Sunday, October 23, 2011

Campfires

Another confession . . .I hate campfires.  The smell, the bother, helping little kids roast stuff.  What a pain!!  When Kev is here, being the pyro he is, he builds them, minds them and even does most of the roasting for the girls because he's such an expert.  But truth be told, he's NOT here most of the time.  Mostly it's just me, so I have to deal with it.  Luckily, we camp so much that the girls don't ask for one every night.  When we're up here for a week or more, we mostly reserve them for the weekend.  This trip, I told them that we'd have a fire 2 out of the 4 nights we were here.  We did have one on Friday and we were going to have one last night, but I lured them away from that idea with the promise of dinner in front of a movie, plus popcorn.  What kind of a mom am I?  Tempting my kids out of the fresh air and great outdoors, into a camper to sit and watch movies and eat.  I'll tell you what kind - smart! 

Oh, and want a tip on what NOT to buy in an effort make the whole experience a little less painful?  Giant Roasters Campfire Marshmallows, that's what.  Have you ever had them?  My kids have been begging for them, since they were introduced last season, but I've never brought them.  I broke down this time though because they were on sale for $1.99, so I thought we'd give them a try.  What a big freaking, disgusting mess they turned out to be!  They are just too dang big.  Too big for s'mores, and when you try to roast them they don't melt all the way through.  If you want to sit there and peel them off layer by layer, roasting as you go, they work, but that's really your only option.  And even then the kids end up a big sticky mess (way worse than usual) when it's all over.

Campfires are a pain.  Will I try to get out of them using movies and popcorn and candy and any other means I can think of?  You bet I will, and not feel a bit guilty in the process!
Brinks, Lils and New Friends

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Caramel Apples


Made Caramel Apples today and wanted to share my favorite recipe (that I got from my sister Beth) with ya'll.  Mine turned out a little firmer than I like (caramel is so tempermental), but they're still yummy, and the girls had a great time decorating them.

Caramel Apples
1 c. brown sugar
1 c. sugar
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 c. light Karo syrup
1 stick butter

1.  Combine all ingredients.  Stir constantly over medium high heat until soft ball, about 240 degrees (in Utah, due to sea level, this is actually about 230 degrees).  Allow caramel to cool to 180 degrees.

2.  Dip apples that have been washed, dried and chilled.  Or dip pretzel rods.

Please, Don't Hate Me Because I'm With HIM

The new camp managers hate Kevin, and therefore, hate me by association.  Unbelievable.  We had a really nice friendship with the old camp managers.  Kevin would talk hunting with him.  I would talk kids, church, camping, movies, and on and on with her.  They are one of the reasons I loved this place so much, and losing them has been hard this summer.  And now, this.

July went fine.  We both tried to be very friendly, lots of smiles and hellos.  Inside, I was actually very resentful that they were here, but I know what side my bread is buttered on, so on the outside, I was very accepting and pleasant.  Then August and the hunting season arrived.  The 2nd weekend of the bowhunt, Kev comes up with a friend.  Check-in at the park ends at 9pm.  If you pull in after that, you're supposed to pull in somewhere by the office and stay until morning, when you can find a site.  They don't want you disturbing other campers by trying to hook-up and level out at midnight, or running over spigots after dark when you can't see anything, which makes total sense.  So Kev pulls in just before 10pm.  He's actually just in the suburban, and doesn't even want a camp site.  He just needs someplace to park until 4am, when they'll get up and head out hunting.  There's a big street light at the entrance of the park, so he decides to pull all the way to the back of the campground and park in a big open area back there.  He does this, they quietly roll out some sleeping bags in the back of the burb, then get up in the early morning and leave. 

