Our First Family Camping Trip

We finally did it.  We went camping.  Landon and I don't really see the point in camping.  With the lake only minutes away up the hill, the river only minutes away down the hill, and plenty of open spaces for us to enjoy right here in Fort Peck, we've decided we really like coming home to showers and real beds after a day in God's country.  Plus, it's WAY less work for a day trip.  We both grew up camping and thought when the day came, we would take our kids camping.  That day came on Friday.  I packed everything up and had it all waiting when Landon got home from work on Friday.  He had just spent two weeks camping for work but was willing to go again for us.  We headed to The Pines, just 33 miles from home.  This is the view from the main road at The Pines.

 

The Pines is basically a peninsula of mountains (and I use that term lightly) and trees with Fort Peck Lake on each side.  I'm not sure what direction I was facing when I took these, so I'll just say the left side and right side of the road.

Home Sweet Home

There weren't many people camping, maybe because we had two days of thunderstorms fore casted, so we didn't have close neighbors.

 On Saturday morning Landon and Carter went fishing while Henry and I hung out at camp and explored the area.

No wonder he was so dirty.  No shoes and playing under the table.

We also played at the park.  Our campsite was just to the left of this park and shelter house.

 

 We had big juicy strawberries for a snack.  Another reason he was so dirty.  

Strawberry juice + outdoor fun = one sticky dirty boy.

We went for a walk down to the lake and then back up to the main road.  At the top of the road we started getting attacked by this pretty little bird...

Henry really likes birds so he didn't mind the attack.  The bird kept going back to this sign.  I think she must have had eggs or babies in the box on the post and was worried  we were going to get them.

We picked Landon and Carter up after lunch and spent what seemed like an hour cleaning fish.

Their big catch. 

Landon was trying to get Carter to hold the big stringer of fish, but he just wanted to hold what he caught all by himself.  He was pretty proud of his fish. 

These little fish he can land in the boat himself.  Even if he reels a big fish up to the boat he doesn't claim that he caught it because he had to have help with lifting it onto the boat or netting it.

Have I mentioned that Henry doesn't like fish?

I thought I'd better stop him before the fish ended up in the truck.

After naps we all went fishing, even Abby got to go. 

 Then back to camp to play in the dirt.

 On Sunday morning Landon took both the boys fishing so I could take a walk and get camp packed up.

 Their morning ended a little earlier than expected due to the wind, but they still brought home fish.

 Carter was pretty proud of this drum they caught. 

 Not quite sure how I got this one of the four of us, and on the first try.  The battery light was blinking, the kids were running wild, the tri-pod (aka boat) was wet and slippery, and no one was real sure how many blinks we'd see before the timer went off.  

After lunch on Sunday Henry was asking for his car seat and was ready to buckle up and head home.  I think the boys were pretty tired.  I know Landon and I are.  I'm sure we'll be doing more camping now that the boys are a little older.

We had fish tonight and it was goooood!  

Sprinkle fillets with cumin.  Put them in a foil pan.  Saute onion, green pepper, and garlic in some butter.  Add a little salsa.  Put that on the fish.  Throw some shredded cheese on top. Cover with foil and grill.

Cut old stale corn tortillas (it's what we had) in strips.  Mix with some oil, lime juice, and Mexican type seasonings.  Bake at 400 til they are crispy like chips.

Top the fish with the chips and fresh cilantro and serve with a can of doctored re-fried beans and fresh tortilla chips.  Oooh, and some sort of fizzy drink, like a Mike's or a Dr. Pepper.

ROOT BEER!

I don't give the boys pop, although I'm an addict.  Carter has told me he doesn't like it or has asked to add water to it.  Landon quit drinking pop years ago and I've quit several times but always seem to fall off the wagon.  They were already wound up after church today so I thought it wouldn't hurt to share a bottle of Root Beer.  This is Henry's reaction...

Neither of the boys finished theirs and I'm sure I'll end up finishing the bottle.  

Carter's First School Program

For the last day of school this spring the kids had a program.  They sang about 6 or 7 songs.  Most of the girls were into the performance but most of the boys were distracted.  I tried to get pictures but most of them were blurry or of the wrong kid.  I guess that is what happens when you try to watch and click at the same time.

 Carter and Miss Liz

Henry's First Fish

Henry got to go fishing with Landon all by himself while Carter and I were at T-ball.  He's smiling here, but Landon asked for a paternity test because as soon as the fish got next to him he freaked out.  I guess that must be a sure sign that the kid doesn't belong to Landon.

