Fun Day ~ Tidbits

The younger two were begging to do another "fun" thing while they were on spring break, so Hubby agreed to take them to the zoo.  The aquarium was shut down for a large remodel job, and it just re-opened last week.  

A Year of Hemingway ~ Tidbits

I finally finished The Sun Also Rises, and now I'm onto the next one.   I think the most enjoyable part of this one, was reading his descriptions of the bullfighting.  I, as a youngin' got to see a real life bullfight in Madrid.   I have a photo album with photos somewhere around this place.

Spring Break

Hubby and I typically take the kids to a hotel for a good night of swimming during winter.  We however, we had other things happen to delay that.  

Possibilities

After reading a post on another blog, I remembered taking a dutch oven cooking class with my oldest daughter and best friend from high school.  That was April of 2011.  I haven't really done anything that exciting since then either.

Dirty Work

Like many of you, I have been madly ripping out my garden (and a long way from being finished).  I still have potatoes, a few pie pumpkins, popcorn and a small bit of pinto beans to harvest.  It's been such a blessing this year.

New Blooms ~ Random Homestead Tidbits

Here are a few new blooms around the homestead this month.

Camp Out ~ Rubber Bands and Wooden Clothespins

Finally!  We got to take our first camping trip this year.  Although short, we made the most of the time - games, hiking, biking, campfire meals and just hanging out.

Easy Steel Cut Oats ~ Go Kart Repairs ~ Chicken Alfredo

Sharing another steel cut oat recipe. This smells so good when it's cooking.  Sorry for the bad photo, it was not the best time of day to take one indoors.

Back Porch ~ The other place we hang out

Hubby said, "Now that the front porch is all done, let's deck out the back porch."

So far it's pretty with pinks, but I'll be adding more color.  This is just the beginning I think.  That little shade flower bed to the left needs weeded out and flowers planted as well.

Memorial Day Weekend

We wanted to take time to do something as a family and get away from the noise at our homestead.  We needed a bit of "normalcy."   We needed to have a good day.  We were all stressed, arguing all the time, and on "edge."  Hubby and I drove the kids to a drive thru animal park.  Here are more photos of some the animals.

Party's Over

I have two flags out, and every day I look at them, I think of my son at Parris Island, and my daughter who is leaving very soon.

Fun Day ~ More "Camp Out Embroidery

Sunday we got the gokart out.  The kids rode it all day long.  Do you see two of them in the middle left of the photo?  They took me for a spin a few times.  We had a blast until....

Old Commerical Songs

School closed today.  I am pretty sure they will be going tomorrow. We are to get a high of 15°F today and at around 6:00am tomorrow it will only be a low of -4°F.  Timmy, our barn cat did come to the door last night.  Thankfully he's okay.  He must have found a good place to hunker down for the night, and stay warm.
 
I'm showing my age with my kids this week.  For some reason I was singing the (1973) old Oscar Mayer song, which led me to the Tic Tac song (from 1974), which got us talking about how much our meal choices have changed.

Movie Madness and Snowed In ~ Propane Shortage?

Hubby and I borrowed several movies from the library, and recently watched The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.  It was different, but we really did enjoy it.  There are advantages of being snowed in.  Ha ha!  I know this is not homesteading related, but stay with me here......

Fall Camping Trip

I'm excited to say, that we got another fall camping trip in this year.  Hubby and I decided to camp the first night by ourselves.  Woot!  Oh, we needed the time alone.  It was a relaxing, romantic, camping date night.  And surprisingly, I did not take my camera this time.

The second night we picked up a few stragglers - 2 kiddos. 

Although it had rained a bit, we relaxed in the camper, reading, knitting, drawing, one kiddo doing school homework, and chatting.  After the rain stopped we started up the fire, and had more fun with s'mores and such.

Family Fun Weekend

Hubby had the entire weekend off.  Yay!  However, the rain kept us from going camping.  Our 11 year-old was very energetic, and in between bouts of rain, had fun with backyard archery. She worked her dad hard with a game of basketball too.  Sunday we took the family bowling.  We were geared up for some old fashioned family fun.

Weekend Pop-Up Camping Trip #2

We now call ourselves "popupologists."  (Snort) The definition is a devotee of camping with a pop-up camper. 

Pour yourself a cup of your favorite beverage, and join us while we show you are camping adventure.

We took another camping trip.  This is the back of our campsite, where there is a secluded area for more tents or simply "chilling out."

Bringing Christmas Home

Upon leaving the campground last Monday morning, Hubby tells me the front store sells pop-up camper ornaments.

Can you hear tires squealing to a halt? 

Yup.  I made him turn the truck and camper around, and we bought the last one.  What was he thinking anyway.  Sheesh.  He should have bought it when he saw it.

Now, guess who is wanting us to camp at Christmas, so we can put a Christmas tree in the camper?

Hubby.

Sigh....

Do you think he's gotten bit by the "camping" bug?

First Camping Trip 2013 ~ Enjoying Our Pop-Up Camper

We took our first camping trip last weekend.  This was a  good ol' fashioned, cook over the fire, no electronics, hike, bike, swim, and fish, camping trip. 

Before we left, as we were packing up, the dogs got into the truck.  They wanted to go for a ride.  We felt so bad, but they would not have had a good time.  The entire 200-some campsites were booked, and there were so many people.

From the Family Journal . . .

 . . . taught my 11 year-old daughter how to do your own laundry.

. . . found out my younger brother is engaged. Yay!