Day 3 at our Yurt - June 30

We had rain most of the night, which made me very thankful that the yurt is up on a deck and not down in the quagmired ground.  After breakfast, Brian and the boys headed down to the lake to try

their hands at fishing.   Tamlin had become pretty well at practice casting, so Brian gave him a real lure (frog-shaped) with a small hook.  Jude was still using the hook-less jitterbug.  

We threw our first casts off a little cement pier near the playground.  Tam got the hang of this very quickly.

But Jude's interest waned.  He started just dropping his jitterbug directly
 into the water in front of him and then pulling it out...then he just wanted to play with the rocks. Shortly after, Jude and I made a run to a grocery store in Greenville to get much needed donuts, forks, and hot dog buns. I had tried to find some type of larger grocery store closer, but failed.  Next time, I promise to look up where stores are BEFORE I visit a new town for a camping excursion.    Brian and Tamlin fished a bit longer, but didn't catch anything.

By mid-morning Scott and his boys were ready to try their hands at fishing too.  We all trooped back down to the shore-line and flung out our lines.

Aaron and Isaac both well at casting out their lines.  But alas, still no fish were caught. 

Issac and Jude gave up and started just playing with the hook-less jitterbug.  Jude had placed "her", for it was a "gril" according to him, into his little blue sand bucket.  He adds rocks and feeds her grass bits.  He calls her his "little fishy" and eventually totes the whole thing back to our yurt.

Around lunchtime, Shelly and the girls came over, later Mom and Dale arrived too.  It was a hoot to see all the kiddos playing together.   It seemed that Ciearra developed quite a little crush on Aaron.  Elizabeth was allowed to hang out on the deck with us.  She seemed just on the verge of crawling, especially toward tasty toy construction trucks placed just out of her reach.

We decide to all head out to the Spillway, especially since our kiddos hadn't seen it in several years and Scott's boys hadn't been there ever (I believe).   This time around I remembered to grab our stale bread to toss out to the birds and fish.  Oh - man.  Seeing those greedy gaping mouths is a bit science-fiction-like...a bit creepy. 

 Everyone, kids and grown-ups alike, had fun tossing bread bits out to the awaiting mouths of fish and birds.  Some of us would lob out great hunks of bread to see the roil of fins it caused.  Others, like Tam, would tear off teeny-tiny bits to feed single fish at a time.

 

Ciearra loses a shoe over the rail and into the mass of fish.  Oh the drama and tears!  However, a nice
 teenager climbed under the fence and retrieved it.  Lesson learned to everyone...no flip-flops away from camp.

 But overall, the day was pleasant and we all had a bit of inexpensive fun.



After the spillway, the sun comes out and it is warm enough to allow the kiddos to jump into the lake for a bit of swimming action.  It is a scant hour or so of wonderful sunniness during a day of grey overcast skies.  Even Elizabeth gets her toes wet in the water.  The kids all work together to build a complex river system complete with tributaries leading to the lake.  They had a good time watching the water flow through their rivers and trying to shore up falling banks.

We headed to Andover's Covered Bridge Pizzeria for dinner.  Great place for we could all be loud and it was lost in the general restaurant chaos.  We let the kids all eat together at a kids table, which let the adults carry on the own conversations in reasonable peace.  Lots of meandering topics from Magic card games to radishes to buying beef in bulk (or booze).  Good food for a reasonable price and kept us all dry out of the rain.  Afterwards, Shelly, Rick, Ciearra, and Elizabeth head homeward...but Ciearra did shed some tears at leaving all of us for the night (mainly Aaron!).

Back at camp, Brian, Scott, and Isiaac try their hand at fishing again with no luck.  I taught Aarron how to play munchkin, and we played with Jennifer before retiring to bed.  A fun little game for the boys, espcially helping them advance their reading/addition skills.  We saw a few lightning bugs before bed and unfortunately felt a few mosquitos.  Too late and damp for a fire this night.  I happily tucked all of the family into bed and let my soul fill with the peace.


It had been a good day, and hard to believe the vacation is flying by.  It has been mostly relaxing, with a few moments of stress with the kids.  I've tried to do as little planning as possible, and just enjoy the moments.  The kids are having a blast, despite having to dig a splinter out of Tam's hand (small tears but no screaming) and watching Jude tumble over a fallen scooter more than once.  Good thing I had packed many band-aids.



A couple of throw-back photos from 2012...Tamlin fishing for the first time and our family shot at the spillway.

