Camping out

We went camping last Friday night. It has been a LONG time. Ever since the disaster at Johnson’s Shut-Ins back in 2005 (ya, it has been that long!), there just hasn’t been much incentive to camp. Missouri camping in the summer is miserable unless one is near a source of water for swimming. Camping in the spring is usually rainy. Camping in the fall is wonderful but Renaissance Festivals and corn mazes seem to take precedence. We made an attempt to summer camp at Merrimac State Park a few years ago with some of the kids and it was HORRIBLE. We were rained on all night and, in the morning, were forced to evacuate the campground because the Merrimac was going to flood its banks. SO, our camping equipment has sat dormant in our garage for several years…..until last weekend. We had reservations at Babler State Park and a date with Noah and Joe. Babler is just west of Chesterfield – only 45 minutes from Joe and Emily’s place – but, except for occasional jet liners flying overhead, one would never know the city was so close. It was beautiful and the weather was perfect and our campsite was great – close to the water spigot and……………..the PORTA-POTTY! Newly potty-trained Noah fell in love with porta-potties. Couldn’t stop talking about them. And, in the brief 15 hours of camping, he used it at least six times. He loved to look down in the porta-potty (ewwww). He wanted all of us to use the porta potty. In fact, we had taken a walk down to the campground headquarters in search of a flush toilet but, for some reason, they were not functioning so there were porta-potties even there. Steve and I visited the facility and were starting to walk away when Noah held his arms out and said “GUYS, we HAVE to go to the porta-potties for our health!” (referring to Joe who had refrained from going). Well, back we walked so daddy could use the porta-potty. What a kid! Noah pretty much loved everything about camping – the tent, the campfire, the acorns, the marshmallows, the hotdogs (which he didn’t eat). We sat around the fire after supper and told stories: I told Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Steve told the Three Billygoats Gruff, Joe told about the Seven Sisters and the Bear constellations , and Noah told the story of Tony Stark and how he became Iron Man and how he met Thor and invited him to be an Avenger. We used Joe and Emily’s awesome tent and retired fairly early since we were full of s’mores and storied out. Noah settled down surprisingly well considering how keyed up he was. Steve and I brought some comfy sleeping pads for under our sleeping bags so the night was not too uncomfortable. A good night’s sleep, however, was not to be. Steve had a low blood sugar at about 11:30 and went to the car (where the food was being stowed) for something to eat. Only, his car key is kind of tricky and he inadvertently set of the car alarm. Fortunately, Noah slept through the flashing lights and piercing weewaw wee waw. Not Joe and me. Then, at about 3:00, a very LOUD owl set up shop right outside our tent and woke everyone up. At 4:30, I got a text message from Emily and my, the text message chime is loud in a quiet tent. And, for most of the night, the next-door camp site, with a bunch of college-age boys, buzzed with low-level chatter. I don’t think they settled down until about 3:30! Emily and Lucy visited Friday evening for a bit before returning home for Lucy to sleep in her own crib. They rejoined us Saturday morning but not in time for breakfast of pie-iron pancakes - mmmmm, good (although most were a bit overdone on the outside and somewhat underdone on the inside but, hey, when you are camping, everything tastes delicious.) After eating, Noah and I took a little walk and found the perfect campsite for when we come back next fall. It is at the end of the road so it is a bit more secluded and it has an awesome hollowed out tree stump to play around. We pulled up camp in the late morning and headed back to Emily and Joe’s home so Lucy could get her nap. Steve and I are definitely out of camping- practice: I forgot a pancake-cooking pan and our “overnight camp” bucket was somewhat depleted of supplies so we had to improvise a bit (tin-foil on the picnic bench served as plates). But, Steve can still build an awesome fire. And, I did remember the lantern. Our campout was short but memorable. We are going to do this again.

thanks to Emily for the beautiful photos!

Almost autumn

It is not quite autumn but it really felt like the season last week. Brrrr – it was downright chilly when we attended the annual CIS family/faculty picnic Friday night. But, with the chill came some much needed rain so I’m not complaining too loudly. And, today, the sun is out and it is a perfect 70 degrees. I got a repairman (Ricky Remus) here working on the toilet in the half-bath off the master bedroom. It leaked and we just shut the water off to it and have been using the other bathroom for about three weeks. A nuisance. So, he fixed the leak and, while he was here, I had him put in a new sink faucet. Our bathroom will be almost like new after today!

