Staying Camping

Two weeks ago, we were going to go camping.

A trip that we had all looked forward to with much anticipation...southern Indiana...Lincoln State Park...Holiday World!

The last time we had gone to Holiday World, Josh was just a wee little thirteen-month-old.

(Oh!  What is the rule on the dashes in this word?!  I cannot remember!)

Josh was so excited about going!

The morning before we were to go, Thursday morning, Matthew crawled into William's bed.

Maybe I should have seen it coming.

On Thursday afternoon, I took a picture of us before we went into our homeschool group classes.

Maybe, just maybe, if I had looked at this picture sooner, I would have seen it coming.

At the beginning of class, this is what I saw.

But by the end of class, Matthew was in my lap, red-cheeked and blood shot-eyed.

We went to the doctor right after homeschool group.

Matthew had a fever and was given a breathing treatment.

The doctor sent us home with instructions to continue the breathing treatments.

Before we left, she said,
"Holiday World probably isn't a good idea."

I agreed.

It's scary enough to be at home in the middle of the night when Matthew has trouble breathing,
but in the camper in the middle of nowhere?

Paul and I agreed...not worth it.

Oh, but Josh's little disappointed face. 

The next day, the day we were to leave, the boys were outside riding bikes.

I thought, "Did we make the wrong call?"

And then came Saturday morning.

The weather report was sunshine, sunshine, and more sunshine!

The boys began their day with another bike ride.

Even my Travelocity Gnome
was questioning my decision-making skills.

(Sorry, he's so doggone cute that I just had to include his picture and his opinion.)

But it was after this bike ride, while making breakfast, that I noticed Josh's red cheeks and droopy eyes.

His eyes are notorious for telling on him when he is sick.

Fever...101.4 degrees.

The rest of the day was spent on his couch bed
resting and napping.

That evening, we decided to have a campfire to soothe some of the disappointment.

Grandpa, Grandma, and GG joined us to make
for a special evening.

Still smiling.

Campfires are special no matter where they are built.

Our neighbor, Alex, came over to hang out, ride bikes,
and eat with us.

Josh gave it a winning try.

He ate some supper.  He rode bikes.  He did some swinging.

But in the end, his favorite place to be was in his orange camping chair looking at his ToysRUs catalog.

He just wasn't "up to par."

Isn't this a beautiful thing?

I didn't fall to the flu like the littles did, but I know that I was pretty bleary-eyed from taking care of a couple of sickies.

And, as much as I love camping, I was very happy to drop into my own bed each evening...
rather than my camper bed.

Ohhh yeah.

You know what I mean.

Training in Progress.

See what I mean about his eyes?

Our barn light.

Someday I will tell you about how much I love our barn.

Because Paul built it all with his own two hands.

Charlie got about a half a hot dog and a couple marshmallows out of her camping trip.

My prayers were that I wouldn't have to clean up a mess in her crate the next morning.

Thankfully, my prayers were answered.

We didn't sing any campfire songs.

So, what did we do for entertainment?

We took turns riding William's Monkey Bike down the hill.

You will never see the video of Paul and me riding down.

Let me rephrase that.

You will never see the video of me riding down.

But for now, I will leave you with William's ride.

Enjoying campfires and healthy kids...and runs down the hill on the Monkey Bike,

Special Time with Grandma

What an awesome Grandma my kids have!

When Carrie and William were younger, Judy would plan special arts and crafts days with them.

She would come all prepared with a lesson and a project.

Some of my favorites were the "My Favorite Things" poster and the string art.  I probably have pictures somewhere...

Now that Joshua and Matthew are older (Matthew will tell you in no uncertain terms that he is a "Big Boy" now), 

Judy planned their first art lesson!

Last Wednesday, when the big kids were doing their library tour for their research writing class,  Grandma came with her special basket ready to teach a lesson on...

TEXTURE!

I left the room so that I would be out of the way a little.

I did have to pop in and out, though, to see what they were doing and to take a few pictures.

Grandma talked with the boys about what texture means and introduced some texture words like 

smooth, rough, soft, hard, pointy, fluffy, spiky, sticky...

Here is Josh wearing one of his favorite 

texture objects of the day.

He has that whole Super Hero thing going on...

He wore it for most of the lesson.

How does this feel?

 And here is a corduroy dress that Carrie wore 

when she was four!

 The next time I came back into the room, 

Grandma was having them close their eyes while she put 

a taste of something into their mouths.  

They were to describe the texture of the food.

Judy got a kick out of Matthew with the Cheerios in his mouth.  

She said that he just chewed and chewed and chewed on them.

She was also impressed with how trusting they were.

They just closed their eyes and opened their mouths.

Well, Matthew would start out with his eyes closed.

Then, just as the bite was coming in for a landing, 

he would take a squinty-eyed peek.

Matthew, how does that feel?

"Smooth.  Feet (Sweet).  Cold!"

It was a bite of pudding.

Good job!

 Here, Grandma asked them to close their eyes and hold out their hands so that they could try to guess what she put in their hands.

Matthew held out his hand and opened his mouth.

Smooth little rocks...

After the lesson time at the table, Grandma took the boys outside with paper and crayons.

They were to look for things that had texture so that they could make a "Rubbings Book."

I wish that I had taken my camera out to capture all of the fun!

Josh was so concentrated on finding things to rub!

Matthew started out that way, but I think that I did his last two pages for him...under his direction.

By the end of the day, the boys understood 

and remembered the word "Texture," 

and they had a book with labeled pages of their rubbings.

Some of the things in their books were 

tree bark, the driveway, the bottom of their shoes, 

the tire of the Monkey Bike, the bridge, a swing,

the air conditioner cage, the siding on the house, and a leaf.

Did you boys have fun?!

Are you super-proud of your books?

As Grandma and the boys made their way back into the house to put their books together, Josh looked at Judy and said, 

"Please don't go home now.  

I like it when you come over and play with me!"

Have I told you what a sweet boy Joshua is?

Matthew is pretty "feet" too.

Silly and sweet.

Enjoying Grandma Love,