Jude's Heart

At Jude's yearly appointment, back in May, he saw a new family doctor at our local clinic. We switched because this Dr. was closer to our home and a guy and could eventually see all of us.  (It was a least important to me to establish a relationship with a male doctor for more boys).  Anyways...Jude's check up was a-okay except for one small point.  The doc heard a small murmur in his heart, and he stressed very small.  He followed with saying this wasn't uncommon to hear in boys between 4 and 8 years of age and it usually wasn't anything to worry about.  I bet he saw the complete shock on my face at this new diagnosis.  He concluded with saying that if Jude was running, jumping, playing with other kiddos and not getting winded that he was likely fine but we should see the pediatric cardiologist "just in case". 

Today was that appointment with the specialist.
I had a slight worry (very slight) and was very positive as I took the little guy in to the office.  I recalled when Tamlin was in-utero and we had the scare from one of the early diagnositic tests that turned out to be nothing.  And Jude knew nothing except he was going to a doctor who was going to listen to his heart.

It was a quick visit.  Jude got an EKG which turned out perfectly normal. Jude was very unsure of all the stickers and electrodes attached to him, but the nurse was reassuring and fast.  The doctor was very nice and gave us the assurance that he was 95% sure that this little murmur was nothing and that Jude would out-grow it with time.  They'll keep a listen for it at his yearly check-ups but we shouldn't be concerned.  Great news.

On the way out, Jude told me the nice doctor listened to heart... and that Jesus was in there.
And that maybe he could hear Jesus.
Sure buddy...maybe, just maybe, the doc heard Jesus taking care of you in your heart :-)

Day 2 in the yurt - June 29

We slept fairly well...the boys slept much better than Brian or I (we just aren't as used to futon mattresses anymore).  The dawn light and the noisy birds woke us up from our slumber.  The campground is very peaceful at this time of day with very few people moving about.  It was a  beautiful dawn over the lake.

 
In the morning light, our boys are ready
 to go.  I walk down to let them goof off on the playground while our friends are still just waking   up.   A quick swipe of towel wiped off the dew from the slide. Jude loves playgrounds...since he is our .  monkey boy.  I remember Tamlin liked to hang around at this age too...but now Tamlin likes to race up and down the slides.

This is a picture of Tamlin making his "pirate" face.

 I let the kids run havoc for a bit before we headed to Tom and Rhonda's trailer.  It is a short 10 minute walk across the campground, but by the time we get there the boys are Starving.  Rhonda kindly obliges by whipping up eggs and bacon for everyone.  While sitting, chatting, and eating, we notice the variety of birds around...sparrows, robins, cardnials, and orioles!

 

 

Once back at the yurt, Brian got out the fishing gear and gave all the boys lessons.  Jude is using Tam's old rod.  Tamlin got an upgraded model for this trip.  Brian was letting both boys practice casting while using a jitterbug with no hooks...the same lure he had used to learn fishing way back when :-)  Jude took quite a liking to the jitterbug and wanted to play with it sans fishing rod.  After more than a few casts, we decided it was time to get licenses to try to fish for the real deal.  Licenses were had at a nearby baitshop...rubbery worms in sparkly colors were also chosen by the kiddos.

Later in the morning, Brian's mom and step-dad came to visit for a few hours.  We had a wonderful visit, just enjoying the company and relaxing.  Lunch was yummy chicken provided by Marge.  After, we decided to rent a pontoon boat to cruise around the lake.

We had to get the big boat in order to hold all 12 of us.  We had two hours to see the sights and enjoy the wind...but not much sun!  The boys all had fun alternating between eating cheesie-poofs and hanging out at the bow of the ship.

We let Jude steer the boat for a little while.   What a big grin!   I think he felt like a true captain! 

We didn't see a ton of wildlife beside other boats.  We did see a loon chilling on the shore and flocks of swallows nesting under the bridge.  The best was seeing a huge bald eagle perched in a tree along the shoreline.  Apparently there is a nest near campground and she had two fledglings.  Very cool.

Nearing the two hour mark, the boys were beginning to crash from too much fun and no naps.  Tamlin decided to chill out and meditate.  Jude crawled into Rhonda's arms and fell asleep.

 

 We got back to shore and back to the yurt right before another brief rain storm came across.  After dinners, the kids had fun playing with the water squirters.  Later, I taught Tam how to play a simplified version of Munchkin, which he enjoyed because he won :-)
The boys were both fairly exhausted from all the fresh air and slept well through the night, even with all the rain that pelted our yurt roof. 

Camping in a Yurt - Arrival - June 28

This summer, we decided that our big family trip would be to Pymatuning State Park during the last week of June.  We had been here three years ago, back when Jude was only 1 and Tamlin was 4.5years old. Like the previous visit, we rented a yurt (#73 this time) and stayed nearly a week.  These yurts are awesome; they have two sets of bunk-beds, a sink, mini-fridge, 2 burner stove, heater, running water, and electricity.  Additionally, they sit up on a deck that has picnic tables and awnings. It is just like a mini-home...without the cumbersome need to pack a tent and all the rest of the primitive camping gear.  The deck is uber useful for playing, eating outside, staying dry in the rain, and keeping us all up off the slightly soggy ground.    The kiddos loved the idea of sleeping in bunk beds, especially transformer beds that have futons on the bottom.

