Hannah and Jake decided to forego the fishing poles and head straight for the water. They are little water dogs!
A fast and furious game of Mancala. This is one of the favorite camping games. That and "politically correct war". It basically is war but you want to get rid of your cards, not keep them. You have to swap decks of cards with your partner before War, and the cards are peace, love, harmony and unity. Our other favorite camping games are SkipBo and story telling (not technically a game I guess)
One thing that I love about this place in my life is camping. When the kids were younger it was a bit harder because you had a baby (playpen and dirt in the mouth) Toddler. . . Chase them all over. . . Preschooler. . . fun but still alot of hands on work! Now, taking them at six, eight, thirteen and fifteen, they are able to play, occupy themselves, engage in activity, do crafts and just still have fun.
We packed up Friday after work and took off for the mountains. We camp so much that we have three large rubbermaid bins that are prepacked for camping. One bin has gear like fuel, paper, flaslights etc, one has food staples, salt, pepper, oil, oatmeal, etc. The other has dishes, silverware etc. On top of that is the tent, the sleeping bags, the stove, so when we want to go its fast. Load up, hit the garden for whatever produce is there (last summer Jake yelled "STOP THE CAR" and took off. When he came back he was loaded up with a huge cabbage he pulled out of the garden! We chopped it up with olive oil and garlic that night at camp, was so wonderful!)
We went to a campground on a lake that is about an hour away and set up camp. We dove into the lake and stayed there until late, almost dark then came back and roasted hot dogs. After the kdis went to bed I opened a bottle of wine and enjoyed it greatly!
Saturday we went back to the lake for most of the day after having a big breakfast of blueberry pancakes and bacon. That evening we had camper stew (each kid makes their own packet of burger, onions, potatos etc. and then you roast it over the coals). That night we fell asleep fast, no staying up late with a bottle of wine!
Of course today was unloading it all, washing dishes up, repacking and SO much laundry! Thank goodness the day was hot (99 today!) and the clothing dried on the line quickly. I watered out garden which is getting overrun like crazy! Some of the tomato plants are taller then I am (5'5)! Tonight, dinner was simple due to the heat and just being exhausted. We had beef stroganoff and green beans from the garden. I sliced some tomatos (our first! yay!) and some cucumbers (not our first. . . already wondering if I am tired of cucumbers!) We are also harvesting zucchini and soon will have our first yellow crookneck zucchini. Lots of basil (and lemon and lime basil too) and some oregano. What else do we have . . . the kids emptied the carrot patch, but that was probably good as the heat would make them woody. I just can not wait for full on tomato season in another week or two. Fresh tomatos in the garden, warm from the sun, you just can't beat it! Oh ya .. and cabbage. . .I still have about 12 heads of cabbage. They are good but I am just about cabbaged out.
One of our favorite cabbage recipes is shredding it up, tossing soy sauce, garlic, sesame oil, tsp of sugar and sesame seeds. Throw that over the cabbage and serve cold, YUM! Kids eat a ton as well.
So, that is that. . . back to work tomorrow. I have to transport a kiddo from the detention center. I am not looking forward to that. I have such a hard time watching teenagers making bad choices, even when I know they can't really help it. Makes me wonder if I have picked the right career path . . .
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