And on the fourth day it rained...

Prior to heading off to bed, we felt the first few rain drops. We dragged the wood into the gazebo and pick up any arrant objects to prepare for the coming rainstorm.

And then it rained...

And rained...

And rained...

All day.

Wonderfully, the yurt held up to this soaking downpour.  We eventually had two slight leaks along the baseboards, but towels sopped them up readily.  I think Jude enjoyed being the only child for the morning.  He was happy to explore the yurt all by himself.  He did discover my coffee mug while I was drinking some tea.  He tried chewing on it, and we could hear his new little tooth clinking on the ceramic edge.

We had lunch at Shelly and Rick's home over in PA.  We heard that the kids eventually went to sleep after the excitement of having a sleep over wore off.  Tam slept on the floor because using his sleeping bag trumped over sleeping in the bed with Ciearra.

Because of the rain, we decided to go to Chuck E. Cheese to let the kids play before naps.  We had a cup full of tokens to spend on the games and rides there.  Overall, the kids cared  most for the plastic tunnel/slide system than any of the games.  Jude had fun riding a little rocking train with  (gag) Barney. He was all smiles during the day; I hoped this was because he was done teething for awhile. Sis and I played some skee-ball; I won :-)   It was nice to have four adults to mind the three kids in this chaotic atmosphere.  I do admit that the place wasn't too crowded, or had too many older crazy kids, or seemed to be too filthy.  (All complaints I often hear from fellow parents).   I would consider stopping at the one near us again on a raining school day.

We headed home for naps at the yurt.  Jude was so tired that he turned his music box on, grabbed his monster, and tried to crawl into his crib all by himself!

The rain let up by early evening, which allowed for some outdoor time before bed.  Tam and I went on a walk around the rest of the campground.  I hadn't realized how big the place really was, because we were just situated on one of the three camp loops.  After seeing how the other campers and tenters were fairing in this wet weather, especially at sites closer to the lake, I was very thankful our yurt was on the high ground and up on a deck.  Lots of puddles (for jumping into) and mud.

At some point in the past two days, Tam discovered the "peeing standing up potty" (the urinal) in the boy's bathroom.  This meant that he now insisted on using this device for the rest of the trip. He's growing up so fast.  I don't know what I'm going to do if he starts insisting on using the men's room by himself...I'm not ready for this yet!

In the end, we were bummed about the rain all day. It totally spoiled my plan to visit Conneaut Lake Park, but we still had fun as a family and stayed mostly dry.

Third day in the yurt

  Thursday, again, our little Jude woke up early... around 6am. He and I checked out the sunrise over the lake, while Tam and Brian caught a few more moments of sleep.  It was a chilly morning, but it quickly warmed into warm sunny day.

 

We let the kids run around the Yurt in the morning.   Tamlin found the basketball and decided to take it for rides at break-neck speeds.  We had to keep reminding him to watch out for his little brother, but he was having such fun.  Jude was feeling adventurous and took off crawling down the ramp of the deck.  After every couple of movements, he would sit up, look back at dad (as if to make sure it was ok), and then continue on.  he did make it to the grass and had a huge grin across his face.

 During Jude's first nap, Tamlin and I again went out for an adventure.  This time we found the park's main office and picked up some maps and the weather report (calling for rain for the weekend).  The two of us then hit one of the little trails for some hiking through the woods.   We saw birds, trees, butterflies, and lots of poison ivy.  I showed Tam some Gallium plants which have curved hairs that allow it to stick to clothing.  He thought this was pretty cool.  We also heard crows calling to each other...which Tam informed me was them playing hide-and-seek with each other.  They play like Tam does, calling out his hiding location to the person who is it :-)  It was a mile trek, and Tamlin survived about .4 of it before wanting to turn back; he exclaimed that it was getting a little scary and that he missed daddy.  He did succeed  in finding a great poking stick and dragged it back to the car (and yurt).  We headed out and back to the yurt, picking up some firewood from a local seller along the roadside.

 My dad and his girlfriend arrived with pizza for lunch.  They were both impressed with how spacious our yurt was.  Jude enjoyed sitting in his Papa Ralph's lap, checking out his beard, and diving backward (we warned grandpa first). Tamlin told them how much fun he having camping and that he hasn't seen any bears yet (in or out of the yurt).