Well, apparently, unbeknownst to them, someone out walking their dog sees them and gets freaked out.  Even now, I'm not sure why.  You're certainly allowed to drive your vehicle in and out of the park all night long if you'd like.  There aren't gates that lock.  They just don't want you pulling your camper in after hours.  So, this "incident" is reported to the new camp managers, who are new and over-zealous and on a power-high, and by the time Kev has pulled back in the next night, right before 9pm, they are fired up!  Gary, chases Kevin down and is ready for a confrontation.  "You really freaked my campers out last night, " he says, automatically on the attack.  Kevin doesn't get upset, thankfully, and they have somewhat of a conversation, where Gary also said, "You're not even a member here, are you son!?"  I'm not a customer service pro, but I'm pretty sure it's not politically correct to call your customers/clients/members "son" or "boy" or anything close.  So Kev has to flash his ID and credentials, which cools Gary down considerably, but the damage has already been done.  We have been blackballed.  And each visit since, there has been something.

"You can't park your car here, you'll have to move it.  You can't put the fire pit there, you'll have to move it.  You can't have a clothesline to hang wet bathing suits on, you'll have to take it down."  Just pick, pick, pick at things we've always done, or things that we see other people doing all the time.

So, it wasn't a surprise when he chased us down, upon our arrive last night because he had a problem with the spot we'd chosen.  "I have a bit of a mess back there behind your camper," he says, referring to the leaves.  "That's OK," I said.  "We don't mind, and we won't let the girls spread them around."  "I just can't figure out why you picked this spot," he said.

I honestly think that he thinks we picked it just to tick him off.  Really?  Maybe he'll develop amnesia over the winter, and by spring he won't remember us, and we'll get a fresh start.  One can only hope.  In the mean time, I think I'll take him a couple of homemade caramel apples in an attempt to sweeten him, and thaw his wife, the ice queen.

We're Back!!

We're back and I'm really happy about it.  I confess that I was really toying with the idea of not coming up this weekend.  I've been planning, since the beginning of time, to come up for my last camping hoo-rah of the season over UEA (Utah Educators Association - not sure what it is, but I'm happy for the 2 days we get out of school for it every year).  But last week was such a busy week for me, that I started thinking it would be too much.  Monday morning I was still thinking that I wouldn't come.  Then I asked the girls what they'd like to do and they said CAMP!  I'm raising them right, aint I?  Once I decided that I was coming, I started getting really excited.  And oh, aren't I glad to be here.  It is absolutely beautiful up here and the weekend is going to be perfect.  It dropped below freezing last night, but today dawned sunny and brilliant.  We're wearing sweatshirts right now, but I bet we'll just be in shirtsleeves by mid-afternoon.

I promised the girls that I would let them pick the camp site this time.  I know that they love #48, which is a nice little spot, but during the summer when it's busy, it can get a little crowded, with people all around us.  This weekend though won't be busy, so it seemed like a good time to park here.  As we backed in, they spied about 15 big leaf piles that had been raked up, but not picked up yet, and as you can imagine, that brought squeals of delight.  They spent the morning playing in the leaves (though not spreading them back out too much), establishing their clubhouses, making poo-stew, and most recently making a new friend, Victoria.  And me?  I'm about to bury myself in a good book.


Monday, September 5, 2011

My Hunter

Labor Day weekend is one of my favorite times of the summer to camp.  I hate that summer is ending and things are starting to slow down, but I really do love seeing all the hunters walking around the campground in their camo.  And of course, Kev is no different.  I’m sure that all of you know that the Bowhunt here in the Utah began a couple of weekends ago.  Often his cousin and family will come to Woodland and camp over Labor Day too.  The guys will get up early early, shower with their scent-killing soap, put on their special scent-killing deodarant, don their clean camo which has been washed in scent-killing detergent, paint their faces and head into the mountains.  They usually come back about midmorning and spend a good portion of the day with us, having an early dinner, before heading back up.  For some reason, I just think it’s a lot of fun when his world (hunting) and my world (Camperworld) combine and we’re up here together and both really excited to be here (for entirely different reasons I know, but oh well, I'll still take it).  This weekend we’re here alone, but the schedule is much the same.  He’s  been gone in the morning and evenings, but here most of the day.   Kevin doesn’t kill every year.  Bowhunter’s only have a 12% chance of actually getting game because bowhunting is so much harder than hunting with a gun.  As hard as he works at it though, he truly deserves it every season.  Maybe this will be the year.  Go Kev!
I don't know who took this picture.  I'm thinking that he set the timer and took it himself. 
Of course when I found it on the camera, I knew I had to post it, it's so awesome.  Hahaha!

