camping in the dungeness rec area (July)

A beautiful and eventful camping trip with our friends the Ebys... We "stayed" at a Clallum County Park, Dungeness Recreation Area (a beautiful and well-maintained campground), but we didn't exactly stay there... Here the kids are all taking a break in the Olympic National Forest near Sol Duc Hotsprings. We were about to go swimming, but first had to explore a little.

Below- trying to wake up the kids in the trailer. Puffy little camping faces!

On Saturday we all piled into the Eby's moterhome and headed to Olympic Game Farm- where "wild" animals are held captive in makeshift pens and turned into docile, slightly pathetic creatures who shamelessly beg for Wonderbread handed out by gawking tourists (like us). It's slightly disturbing, but it is still cool to feel a buffalo's tongue and an elk's velvet, all in the comfort of your vehicle.

In the petting zoo area, Naomi spent the entire time with this fellow. I told her it was time to leave, and she wanted a few minutes to say goodbye. She said they had become friends because she notice that he took "a very long time to eat," just like she does.

Naomi and her buddy Bria, who went around loudly calling each other "Girl-fren!" the entire time. Notice the bling around Bria's neck? Well when I asked her about it's origins, she told me solemnly that it was the "key to Lost Angeles." (Sort of a mix-up of LA and Atlantis) And Naomi and Josiah loyally believed along. A few weeks later, while in Home Depot, Josiah spotted something hanging on the wall- "Mom! It's Bria's key to Lost Angeles! FOR SALE!!" He was shocked and horrified that someone would STEAL her key and SELL IT- as a paint can opener, of all things!! Is nothing sacred?

The view from the high bluff, looking down towards the Dungeness Spit- at seven miles out, it is said to be the longest sand spit in the U.S. We only ventured down a bit- not all the way down to the lighthouse near the end.

It was surprisingly chilly for July- the winds from the Straights blew constantly.Eva loved the waves, and would have jumped in had we been any closer to a warm change of clothes for after.

Josiah doing his Great Horned Owl impression, as usual.

Naomi making pizza in her "sand kitchen."

Jason was studying the rules and regs intently to figure out if he could take crabs or oysters from even a little sliver of the beach, but no luck.

Josiah tried to be a gentleman and pull Karen up the hill when she mentioned it was steep.

Bo was delighted to have a buddy along- he and Copper played / fought the entire time. In fact, they stirred up so much dust in the campsite it was a constant coating on everything.

Naomi- proving that you CAN have it all- playing badminton while eating s'mores.

In the sugar zone...

Josiah and his buddy Levi.

Gorgeous sunsets are the glory of this place.

Got a flat on the trailer about two miles from home... Fortunately Jason is handy and quick, and we were back on the road in no time. I watched, so I just might know how to change a tire now... But I still have that roadside assistance number handy just in case.

There are so many beautiful places in Washington alone to explore- we could move on to a new place each time... But Dungeness is too appealing to visit just once. We'll be back.

dozens of pictures and a few jokes

Since the kids don't go to school, I try to do some "official-ish" shots of them individually each year- usually on their birthdays. This year Grammy wanted some framables, so we had a few (painfully goofy) photo sessions. The results are as follows, with some funnies thrown in. The human face is so interesting- the possibilities for expression are endless!

Eva was all dressed up to go to the space needle with Auntie Sarena and Anika. She was so joyful and excited, I think that helped in making the pictures turn out so lovely.

Love, love love that one. (above)

Eva decided yesterday that Bo needed to be more helpful, and she was going to train him to be a guide dog. After a 1/2 hour session of cutting and coloring, a paper vest was produced with the label "Guide Dog" and a graphic of a person in a wheelchair. She called the pup-o-sixty-pounds into the living room, and proceeded to attempt to cape him- twenty minutes of wrestling resulting in failure later, she walked into the kitchen muttering something like... "He's never gonna be a guide dog, that...." -rumpled paper dragging behind. Bo trotting in a little later, looking quite carefree, and still unemployed.

Nomes- a total goofball at heart. :)

This was where she wanted to sit for her photos, but the sun was too bright to turn towards me...

We don't like to waste things in our family, and the kids are always good about re-purposing... Yesterday Naomi was touching a watermelon I was about to slice for her, and she asked me quite sincerely, "Mom, can I hollow this out and use it as my bicycle helmet?"

Bubs isn't fond of photo sessions- we had to tell some pretty gross jokes to keep him around and smiling for these. The "truest" smile is the last, where he's snuggling his beloved Bo-dog.

We were in the car the other day and Bubby said, "Mom, I was thinking, and I thought of a question... Why don't Grammy and Gramps have any kids?!"

(He did figure this out correctly on his own- thankfully.)

The next question was- "Why on earth do we get mail on rainy days?"

And then today, when we got the mail together, he said- "Yay!!"

"What do you mean, 'yay'," I said, "It's just junk!"

"I know! I mean 'Yay', I can burn it!"

penrose state park- camping over the 4th of july

We have been camping several times this summer, and I am behind on posting the photos... I'm just going to post them out of order, just to get them on here before I get even further behind!

