is the pile of raw materials delivered for the project.

Dash and I planted 3 apples trees in the front yard on Tuesday evening.  Varieties:  Fireside, Sweet Sixteen, and my favorite … Honeycrisp.

My final project on Tuesday was to plant the Blueberry bushes.  Three Chippewa Blueberry bushes at the edge of my garden.  I’ve never raised blueberries before, so hope they grow!

Day 2:  Patio Progress.  By Wednesday evening, the crew had started the third row of the retaining wall on the patio.

Starting over on the strawberry bed after enlarging it a bit.  My sister told me about Sweeney’s Deer Repellent.  I sure hope it works to keep the large, 4-legged leepers/muchers away from the strawberries.  They don’t even wait for berries.

Did a bit more work in my ‘play around’ garden at the side of the garage.  My mom gave me a rose bush for Mother’s Day – it’s planted on the right in the below picture.  I also planted a Morden Centennial Rosebush in the center top photo.  Morden are my absolute favorite rose because they thrive in our ND temps without over-the-top efforts (ie. no effort at all on my part) to winterize. 

Day 3: Progress on the patio.  Drainage installed, and steps to the yard visible.

The square foot gardens were prepped, but not planted.  Dash and I did fill the 7th SFG.  Due to the expected storms, I was reluctant to plant seeds, only to have them swished around by wind and rain.  I did, however, plant the cucumbers, cantaloupe and watermelon, which are covered by ‘staked in place’ milk jugs.

Eric and the three oldest boys are headed to Fort Ransom for the FMCHE Father/Son Camping Trip.  I wonder is each family having as many trials getting their men/boys out the door???  I wish them well as they head out into the rain. 

Yes, they are bringing bikes.  Can you see the excitement? 

Angelina, Louis and I are left home to hold down the house, finish 4-H sewing projects, and take care of the animals.  I think we’ll watch a movie and stay up late.  It’ll definitely be quieter …

 

Father-Son Camping Trip

This is the weekend for the ANNUAL FATHER-SON CAMPING TRIP! I'm excited ... about doing the laundry to prepare, packing, food preparation (Baked Beans - check out my cooking blog for the recipe - Special K Bars, Homemade Trail Mix), packing, and having house to myself for a couple hours.

This is not really a relaxing weekend because it's also the weekend of Angelina's Dance Rehearsal and Recitals (yes, recitals on both Saturday & Sunday) in Fargo. However, I'm planning to come home on Friday night - late as it will be - so that I can have some quality 'mom time' alone on Saturday morning. I have NO plans and am going to keep it that way for now.

The boys look forward to the trip every year. This will be Graham's first year. My hubby agreed to take him, even though Graham is a not-quite-3yo and not potty triained as of yet. But, it would be difficult for Graham to be with me, so this is the best solution. The little guy is just pumped about this 'awesome' event.

A Very Excited Graham - waiting to go.

Zeke has all his activities planned out ... he's for sure going to play baseball and his fishing pole is ready to go. Thank goodness Dash is old enough to help lay out all the clothes. Hand him a list and he does pretty well. I just need to check over his picks and make sure he only laid out 'play' clothes for his younger brothers.

Dash helping to get the supplies organized in the truck.

The first year Dash went on the camping trip, which was also the first annual, he went into the lake 5 (at least that's the number the rumors/stories have settled on) times! He used up all his clothes in the first day. I didn't find out until much later ... sometimes what happens on the Father-Son Camping Trip just needs to be left 'there'.

I'm praying they have good weather, no rain, and warmer than predicted night-time temperatures. Just in case, I'm sending the long-johns and stocking caps!