Saturday afternoon Kev took the four-wheeler to go check a camera.
Brinkley was busy playing with friends so Lily was elected to go with him.
Obviously, she had to wear camo too, just in case they had to stalk.

Sunday, September 4, 2011

Confessions of a Bananagramaholic

Last month while camping with my family, I talked about the new game we discovered called Bananagrams.  I really want to buy it, but since Walmart is about the only store I shop in, and they don’t sell it, I’ve been in a quandary.  After doing a little research online though, I discovered that if I combine some of the letters from two different Scrabble games then I have the EXACT same thing.  Well luckily I do own two Scrabble games so I came up this weekend with my Bananagrams game assembled and ready to play.  Kev and I played a few times the last few nights, but today, Kev decided not to hunt, so we’ve had a marathon all day.  It’s been so fun, even though out of the 20 times we’ve played, I’ve won maybe three.  And I’m no dummy.  Kev is just a whiz, and really fast.  If only we could get rid of our kids so we could play uninterrupted.  : )  Actually they’ve been pretty good, but of course when they have a question or a need, it’s me they bug, not Kevin.  Hey!  Maybe that’s why he’s always winning.  He’s not smarter.  Thanks to the girls, he can just focus better.  Figures.
Deep concentration.


I seriously won this game.  Yah!!


PS - After writing this post, I discovered that I could actually play by myself too.  And it's pretty much all I want to do.  And do you know what else I discovered?  Without Kevin as an opponent, I win every single game.  : )

Saturday, September 3, 2011

A Girl, a Big Bike, and New Friends

Two of the highlights of camping are riding bikes ALL OVER the place, and making new friends.  I can’t think of any camping trip here that the girls haven’t made new friends while riding bikes, playing at the park, or swimming.  And the ultimate fun is when we get here and discover that old friends are camping, so they get a chance to catch up and reacquaint.
That’s been the case this weekend.  And these old friends came in a group of four.  Three brothers and a sister that camp a few times each summer with their grandparents.  It didn’t take long on Friday for them to hook up and they’ve been pretty inseparable since.  This year I have to watch them though.  One little boy apparently has developed a crush on Brinkley.  Understandable, yes.  But still a little unnerving - actually more for me than Kevin.  One day they were playing with Tye and Brinkley kissed him.  And this little boy muttered, “I wish I was a dog.”  Oh, my!  Really?  Luckily, at this age, it’s all just talk and fun, and no real worries.  I don’t even like to think about what is to come though!
Brinkley, Lily and Friends
One of the games they were playing yesterday was Bicycle Switch-Up.  They’d each ride a bike around the loop and then go back and switch bikes with someone else.  Well, one of the new kids that was playing had a pretty big cruiser bike.  Brinkley tried that one out and was done with the “switch-up” part.  She had found her perfect fit on two wheels.  When she finally had to give that bike back, she decided that she could and needed to ride my bike.  So, we lowered the seat and off she went.  Holy cow!  She just might need a new bike for Christmas.  She sure looks grown-up on that big girl bike!
A friend's bike.  Can she ride it?

Of course she can!!

Here she is on my bike.  I didn't see it again the whole camping trip!

Friday, September 2, 2011

Tye's Midnight Blues

Tye, the beloved pooch always camps with us and he loves it.  He knows when we start packing and is always very antsy until he gets the invitation to "kennel up" in the car, at which time he hauls butt from the front door and doesn't slow down until he's safely settled in his car seat.  Meaning his seat in the car for all you warped folks that think I may have carried this "babying him" thing a little too far. 

At Family Camp a few weeks ago he was a little whiney - lots of people and out of his element.  But at Camperworld he's a peach.  He stays in the camper when we go to the pool, but mostly lies in his basket in front of the camper waiting for the 3 or 4 times a day that we make the rounds through the campground.  He loves to watch the people go by and especially loves to watch the other pups prancing by, barking and whining a little at each.