 We all walked down to the water so that Brian could try fishing.  Tamlin brought his little rod and proceeded to tell Papa Ralph all about how to fish.  This was great because, as far as I know, my dad is NOT a fisherman.  Tamlin doesn't do too bad at casting; he gets the line out about four feet when he's lucky.  Brian fooled Tam a bit by throwing a rock into to the water, just out of his view.  Then he hollered over to him asking if he just "seen that big fish jump out of the water?"  Tam readily agreed that it must have been a fish and then kept watching the water to see another.  Brian obliged, always just behind his back.  Silly daddy.

Doesn't Tamlin look like a little rascal in this picture? Or maybe Huck Finn?

  While Brian kept on fishing, the rest of us moseyed over to the beach for some impromptu swimming session. 

The boys loved playing in the sun, sand, and water.  The grandparents enjoyed seeing them having such fun.

Tamlin kept talking our ears off about everything that he was doing...splashing, kicking, building sand castles, throwing rocks.

After this jaunt, the boys were quite ready for naps and we had a nice visit with dad and Madeline.  They headed home in the early afternoon, which left a little time for Brian and I to nap a bit too.

All this fresh air made us all sleepy.

 
My sister and her family came in the early evening to play with us all.  

 Tamlin and Ciearra had fun running around in the sunshine while Jude enjoyed plying his free fall antics with his Aunt Shelly.

We get the kids suited up and all head down to the beach for an afternoon swim to cool off in the water.  Shelly is skeptical that Ciearra will want to go into the water at all, or even want to get dirty in the sand.  However, she plunges right in, and even attempts floating around nearly fully submerged.

Tam's favorite part is getting buckets of water, hauling them up onto the shore, and pouring them on the sand around Jude.

Jude tried eating the rocks...But we all yelled loudly, "Jude, That's Not Food" and stopped him mid-motion to his mouth.  He is certainly getting better at responding to this phrase!   He then settled down to have fun squishing sand between his fingers.

 We serve up a campfire dinner of steaks, corn, potatoes, and watermelon.  However, the corn and potatoes got a bit crispy while we were all down enjoying the water, but what was edible was great.  

Our yurt's "backyard" is a simple amphitheater with a concrete stage.  The kiddos had fun playing on this structure and performing tricks for each other on the stage.  This was a hoot to watch :-)

After Jude goes to bed for the evening, we broke out the marshmallows and s'more fixings.  These were enjoyed by everyone, though Tamlin sat down with his and immediately took it apart to eat.  What a mess!

With full bellies, we kissed Tam goodnight and sent him home to sleep over with his cousin Ciearra.  Brian and I had a quiet evenings pseudo to ourselves (with just Jude sleeping nearby).

I love that my boys are having such a great time here.  I love that they don't seem to care a bit about the dirt, the sand, the grime, the snakes, the fish, the goose poop, the anything icky...They just see the fun and wonder in everything around them...and that make me smile!

And I love marshmallow s'mores!

Day two of camping

Our second day, Wednesday started a little chilly but sunny.  The boys woke up eager to explore their surroundings...at 6am in the morning!  While breakfast was cooking, they both played around the yurt while reveling in all the fresh air, dirt, bugs, and sunshine.  We met our neighbors as they geared up to head out on their boat for a bit of fishing.  Our other yurt neighbors hadn't rolled out of bed yet.

A little later, we went into the town of Andover for food stocks.  I had to keep reminding myself that we are NOT camping in the middle of no-where and there is civilization close-by...this means that it ok if we forget something.   This yurt is just a bit different from hiking miles to through the back country to camp in Yellowstone National Park.  I have to admit, it is much easier this way :-)
On this excursion, Brian was able to pick up his fishing license, too.

Once back at the park, while Jude took his first nap with Brian, Tam and I went to check out the lake.  Pymatuning Lake is the result of a dam built in 1933.   It is a huge lake, but shallow, and well known for the walleye fish.  Our access to the lake is only about 100ish yards from our yurt and includes a beach and fishing pier.  Tam and I walked right on down to the beach to check out how warm the water was (pretty nice).  Tam then played a bit in the sand, rocks, crayfish, algae. 