We spent Fourth of July weekend with friends at Penrose Point, on Hood Canal. It was our first time at that campground, and it was fun to explore... A nice place to go for just two nights because it is so close. Getting to the water was not quite convenient, but for the price of a half hour hike, we had a small section of beach nearly to ourselves, while the "parking lot" beach was over crowded.

Jason kept rigging his pole for salmon, but those darn sculpin are hungrier, I guess... Here is his prize winner. Bo had a great time swimming- just wore his little brown self out. He was so tired he had to go curl up for a nap- right on all the dry clothes.

The kids had so much fun together- they played non-stop all weekend. I felt like I didn't even talk to them! But that means they're having fun, I know. So we tried to get a "nice picture" of them all together before we left. Little Gabie, though, was just not feeling compliant. Doesn't this remind you of that old Sesame Street song, "One of these kids is doin' his own thing..." Finally he agreed to humor the mommies, and stand behind the other kids. What a guy!

And below is the price they exacted for all that "nice for the mommies" smiling... Aren't they charming?

Eva got to listen to her buddy Nicholas' iPod- in fact, he was playing it for everyone, though it didn't get very loud... They decided to make up skits and dances, and perform them for the parents around the campfire. Naomi got pretty into it- she is quite the budding rock star, as you can see from her self-styling in this picture. She and Nicholas had a competitive dance off. Eva declared Nicholas the winner. It was just too close to call, really. I will now always think of this trip when I hear the old C & C Music Factory song, "Everybody Dance Now!"

Good friends, seaweed, burnt marshmallows, mosquito bites, fireworks, toxic algae... These are the things great memories are made of! We'll be off to do it again soon!

said the heifer to the bull...

The other day we went through the four-way stop near our neighborhood, and slowed a little, as usual, to peer at the livestock on the right. "Oooo..." said Naomi with a sly grin, "I see an udder surprise!" Goofy laughter ensues.



So that is to say, that Naomi has been just slightly fascinated with udders of late. No particular reason why, that I know of- just finds them interesting and rather funny. And that leads to last night's post-tooth-brushing conversation, which I overheard...



Naomi finished brushing and leaned over the wooden stool (could be a milking stool- but isn't). "Whoop!" she says, "I'm a cow! Someone's milkin' me! I'm a cow! Milk milk milk!" This accompanied by handmotions on her invisable udder, pointed toward the stool. Josiah finishes brushing too and wants to get in on this pretend... "I'm a cow too! Someone's milkin' me too!" he says.



"No, no, Bubby." Naomi says. "You're a male. You can't get milked- you've gotta get killed, and ate! You're no dairy cow... (and here she pauses to shake her head, and give him a consiliatory hug).... You, are a Steak."

a bright bracelet by Naomi

Naomi's latest craft: plastic lacing. Aunt Leslie gave us lots of craft supplies from her teaching days, and Naomi waited patiently for weeks til I "had time" to help her make something. She chose the colors and did all the wrapping, though I had to hold the laces because it was really kind of tricky. She is very pleased with her new bracelet. Now, maybe Auntie Dani can dig deep in her memory and remember how to make all those rope-like things with plastic laces, so we can have lots of key chains, lanyards, zipper-pulls, etc. milling around the house? Isn't it great that kids have time for everything?

brothers

Bubby loves to sing to and talk to Bo, whether they are all alone or with the whole family. I frequently overhear him singling little ditties such as, "I luv ya Mistah Bo! I luv ya Mistah Bo!" Tonight he asked me once again to please have a baby brother for him. I made some comment like, "Well at least you have Bo around?!" and, poor little guy, he went out and found his furry brother. This is what I overheard in the hallway after that:

"Bo... We're brothers! We're brothers, cuz we're so alike! We've both got just one thing on. I've got m'one thing, m'underwear, you've got yer one thing, yer coat! We're so alike, we're brothers, we're twins! Twins- we live in the same country! Our ships have the same anchors, only you don't have a ship! We're brothers, Bo! Twins!!"

a little news about Naomi

Naomi's newest favorite snack- a whole avocado, peeled carefully. It makes her muzzle quite slimy , but she adores it.

Naomi is growing like crazy, and of course learning and doing all sorts of new things. She has really been into biking lately, and has challenged herself on the Lake Youngs Trail- wanting to go faster and further each time. It is so fun to run with her and watch her getting better and feeling great about it... She has become an awesome rider!

Naomi is also making gains in spelling and reading. As a kid, and a younger sister, she has been hearing "secret" things spelled out by adults for years, and has made a mission of figuring them out. She's been pretty good at certain things. In fact, when she was two, she used to ask for "C-A-N-D-Y." So the other day, she overheard Eva and me discussing when and how a package would arrive, and she thought she was missing out on something when we mentioned the "USPS." Not about to be left in the dark, she rushed over and yelled out, "I know what you're talking about!! Us pus!" We're not pulling the wool over her eyes anytime soon, right?