So tired.

Oh, who's that?!
At night, he's had various accommodations.  He started off sleeping in the car/burb, but eventually was invited into the camper to sleep in the kitchen under the table.  This summer, however, Kev decided that he could no longer handle being woken by Tye shifting and turning at night and has once again banned him to the burb.  I felt sad about this at first, but Kevin assured me that "Tye loves it.  He thinks it's his own private camper."  I rolled my eyes at this until the first night I put him to bed.  Tye did indeed seem to be excited about hopping up into the burb and would immediately cozy up on his blanket and fall asleep.  And he's such a good boy.  He never barks or makes a peep until we get him out in the morning, even if it's well after the sun has come up.

This trip however, it's cooled off considerably here in the mountains.  The days are still 80, but the nights probably drop into the 40s.  The first morning we brought him in, the girls swore he was shivering from cold, which stressed me out of course.  The 2nd night Kev stayed in town, so I kept him in the camper.  Then last night Kev said he was getting up at 4am anyway to hunt, so Tye might as well stay inside.  That was all Kevin.  I didn't ask that Tye stay inside.  It was Kev's idea.

So, you can understand my confusion when Kevin wakes me up at 3:30am and is livid, seemly at me.  "Your dog better stop whining.  He's out there whining so much that he woke me up.  And he's cost me 25% of my sleep tonight!"  25% of his sleep?  How did he figure that out?  Well, we didn't go to sleep until midnight and apparently Kev was getting up at 4:30 instead of 4:00 and so Tye woke him up an hour early, which is indeed about 25% of his 4-1/2 hour slumber. 

So, whatever.  I'm just trying to figure out why Tye would be whining.  I didn't hear him, but waited and listened, and indeed after a minute he started up again.  "Well," I said, "he doesn't ever do that in the middle of the night, so he must have a problem."  So, I got up, got dressed, put shoes on.  As soon as I opened our bedroom door, Tye hopped up and started dancing and prancing toward the front door like he'd just been offered a weekend pheasant hunting trip and a steak dinner.   So, out we go into the cold of the night and sure enough, as soon as we hit the grass Tye revealed his problem.  And believe me, I could hear it and smell it way before I could see it.  Diarrhea.  Really?  So gross.  So, we wandered around for a few minutes, depositing gifts here and there.  Eventually he seemed ready to go back in, so we headed back.  He curled up in bed and was probably asleep within 30 seconds.  I on the other hand, had to go back and face Kev.

He was still in bed muttering and cursing Tye's name.  Like it was really his fault.  I actually was thinking that Tye was pretty amazing.  A lot of other mutts would have just done their business all over the floor and then Kev would have discovered at 4:30 when he stepped foot out of the bedroom.  Obviously, he's the best dog ever for being able to squeeze his little butt cheeks together and hold it until he could rouse us and get one of us to let him out.  But, I suppose that when you've just lost 25% of your night's sleep, you're not thinking clearly and rationally like that. 

So, Kev did get up a short time later and trudged out into the cold and dark to hunt meat for the family.  And I stayed cozy and warm in bed until 7am, when I was roused again by a whining Tye.  I confess that I am a little concerned about tonight.  He doesn't seem to be completely recovered.  I may just have to sleep in the kitchen under the table with him to head off any whining that may rouse the hunter.

Update:  Tye once again slept in the kitchen, alone without me, and made it through the night just fine.  Whew!  All might be well once again.