Tam then wanted to check out the playground, which was small, but boasted a fairly tall slide.

Back at the Yurt, Jude awoke to warmer weather and got a chance to check out the bubble machine.  This one is great because it can't be spilled, even by a zealous one year-old.  Brian decided to try some fishing and I watched the boys play in the water.  Surprisingly, Tam wasn't frighten of this water, whether it was because it was so warm, or had such small waves, or because he had a gaggle of college boys to play with.   He was so brave that he went out into the lake all the way up to his armpits all on his own.  Tam then learned how to throw rocks to make big splashes (from the college boys, who were very tolerant of our little chatterbox).  Jude played right at the water's edge, mostly digging in the sand and splashing in the water. 

Around lunchtime, Brian's mom and step-dad arrived for a visit.  Both kids and grandparents were so happy to see each other.  Jude even perked up and stopped being quite as cranky from his newly budding teeth.  Grandma Margie had fun playing with Jude and his latest trick...while sitting on a lap, Jude launches himself backwards confident in the person holding him will catch him, and hold him upside down; he then laughs like a maniac while viewing the world in this skewed view.


Later in the afternoon, we rented a pontoon boat to cruise around the lake.  The weather is sunny and perfect for this little outing...perfect for relaxing with the family out on the calm water.

I had purchased a second hand life-jacket for Tam, but we had to borrow a smaller one for Jude...he looked like a little marshmallow with arms :-)  We let Brian drive, while we sat around taking in the view.  Tam thought the ride was awesome.  He kept wanting to look over the rails or look at the motor or watch Brian driving.

 

 

Jude fell asleep.

After about an hour cruising, around Jude woke up and Brian decided to have some fun with some zig-zag patterns and striking the waves broadside to rock the boat.  This let everyone sway as they tried to keep their "sea-legs."

We let Tam do a bit of driving...at a low speed.  However, Tam did get distracted by the shore and often turned landward!

Jude even got a chance to steer, but he was still a bit sleepy...and then he got hungry and started signing for milk.  This was a signal to head on back to the dock.

Overall, it was an awesome experience for everyone.  Tam hopes to get back on a boat really soon:-)

The Grandparents had to head home before dinner, but we would see them again in a few days.  Our evening ended with steaks, corn, and potatoes toasted on the fire.  As the sunset, Tam and Brian walked down to the pier to try fishing for a bit, but were unsuccessful.  Don't worry, Tam's little fishing rod only has a jitterbug lure on it, with no hooks for safety.  He still has tons of fun casting out into the water and reeling it in.  In the blush of the evening, Tam and I roast some more marshmallows over the flames.  He declares that the fire is happy because it is a yellow color.

Later, Brian and I enjoy the evening around the fire, sipping beers, and listening to our silly college kids neighbors drinking too much and playing stupid games.  He reminded of us our good ol' college days;  were we ever that dumb?  Brian and I kept looking at each other and laughing at their outbursts.

Our first night camping

Here is the series of posts containing some notes and photos from our camping excursion last week.

The travel to the park went fairly well.  We loaded up and left soon after everyone awoke on Tuesday morning.  All the boys slept for the first half of the trip.  Jude tolerated the car until the last 30 miles and then he protested loudly.  

 

We made it safely to our yurt at the state park around dinnertime.  It was way nicer than I thought!  Both the yurt and the gazebo were up on decking.  We had both a charcoal stove and a fire pit for cooking outside. The inside included two sets of bunk beds, a sink, a mini-fridge, a fan, a heater, and a 2-burner gas stove, and a good amount of room to move around.  There were even dishtowels and sheets for the beds...nearly a hotel room with all the amenities!  However, the bathrooms were about 50yards away and the showers were twice that distance.  The entire yurt structure sat between the only other two yurts and was in the Northwest corner of the park, which meant there was no one behind us camping.

