Last Weekend: CranHill

 The kids and I went up Friday morning to CranHill.  We were camping with people from our church, but were kind of secluded.  There was one group up a nearby hill, one group in a field, and then us (and another family for a short while).  While I wish we had been closer, we were also in the shade and it made a huge difference.  Everyone else was complaining about the heat, but I was rather comfortable most of the time.  We did all have a fire together in the evenings though.  

We started getting set up only to realize there was no power on the site.  It didn't effect us much since we have no camping gear, but I had brought a fan and some extension cords.  Our neighbors were also surprised by this, so the documentation may have been a bit lacking.  After getting set up and having lunch, one of the first things we did was the AquaPark.  There was a slide and a dome in the middle of their lake.  It was actually run pretty nicely...you had about 20 minutes of play time before the next group came.  After that the kids played two games of chess.  Well, I coached Joshua a lot.  They each won one, but the first game was a good amount of time and the second game was rather long.

There was also this crazy sand hill near our campsite.  The kids didn't play in it a ton, but it was played in enough to be a nice diversion.

After a poor night sleep, Saturday morning was activity morning.  (There was a dog next to us that barked every 15 minutes for what felt like an hour between 12-1am.) We did it all!  But first we started with a breakfast of champions.

It started with rock climbing.  Isaac got the bell on the hardest course.  It was funny to watch him take breaks, because half the time one of his feet would be higher than his waist.

Joshua enjoyed it too, although he often stopped when he felt he was getting too high.

Next up, pony rides for Joshua and then a zip line for Isaac.  (Unpictured because it was too high)

Ben showed up at that point and we did slingshots.  There were some cool metal things to aim at, so there was a nice ding if you hit them.  Joshua was a bit too weak for them, but if I helped we could hit something about 20% of the time.

We rested after lunch but realized it was rather hot out, so we went to get ice cream.  The ice cream store had a/c, and we cooled off in there.  There was a game room nearby too (still with a/c), so we played some carpet ball.  By that time it was late afternoon and still hot, but we had reset.  The kids wanted to do the aqua park again, so we did that.

There was a wagon ride and we left the kids sit by the fire until it was dark.

After a good nights' sleep with no rain (phew) we packed up Sunday morning.  I was on the fence...do we stay for the church service or just go home?  We started with a small orienteering course which only used the four cardinal directions.  Then we had about an hour before the service, so I asked the boys what they wanted to do.  The weather was beautiful, so they elected to stay.  They played another game of chess, we went to the service (Joshua was so tired), and then we went home.  It was another lovely trip.

Thursday: games

Isaac and I played Dominion.  He tried to make a boring game (without +action, +cards, and few +buys).  It turned out pretty fun and we both had huge decks at the end.

We also recently played a recommended set-up and managed to get the platinums (the highest currency) down to a cost of zero and then Isaac bought a whole bunch at once.  He probably was able to get about 6-8, but there weren't that many left in the pile so we didn't actually count to see how many he could get.  It was a really fun game too.

Wednesday: empty day

Surprisingly, nothing was on the calendar for today.  After asking the boys what they wanted to do, and rejecting/retiming a few of the suggestions, we settled on mini golf.  Since mini golf is right next to ice cream, we of course did that too.

I had them recreate an old picture.  The old one is from 2019...they've changed a lot in three years!!

Nostalgia: cran hill

 We went camping at Cran Hill this weekend with church.  I had gone one other time when I was about five.  I don't remember it other than the pictures, but I had a pony ride with Mom leading the horse just like I did with Joshua.  I think a lot has changed at the camp, but a few things still looked the same.

Wednesday: blueberries and movie

We went to pick blueberries this morning.  It was a beautiful day to do this; it was cloudy with a wind.  Furthermore, there were so many blueberries on the bushes!  We filled up our buckets within about twenty feet.

We went to see Rise of Gru with Cheryl.  It was pretty funny...the boys giggled a ton and even Cheryl and I laughed aloud several times.

Basement freezer

I had to go down to the basement freezer/fridge about 10 times while making dinner tonight.  (Ok, it wasn't that bad, but it was significantly more than normal.)  Anyway, Tornado was in his perch.  He makes me pet him every time I pass, so there were a lot of pets.

I think it's a comfy place because the box sags down just a bit in the middle and if he moves he can turn on the automatic light.  I don't think he turns it on every time it goes off, but once in a while I'll hear it click when I know there are no humans in the bathroom.

Sunday: life

Isaac got a new mattress.  He probably should have gotten one quite a while ago.  Horizon sat right down on the old mattress and wouldn't move, even as the children were jumping all around him.  I was a bit surprised, actually.  (And it isn't one of those fancy movement isolation mattresses.  It was just a cheap one from a box store.)

We played a game throughout the day.  Everyone wears masks though since I am still in my 10 day COVID window.  It is the compromise that we've come up with to still do stuff together while trying to stay safe.