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Golden Chicken

I know what you’re thinking.  What kind of a camping blog includes crockpot recipes on it?  Well, I think we established a while ago, that with my camper trailer, unlimited electricity and water, swimming pool and clubhouse, that I’m not your typical camper.  I recently joined a Facebook Group called Crock Pot girls.  It reminded me how great a crockpot is and I decided to make this trip easier on myself and try some of the recipes.  This is the one I tried tonight and it is really good.  The girls even thought it was great.  I do think that next time I would add a little garlic - real, salt or powder.  Maybe ½ teaspoon to give it a little more flavor.
1 can Golden Mushroom soup
½ c. white cooking wine or apple juice
¼ c. butter
1 pkg cream cheese (I used the Philidelphia Original Cooking Crème cause I got a load of them for 25 cent last time I was at the Poor People’s Store and it worked great)
4 Chicken Breasts
½ - ¾ t. Garlic (as I mentioned above, if you’d like)

Put chicken into pot, combine sauce and pour over chicken.  Set to low and cook for 5 hours.  Serve over angel hair pasta.  Enjoy!

This picture really doesn't do it justice.  I promise it's not at greasy as it looks.  : )

Labor Day Weekend - Yes! My Kids are Missing School

After almost a month’s hiatus, we’re back again and it feels good.  I’ve missed this place.  There have been a lot of changes at the Woodland Camperworld this summer, with a change in park managers.  We truly loved the old managers and felt that they maintained the park meticulously and with a very homey feel.  The new park managers don’t seem to be quite as particular or industrious, are a little cool and immediately started instigating changes that don’t necessarily seem to be in the park’s or the member's best interests.  I mean if it aint broke, don’t fix it, right?  So every time I leave and then return, it’s with a bit of trepidation.  I’m nervous about visible changes that I might see.  Once we get here though and get settled, it still feels like home.
When I told people we were heading up last night, I got a lot of, “What are you doing about the girls?  Are you taking them out of school?”  People seem surprised that I’d take them out for 2 days in the 2nd week.  I don’t know why.  They’re smart.  What’s a two day absence to two smarty pants like Brinkley and Lily?  Plus, I have to be able to take my kids out of school for things that I deem are important, like an occasional trip to Grandmas, the Festival of Trees, and above all, camping.  I have to camp.  And I’ve gotten so spoiled that a two or even three day weekend seems like a lot of effort for too short of an amount of time.  Their teachers should feel lucky that I’ve limited it to two days, instead of a whole week!
Besides, they’re not going to learn anything in school that is more important than what they experience up here.  Even after spending almost every day together for the past 7 years, they still can’t get enough of each other.  And that friendship is priceless and nurturing it is of utmost importance.    Today they also swam and rescued bugs from the pool, thoroughly examining each variety before delivering them safely to the grass.  They flew a kite and learned about the direction of the wind and how that can either lift the kite or slam it into the grass.  And they had plenty of home economics time, each in their own secret club house, picking berries and collecting other leaves and twigs to make their infamous Poo Stew.  And don’t worry.  For those deeply troubled by the flippant way I talk about the quality state offered education, they also spent a little time this morning reading, practicing sight words, and doing some work sheets that I requested that their teachers send home with them.  See, I’m a responsible mom after all.
Lily, catching air.

Brinks has it!
Modeling the super-cool Avatar kite she won during Wharton Wars at Family Camp.

Sunday, August 7, 2011

Day 4 - Going Home

Finally today, on the last day of camp, everyone woke up healthy.  We'd have loved to have that happen earlier on in the trip, but we're grateful for it today.  Today's breakfast consisted of cereal, and the activities, for the most part, consisted of packing up.  We did play one more game of Bananagrams for the road, and took some really great pictures. 

We've been doing this camping trip for 13 or 14 years now.  Our families have all changed during this time.  We miss the time when all the kids were little.  We miss the time when all the kids could come.  Unfortunately, but fortunately they've all grown during the years.  Some have gotten married, had babies, have jobs and responsibilities.  We're so grateful for the times we've had, for those that still come (and leave friends and boyfriends behind for this one trip : ), and we miss those who can't.  But mostly, we hope that this is a tradition that can go on for many years to come, with as many "Whartons" as we can drag out here with us!


The Picketts, Pearsons, and Hymas Family

Don't judge.  The bathrooms consisted of vault toilets without even sinks!

Kev and some of his favorite girls.

A Motley Crew!