We quickly unloaded the car of our bags.  I set about unpacking and setting up the beds while Brian saw to dinner.  Tamlin saw the bunk beds and immediately claimed a top bunk.  He was able to nimbly climb up to the bed, but wasn't quite as sure footed for coming back downward.  We let Jude roam around the structure like a little puppy exploring his new home.  He was quite unsure about the board planking at first; I bet it felt a bit weird on his knees. 

 After dinner, we got Jude to bed in his portable crib.  He was a pretty tired little boy after the day-long journey eastward.  We let Tamlin stay up later because he was so excited to be camping for the first time. 

I enjoyed just sitting down and watching the sun set.  Very peaceful.

Brian got the fire started, with help from Tamlin.  He was really good at trying to blow on the fire with both air and lots of spit.  The night was warm, so we didn't need the fire for the heat, but for ...

Marshmallows!

Yummy, sugary, gooey, goodness!



 Tam's first just jammed a marshmallow on the stick and ate it.  I then showed him that we stick the marshmallow in the fire to toast it (or burn it a bit) before we chomp it.

 Tam tried this newfangled treat.  After lighting a marshmallow on fire, blowing it out, and tasting it, Tam declared that he only liked white marshmallows and not black ones.
More for me.

(Wow, you can really see how dirty my kid got after only a few hours camping.)

Both boys slept pretty well the first night.  Jude had a few qualms because he was teething and still ornery.  He woke up howling toward morning because he got a little too chilly.  Brian brought our little Jude Popsicle into bed with us for the morning hours.  Tam was convinced that a bear was going to come into the tent, but he thought that would be okay.  (This is in reference to a page in the book "Hop on Pop", by Dr. Seuss..."He [A bear] went into the tent.  I sent him out of the tent."  He did decide to bring Gloria the Hippo to help with any bear troubles.

I love this picture of Jude sleeping surrounded by love...

sleeping with home-made blankets and monster.

Gazing at the heavens

On June 5, 2012, we went out as a family to watch the transit of Venus across the sun.

During the long car ride last week to our campsite, I heard about this phenomenon on NPR.   I learned that the crossing of our sister planet across our star only happens 2x, eight years apart, and then not again for another 100 years.

I also heard how during the 1700ish passing, scientists went all over the globe to measure how long it took for Venus to cross so that they could calculate the size of planets and their distances (with complicated mathematics).  Thinking about how they globally coordinated this during a time pre-car, pre-phone, pre-computer is mind boggling. 

Yeah Science!

For us, the transit was to begin around 6pm and last until sundown, which is about half of the entire crossing.  Supposedly the best place in our state to view this was on the Sand Dunes on the lake, about 2 hours south of us.  I just couldn't put the boys through another long car ride after just getting home on Monday.

With a bit more surfing on the web, I learned that our local astronomers were setting up telescopes around the city for the public to stop by and look at this cool occurrence.  I choose to head out to a nearby park for the family to catch a glimpse of this awesome event.

At the park, there were a half-dozen telescopes affixed with filters so that the sun could be viewed safely.  One of them was able to project the image onto a screen so that a group of people could see at the same time.  We got there with enough time to see the very beginning of Venus' journey across the sun.  This meant our first glimpse was a black bump on the rim of the sun image. 

I thought this was so cool.

Jude was strapped into the back carrier and thought being out with his family was cool.  He liked just interacting with all the people around him, though he was reaching his pre-bed limit by about 6:45pm.

Brian thought this was cool too.  He checked out the planet through the telescope and through a pair or polarized glasses.
He thought it was a neat thing to see, since we won't have an opportunity to view it again during our lifetimes.

Tam thought it was cool to see the sun.
He knows that Venus is a planet and that it is in the "sky",  but he also thinks that the sun is planet.  He kept asking were the rockets were at. :-)

Then, Tam saw the playground and got distracted.

 Tam also realized I was snapping a few photos with the iPad and 

wanted to try photography for himself.

 After a quick play, we checked back in on the planet's movement at the telescopes.  

I was a bit amazed at how quickly the journey was going. 

Did anyone else think of the song "Why does the sun shine" by the band They Might Be Giants?

And why didn't we see this 8 years ago in 2004?
We asked the astronomers and they said that it occurred to far in the southern hemisphere for us to see it then.