This time around, we were able to get a friends of ours to camp with us.  Scott is a friend of ours from way back in our college days.  His wife and him have two boys that are within months of the same age as our little ones.  They stayed in another of three yurts.  Additionally, our friends Tom and Rhonda stayed in their pop-up camper within the same campground.  It was a hoot to spend some down times just sitting around, swapping stories, and drinking adult beverages while the kids all played.  

Well, we, of course, didn't start actually packing to go to the yurt until the day before departure...and didn't finish packing the car until about an hour before we left :-)  On the upside, the only things I missed were minor, such as forgetting plastic baggies and forks.  We got to our destination around 4:30...but the yurts were locked!  And the camp store, where it said to check in, was closed!  Brian and I had brief moments of panic...but we divided and conquered.  Brian walked back over to the store to try to find someone and I tried the phone number attached to my confirmation email.  In the end, I reached a ranger but he was in Southern Ohio!   He barely had an inkling were Pymatuning Park was!  Apartenly the non-emergency ranger phone number was to location specific.  Brian had better luck and contacted the camp host, which had the keys to the yurts.   Yeah!

After unpacking the car and setting up the air, we had time to play with friends, explore the campground, and let everyone begin to relax.  With the kids being a little older, we brought their scooters to play with in the campground.  They were a huge hit with all the kids!  They both especially liked zooming down the ramp from the deck to the road.




Later, we built our first fire and had our first grilled brawts, and made S'mores!
(Tamlin 6.5 years and Jude 4 years)

 

It was a chilly night, but our little yurt  room stayed toasty with the heater going.  The night was peaceful and we all slept pretty well...waking up to the light and birds in the morning.
 
My how my boys have changed (and not changed) in three years!
Tamlin 4.5 years and Jude 13months

A chilly summer

I can't believe that it is the beginning of July, and the temperatures have been a little cooler than normal, which means we haven't been swimming in the lake nearly as much as last year.  The chilly temps do not stop us from going to the beach as often as we can, we just aren't getting as wet.   Even the boys are sometimes reluctant to jump into the water. On this excursion to our neighborhood beach, we only got our toes wet, mostly from our walk out along the breakwall.  We found some sea glass, cool sticks, and some inner peace before we decided to head on home.

Garden is Growing!

 We came from camping to find our garden thriving (mostly).  The tomatos plants are huge, have many flowers, and even a few fruit ripening.  The leeks are growing well and the beans have flowers.  The potato plants are still growing, but no flowers quite yet.  The pepper plants are struggling a little; I think the soil has been too wet for them.  Our radishes are fairing the poorest...some bug or slug is eating the leaves of the poor guys.  Luckily, we planted quite a few, so we still were able to harvest some radishes. 

The best news is that the blueberries are ripening and the birds did NOT get to them!   Yeah!  Blueberries for us!  Our first little harvest yielded about ten berries, but we shared their goodness among all four of us.

Next week we'll head down the road and pick massive amount of blueberries at the local farm.
Yum!

Fourth of July

 Happy Fourth of July!

We spent a quiet day, still recovering from our camping trip from last week.  I hadn't wanted to even fire up the grill...so I admit, I ordered pizza. I'm hanging my head in shame, but in my defense, Brian was at work so I was fending on my own.  The kids thought it was great.  

After dinner, around dusk, we got out the sparklers and poppers. I wasn't sure the kiddos would stay awake, so I had them in jammies.  Yes, Jude is our little fashion-statement of miss-matchiness. 

The boys had fun snapping the poppers around the driveway or stepping on them. 

 

The sparklers are always a hit.  Tam was pretending to be a ninja with cool sparkler ninja-moves.  Jude was content with just swirling the sparklers around in like a mad-man.

 

 Last year, we had headed to Huron to see the fireworks and listen to jazz music. This year, I didn't want to fight crowds, so we stayed closed to home and just went around the corner to our neighborhood beach.  We weren't disapponted!  There were a few dozen people down at the beach, many families hanging out together.  Members of a local house shot off about 50+ good size fireworks out over the water.  Then,  we had some smaller fireworks shot on the other side of the beach.  Once full dark settled, we were able to see 5, 6, 8!  groups of fireworks being shot further away along the coastline.  We could hear the sounds and see the bursts of lights brighten the air.  I thought this was so awesome...being surrounded by fireworks without them being overly loud.  Very Cool to be a part of so many celebrations...all wooping it up for our great country's freedom birthday. 

We lasted until Jude curled up in my lap and told me he was sleepy.  The fireworks were still going at a couple of the points, but we headed home to our comfy beds.

America.
Great Country.