Saturday, August 6, 2011

Day 3

Last night was truly one of the best nights of my life.  Kevin slept out on the couch bed in the camper because he was afraid of my germs.  I was feeling much better and just slept so great, spread eagle the whole night.  I did at one point hear what I thought was a lot of moving around.  It was still dark out, so I knew it was early.  Whoever it was, though, didn't come disturb me, so I quickly zonked back out.  It was well after 9:00 am before Kevin finally poked his head in and said, "How are you feeling?"  I assured him that I was practically good as new.  He said, "Great.  Cause Brinkley is sick and you are now officially on duty."  Uuuuugh!  Really?  We were so careful to keep her away from me yesterday, but she did keep coming in to check on me AND they made really cute duct tape bracelets for their craft and she brought me one as a get well soon gift.  Poor thing.  See, compassionate service really doesn't pay.

So, I rolled out of bed and started playing nurse maid.  She'd been throwing up about every 45 minutes steady, since 5:00am.  I guess that was all the noise that I'd heard during the night.  The first night we got here, I gave her and Lily a ziplock bag and said, "If you feel sick during the night, throw up in this."  So, two nights later, when she did feel sick, she woke up and did throw up in the baggie.  Then called Kevin.  She's amazing!  And so sweet.  Kev said that she kept apologizing for keeping him up and disturbing him.

So, I got up, checked one her, then started cleaning.  Luckily I have extra bedding, so I stripped our bed and Lysoled everything, then remade the bed.  Brinks would throw up, and of course feel a lot better and be perky for a while, then start feeling sick again.  I was able to venture out of the camper some.  I gave her a walkie talkie for when she needed me and sat down to play Bananagrams.  It was so fun!  That's all I wanted to do.  And we played A LOT!  All day long.
Bananagrams, Chips Ahoy, and the great outdoors.  Life is good!
So, I'd play a few games, then Brinks would call and I would go hold her hair up while she threw up, then come back and play.  Finally, by late afternoon, Brinkley was holding stuff down and ventured out to lay on a cushion in the main camp, with the rest of us.

Beth and Mike, who were also out camp hosts this year, might I add, were in charge of dinner, which was super-yummy fajitas.  I really wish I'd have been feeling at 100%, because I wanted to eat about 4 of them, but since my stomach was still tender, I just ate 1.  What a waste!

After dinner, we continued with Wharton Wars, Minute to Win It.  Last night we didn't give out any prizes, so tonight we pulled out prizes and let those who had won last night choose (Kevin said the prize tables looked like a Dollar Store that had exploded), then we started playing.

Unfortunately, Mom and Dad weren't here tonight, so we had to find new Minute to Win It Hosts.  The adult Hymas girls took over and thanks to Mom's fine tutelage, did a very good job!
Mama Hymas (Dawn)

And Daughter Hymas (Amber)
Landon, doing the Elephant March

Shelbie's version.

Uh - if you don't like my panthose, bring your own next time!

Brinkley, with her Junk in the Trunk

Lily, getting her groove on.
Games we played tonight were Junk in the Trunk, Elephant March, Wetball, Defying Gravity, and Shoe Fly Shoe.  Brinkley even got in on the fun for a few minutes with Junk in the Trunk, then got really sick again and had to have a team member stand in for her.  Poor girl.  I think everyone had a good time.  I need to take a survey to see which was the favorite, regular Wharton Wars, or Minute to Win It Style.

Poor Brinks went to bed as soon it was all over, but the rest of us stayed up and played Bananagrams.  I felt bad because Dawn was pretty well sick of it by now and if we were a nice family, we would have stopped and played something else, but we just COULDN'T and so we just DIDN'T.  We're bad!  She sat and watched us for a while, and then finally went to bed.

The highlight of Lily's evening was getting to stay up until midnight, and then having Kev take her on a midnight stroll around the campground.  Of course, she will be exhausted tomorrow, but hopefully not sick . . .