The chilly, damp weather persisted into Saturday so Steve got a reprieve from lawn-mowing. Instead, he got to play grandpa with Noah. Emily had late-afternoon engagement photos east of Columbia at some stables on Glendale road (out where we used to live). Noah had a birthday party in Lake St. Louis earlier in the day and, rather than drive him all the way back into town to the house, she just took him to Columbia and Steve watched him. He got a horse ride at the stable and then played at Two-Mile Prairie. Em and Noah came to the house for dinner before driving back to St. Louis that night. I was not in the picture because I was playing in two back-to-back weddings that afternoon/evening. The first one was at First Baptist Church in Columbia and then we zoomed to Hermann where the second one was in a lovely – but cold – outdoor setting on a lake. I got home just as dinner was being fixed so I got my grandma fix for a little while. Even Steven and Tamara came over to say “hi”.

Alfred went to the vet last week for his yearly check-up. That cat is now up to 18 ½ pounds!!! And still the vet says he does not need to lose weight.

I watched two documentaries on Netflix (soon to be called Qwikster! Did you hear about that???): Babies and The Cove. Babies was fascinating. In the African family, there was no male presence whatsoever. Where were they? Fighting in a rebellion somewhere? After The Cove, I was not too thrilled with Japan. Paula Dean needs to start a cooking show over there and teach them to eat something besides FISH!!! Beckie has moved her flat-screen television into the family room and, with a LOT of help from tech-savvey Brandon, it is now hooked up TiVo and the Wii. So, while Beckie lives here, I will have some lovely video watching experiences.

Time for me to fix some lunch – leftover lemon and herb roasted chicken from yesterday. Mm Mm good.

Labor Day Weekend

Elise moved to Syracuse, New York over Labor Day weekend! And she needed help driving the U-Haul truck full of her belongings. SO, Steve helped her. Here is how it played out:

Friday afternoon/evening, Steve and I drove to Lafayette, Indiana to stay with Julina because Elise’s place would be packed up. Early Saturday morning, Steve continued the drive in to Indianapolis (Carmel, actually) to meet up with Elise. After she did some last-minute cleaning, they took her Toyota and the packed truck to the U-Haul place so they could install a tow trailer and load the car onto it. They finally pulled away around 11:00 that morning, arriving in Syracuse at around 1:00 a.m. Sunday. After a bit of sleep, they attended church at Elise’s new ward later that morning to get acquainted and, by the end of the block, four men had signed up to help her un-pack the U-Haul the next afternoon. Awesome! Elise’s met her roommate, Angela, Sunday evening who had recently acquired two kittens, was returning from a weekend of role-playing activities, was wearing a golden snitch around her neck, and who loves Renaissance festivals. I think she and Elise are going to do just fine together! Now, whether Tonks and kitty 1 and kitty 2 do the same is another question. But, after Tonks gets over the 13-hour trip in a crate and the new surroundings, I think they will get along great. That night, as Steve slept on the couch, the two lively kittens entertained themselves by chasing each other over his head as part of their tag-you’re-it frolics! Early Monday morning, Elise drove Steve to the airport in Albany so he could catch a 9:30 flight back to Indianapolis (to arrive at 1:30)………only, due to stormy weather, his Continental flight was cancelled and he was put on an 11:30 U.S. Air flight through Washington D.C. for a 3:45 arrival in Indy. Oh, well, it gave me more time with Julina –

Here is what I did with Julina all weekend:

It was one of Julina's temple work-days so we spent Saturday at the Chicago temple. We drove up in Dee Ann and her husband Dennis's car. After the temple, we stopped at a Culvers for dinner (mmmmmmm - frozen custard) and drove through a torrential downpour (probably what caused Steve's flight cancellation)

Sunday was church and nap and relaxing. Monday morning, Juli showed me where she is currently student teaching. It is in a town about 20 miles from Lafayette








Then, we visited the beautiful grounds of the Indianapolis Museum of Art. First, we walked around their "100 Acres" with assorted sculptures throughout the woods and meadows. Below we are sitting on the spinal chord of a giant skeleton called "Funky Bones".


Two more of the sculptures in the park































The yellow benches are located all around the lake
and appear in various configurations.








On to the formal gardens next door to the 100 Acres.

I just love this tree

After our pleasant outing, Juli drove me to our car which was parked at Elise's former apartment and she returned to Lafayette and I picked up Steve at the airport and we drove back to Columbia via St. Louis where we ate a late dinner and enjoyed a very short visit. Home by 11:30.

This was Sadie

She was an itching maniac. And, the frustrating thing was, she was on a flea treatment. But, the little critters were biting her and she was itching and scratching. So, I took her to the vet and found out that the generic Frontline (PetArmor) may have the main active ingredient BUT not some of the other lesser ingredients and that was allowing fleas to bite her. Since the peak flea months are September and October, he advised returning to Frontline just until frost. Go ahead and use PetArmor in the wintertime but switch to the "good stuff" for the six months of active flea season. Darn! Gotta pay twice the price for the Frontline. The vet also gave her a steriod shot and a week's worth of antibiotics (to eliminate any secondary staph infections from her scratching) and, in 24 hour hours, she was a different dog....

THIS is Sadie now