Kitchen Remodel-Phase 1

This summer our big project is remodeling the kitchen.  We're going down to the studs and taking out a couple walls.

The walls between the kitchen and dining room are coming out to open the two rooms up.  The soffit will come out and the cabinets will go the the ceiling.  And, most importantly, the hideous, can't keep it clean, black and white floor is coming out!  I know, everyone says the floor is so cool.  It looks great in pictures, in magazines.  But it is the worst thing invented in the history of color.  Don't do it!

In 1967 when our house was built the little area next to the dishwasher and microwave cupboard was a little breakfast nook.  I don't know how they fit a table in there, let alone put people around it.  I'm not real sure how the Betty Homemakers functioned in kitchens like this.  How on earth did they roll out pie crusts with only a combined 7' of counter space and no dishwasher?  (I finally had one installed after 5 years.  It's wider than the counter so we have a drop-off onto the top of it.)

We're taking out the window on the left and putting in one the same size as the window above the sink.  The cabinets will go to the corner and make the turn and end about where the micro cupboard ends and the pile of shoes starts.

When we moved in the door to the very right of this picture was just a window.  We took that out, put in the door and added the deck.  Before we took out the window things seemed even more crowded.  Hopefully taking out the walls will open it all up and give us some extra room around the table, you know, for bikes and rollerblades and such.

Our kitchen isn't usually this messy, but I was in the process of cleaning up while Landon was working on the windows and I remembered that I hadn't taken any 'before' pictures.  

Almost Camping

A few weeks ago we took a little trip out to the wilderness.  Ordinarily we would have planned better and gone when it wasn't raining, but we didn't really have a choice.  On May 18th Carter and Landon went fishing and Henry and I stayed home.  We took Mesa for a walk around town and then headed to Nashua to Pege Sue's Posies for some annuals for my Grandpa Barrel and for a pot for Carolyn's headstone.  Mesa hopped in the car and went with us.  Pege Sue's Posies is at a farm yard, or ranch, and they always have dogs running around so we let Mesa out to explore while we wandered.  Peggy and I headed out back to look at some ornamental grasses and found Mesa laying on the ground.  She must have had a heart attack or stroke and died.  But what a place to go-a greenhouse.  Sounds like a good place to me.

 October 6, 2001 - May 18, 2013

 

Mesa loved to explore with us so we thought it was most fitting to bury her near one of her favorite places.  I threw together some camping/picnic food and a few necessities and we headed here...

 It was a little rainy, but nothing a coat couldn't handle.  Landon didn't have any matches or a lighter so we had to get creative and use the stove to get a fire going.  

They are already drawn to fire.  It must be a boy thing.

 We had dinner in the rain.

 Off to explore.

 Daddy had too many s'mores and got a little crazy with the boys.

We have plans to head back out and do some real camping in a couple weeks.  It will be our first time in the wilderness overnight.  Wish us luck.

My Kind of Heart Attack

Hmmm, Now What?

The boys were playing with this castle tent in the back yard one morning.  We had a slight breeze, but no real 'wind'.  Then a gust came out of nowhere, lasting less than a minute.  But in that minute the wind took the tent, which was right in front of where I'm standing, into the fence to the back and right of the deck and then into the power lines, complete with sparks, and into the tree.  Then tent probably traveled 100 yards by the time it got stuck in the tree.  We lost power but the CoOp guys were on it and we had power less than an hour later.  Luckily, the wind picked up little after the big gust and blew the tent out of the tree and into the other neighbors yard.  Unfortunately, the tent had too much damage and it is out in the garage in the "I hate to throw it away because they just got it, but it's damaged and they probably won't play with it anymore" pile.

Picasso

Just some afternoon craft time.

Our First Taste of Farm Life*

A month ago a regular customer came into the lumberyard and had these little twins along for the ride.  Their Momma didn't product any milk so they were bottle feeding them.  We took a trip out to the farm one afternoon so the boys could have a chance to feed them and play with them.

 They were about two weeks old when we saw them and they were already pets.

This is Kaitlin, the adoptive Mom.  I'm not sure which one of the lambs this is.  This picture was taken a week ago, you can see they don't mind being around humans at all.

*I know that farmers grow things in dirt and ranchers have animals, but around here farmers ranch and ranchers farm.

Landon's Mini Me

Carter tries to be like Landon ALL THE TIME.  Tonight he needed to comb his hair.  I don't think Carter has ever seen Landon comb his hair.  However, he did a pretty good job for not having much of a role model in that category.