Friday, August 5, 2011

Day 2

It became a running joke at camp that when we woke in the morning we wondered who would be hit next by the Germ Worms.  My teenage nieces started singing, "Another one bites the dust!"  Each day we expected it to be Carvel.  He was, after all, sleeping in the same bed and camper as the other sickies, and we couldn't imagine that any amount of Lysol would kill all those germs.  Of course later, we also found out that he was downing Airborn, and that was his secret weapon.  Well, looking back, I'm thinking that it would have been nice if he'd have shared his secret weapon with the rest of us.

By Friday morning, the whole Hymas clan were basically healthy.  Dawn and Emilee were up and about, and thankfully Hadlee had only had it a few hours and was fine by Friday morning too.  Unfortunately, that didn't mean it had passed.  It was still running rampant through the campsite, and had just jumped campers.  As I was beginning to wake on Friday morning I felt good, still wrapped in the sleepiness of dream land.  Then, I rolled over.  That one little movement was all it took to send my stomach swimming.  I got up and headed up to the bathroom praying that I was fine and was just imagining the rumble in my stomach.  By the time I got back to our camper, I was pretty sure that I wasn't.  I grabbed a big ziplock baggie (the thing Emilee had said she was using to throw up in) and climbed back in bed.  Kev was waking by now and rolled over to give me a hug.  He heard the rumple of the ziplock and said, "What is that?" and looked down.  You should have seen his face.  His eyes got big as saucers, he flew back against his side of the bed and said, "Are you sick?!!"  If circumstances were different, it might have been funny.  I told him that I thought I was fine, but was just taking precautions.  As the morning wore on though, I knew I was not fine.  Breakfast was made, bacon and french toast (my favorite) and I didn't move from bed.  My mom showed up and they started playing Bananagrams, and still I layed there, steadily feeling worse.

They came to visit at one point with words of encouragement like, "Don't worry, it only lasts 24 hours," and "Compassionate service just doesn't pay."  Kevin left with the other boys to go shooting and I lay there feeling like death.  I was apparently running a fever, which none of the rest of the sickies had had.  That just doubled my pain and suffering.  Finally, I realized that I was and took IBUprofin, which helped a lot, because I had been miserable.  I told Beth that she needed to call Kevin home because when I died, I wanted him to be the one to tell the girls.  I know that was dramatic, but it was miserable.  And I felt so sorry for myself.  I could hear Mom, Beth and Dawn out at the picnic table hoopin and hollering and having a gay old time.  At one point Brinkley got hurt and I couldn't even help her because Kevin had quarantined me.  It was a bad day!

Finally about 3pm I ventured out and sat for a few minutes, then everyone went to the lake and I went back and took a nap.  At 5pm I came back out and was much improved.  Dawn made lasagna for dinner and I ate a little.  My mom had been there all day, and my dad showed up at about dinner time to visit for a couple of hours.  Thursday is the night we usually do Wharton Wars, but since Emilee was sick I held off and promised we'd do it Friday.  Well then of course Friday  I was sick, but I decided that maybe we could do a few Wharton Wars activities that night, and I'd do the rest on Saturday.  This year we were doing Wharton Wars Minute to Win-It style.  My mom is a huge fan of the show and I figured she could help, and would also get a big kick out of watching the kids.  I had the poster made, so I split the kids into teams, gave them their colored bandannas and told them to start strategizing.



Landon, Jakey, Lily - Ready for action!

The games we did tonight were Bite Me, Rapid Fire, Dizzy Mummy, Chocolate Uniforn, A Bit Dicey, and Suck It Up.  My mom was the host, and she was the bomb!!



Bite It - Kev and Amber weren't even part of the teams, but after the kids did it
first my mom and Dawn had to try it (that's what I needed a picture of),
then Amber and Kevin.

Holy crow!  Really?

Dizzy Mummy

Chocolate Unicorn
After the Minute to Win It Games I was finally able to play a few games of Banagrams with my mom.  By then, I was totally wasted and I headed to bed pretty early praying that no one else would wake up with the Germ Worms tomorrow.


Thursday, August 4, 2011

Barry's Marinaded Chicken

I didn't take a picture, but wanted to post the recipe for Barry's Marinaded Chicken.  I call it this because I got the recipe from Dr. Barry, a dentist that I used to work for.  His wife made it for a work event and it was really yummy!

Barry's Marinaded Chicken
Makes 5 lbs Chicken

1 c. oil
1 c. soy sauce
1 1/2 t. horseradish
1 1/2 t. garlic powder
1 c. 7-Up
5 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts

Combine first five ingredients. Add chicken. Marinade at least 24 hours.  BBQ or bake chicken that you need. Freeze the rest in serving size packages for later use.


Day 1

Though the weather channel called for rain Wednesday night and Thursday, we didn't get any Wednedsay and woke on Thursday to beautiful blue skies.  I was in charge of meals today, so as soon as I got up, I started cooking.  For breakfast we were having ham, scrambled eggs with cheese, and fried scones with honey, jam, powdered sugar.  I quickly learned however, that not everyone would be joining us for breakfast.  During the night, the germ worms had infested my sister Dawn, and her daughter Emilee (16) and they were down for the count.  Jacob and Shelbie seemed almost fully recovered though, which was nice for them.

Back to breakfast - usually I make my scone dough, but since we were were camping, I tried a box mix.  It was Honeyville Scone Mix, and can I just say, it was really good.  It was easy to prepare and the dough cooked up just beautifully.  I would totally recommend them.  Everyone thought they were yummo!

This was a pretty lazy day.  I cleaned up from breakfast, then setup the craft that I'd brought for the kids, which were picture frames they could decorate.  Kev and Beth's husband Mike started doing some tinker job on our truck/camper.  Carvel, the sickos husband/father, headed into town to hit the Walmart, where he loaded up on Pepto Bismal, Lysol Spray and Wipes, and apparently Airborn for himself.

Day 1 Crafts - Picture Frames
Landon, Brinkley, Jacob, Lily, Kylie, Emilee, Shelbie
After crafts, the kids headed off to play.  The younger ones decided to have an Airsoft War, which was fun to watch.  The looked like Mercenaries hunting each other down.  They had a lot of fun.
Jacob, Brinkley, Dillon, Lily and Landon

Freeze Suckas!!!
After lunch we went to the lake where some fished, some swam, and some just sunned themselves.  A new addition to our campout this year was my niece Amber's baby Hadlee, who was 9 months old.  She was yummy sweet and a real treat.  Amber's husband couldn't get off work to come and we sure appreciated him letting his girls join us.

The brave ones - Brinkley, Shelbie, Lily and Beth.

Amber and Hadlee - Sun Goddesses.

I'd been dying to play a new game that my sister brought up, Banagrams, so after the lake we got cleaned up and were getting ready to play when little Miss Hadlee started throwing up.  Oh crap!!  She'd caught the Germ Worms.  Well, up until this point, I had pretty much stayed away from my sick sister's camper, but before I even thought, I started helping clean up.  I was washing hands and sanitizing like crazy, but Kev was still saying, "Oh, you shouldn't be doing that.  You're going to get sick."  Oh why does he always have to be right?

 I was cooking dinner too, and by the time we got Hadlee all cleaned up, it was time to get started.  We were having Barry's Marinaded Chicken, a Bowtie Pasta Salad, that I was really excited about trying, but it ended up kind of sucking, Zucchini and French Bread.  Today's sickies, Dawn and Emilee were starting to venture out and did have some french bread at dinner.  And FINALLY at about 9:30pm, Beth and I sat down and played our first game of Bananagrams, and it CHANGED MY LIFE.  OK, not literally, but it was one of the most fun games I'd ever played.  I LOVED it!  We played for about an hour, then headed to bed.  I was really excited about getting up in the morning to play again.  Mom was coming up to stay for the day, and I knew she'd LOVE the game and play with me all day.  Little did I know, but the Germ Worms had other plans . . .

Brinkley wanted feathers, and my Hair Dress Extraodinaire niece, Amber
agreed to do them.  Several of us ended up getting them, but Brinkley was the most excited.

Later, before bed, Brinkley, "I can't believe we got these for FREE."
Thanks Amber!