Hiking, Fishing, and Kayaking

Last summer my husband and I talked about wanting to camp and never made it a priority.  This year has been different.  I have a planner in which I write down all our activities and therefore, we plan camping trips.  The kids will only be little for a short time and family time is important to us.  So here is a little rundown on this 2-night camping adventure.  Enjoy!

 

It all started on a Friday morning.  We drove to a nearby state park and found a nice shady campsite to set up our tent…it was the only shady site that was near the water.  We wanted to be by the lake so we could easily carry our kayaks and/or fishing gear to the water’s edge.  The bathrooms were also nearby which is always a plus with kids. 

 

We hiked and found some natural springs fully equipped with water falls and one in particular had thousands upon thousands of shells for the kids to dig through.  They found the biggest shells and brought them back to camp. 

We swam in the clear spring water which was very refreshing to say the least.  The water was very cold but made it all the more fun to see who could brave the water.  The kids squealed with joy as my husband and I took the plunge.  We try to be fun parents and if that means swimming with the kids in the freezing cold water then that’s what we do!

This was the first time the kids went fishing.  They enjoyed the experience even though only the youngest caught anything (3 perch).  My husband did a great job keeping everyone going with worms and bobbers.  By the end of the 3 days they were casting by themselves and then reeling in so they could do it all again.  Watching the bobbers was not exactly fun to them…they wanted action!

Kayaking proved to be an adventure as we tried taking our dog out on the water for the first time.  My husband took both boys on his kayak (one in front and the other behind him).  Our daughter sat behind me in my kayak and our dog (a Border Collie/Jack Russell mix named Pepper) stood at the front.  All was well until she shifted to the right, moving her feet to the side of the kayak.  Over she went.  I pulled her up by the leash and thought for sure we were going to end up in the water with her.  She managed to get back on the kayak without turning us over and proceeded to do the exact same thing again.  This time I made her sit between my legs so I could help her balance.  I don’t think she minded though.  She was pretty shaken up by the ordeal.  

These are the best pictures I could get given the situation.

Everyone slept as good as can be expected in a tent on the first night.  Our dog, however, kept us up the second night.  (By “us” I meant my husband and I…The kids slept through everything!)  Pepper wasn’t feeling too well and I ended up sitting outside the tent with her for a while at 2:30 AM.  The park ranger even spot-lighted me as I walked around the campsite and we had a nice little chat about what I was doing roaming the park in the middle of the night.  Thankfully, Pepper threw up as I stood there talking to him which validated my story.  So I ended up leaving her out on the chain and going back to bed.  Despite the lack of sleep we woke up the next morning refreshed and ready to go!

To add to the fun we also had some friends meet us there on Saturday.  One couple stayed and played until well after dark.  The other family stayed overnight.  We had a campfire and roasted marshmallows while the kids played with glow sticks.  Over all we had a great trip and would do it all again in a heartbeat.  In fact we already have our next camping trip written in the planner.  We love it!

My Take-Aways:

1. Camping provides time spent in the great outdoors with the people that mean the most to you.  It’s a win-win situation.
2. Every adventure gives opportunity for the kids to learn something new.  Whether about nature or learning a new skill, it’s important to teach them and help them become well rounded individuals.
3. Building relationships with friends is rewarding.  Find people that share the same interests and do life together!

The '34 Ford

We all have those special things in our life that remind us of someone.  Things that once belonged to a family member or special friend.  In our world, one of those things happens to be a 1934 Ford model BB that my husband’s grandpa used for hauling wheat.    In January of 2016 we bought it from his Granny in order to keep it in the family.  It was something my husband had always hoped for but never knew it would become a reality.  Oh, what an exciting day when we got to bring it home!

For a little over a year and a half, it sat unmovable.  Well, technically we could move it but it needed to be towed or pushed since it wouldn’t start.  My husband worked on everything he could to try to get it to fire but it wouldn’t.  He asked many people that were familiar with how to work on an old flathead V8 for help but the answers he kept getting were things he had already tried.  Recently my uncle came by and shared some helpful information about testing the points.  From there my husband swapped out parts from a spare distributor and put it all back together.  It worked!  The ’34 Ford started.  This was another exciting day!

Getting the Ford running has been a goal of our family for quite some time.  So, this past Sunday afternoon became a family affair.  My husband was working on installing the distributor (which from what he says is no easy task on this truck) and also had to fix a metal vacuum line that broke during the distributor installation process.  While he was doing all of this the kids and I were right there with him.  The truck sits under a lean-to we built onto the shop (just for the truck).  The boys climbed up on the bumper and fender to watch and learn.  I sat on a bucket for moral support and even helped with the pry bar when getting the belt tightened up.  Our daughter filled all our water jugs and brought them to us without any prompting which was a nice heartwarming surprise.  It’s days like this that I really try to step back an appreciate.  Family time is so precious…even if it revolves around getting an old truck running.

So we got it started right before we had to get cleaned up and head to church for the evening.  My husband had a grin from ear to ear for the rest of the day.  After church the first thing the kids asked was if we could take the Ford for a test drive.  You know that’s exactly what my husband wanted to do so we made it happen!  He pulled it out and took it for a short spin around the yard.  It runs pretty smooth!  It even keeps the mosquitoes away with all the smoke!  Haha!

My Take-Aways:

1. If given the opportunity, keep a family heirloom even if you have to buy it.
2. If something’s important to you, it’s probably going to be important to the kids.  They know what you are passionate about and they in turn get pretty excited too.  Our kids were jumping and cheering when my husband drove the truck around the yard.
3. Kids can be encouragers too.  There was one point when my husband was getting frustrated with the broken vacuum line and my oldest son just looked at him and simply said with a positive tone, “Just keep trying, Daddy!”  That alone motivated my husband more than anything else.  It’s exactly what we tell the kids when they are frustrated and now it came full circle.

A Splitting Good Time

 It’s finally done!  The project that we started at the end of April is complete!  We cut down a huge maple tree that we feared would end up on our house but the trunk of the tree remained in the front yard all summer long.  I’m proud to say that our curb appeal has improved a great deal over the weekend and we have a lot more firewood for the winter.

I happened to be gone (working) on Saturday but my husband and dad got to work splitting those huge stumps.  By the time I got home they were all done and we had a nice stack of wood.   

We are always grateful for the help we get from my dad and it is usually reciprocated.  This time it just so happened that my parents also needed to split wood and we happened to have a day off to help.  So Monday (Labor Day) we got to work on their firewood.  They had much more than we did but my mom and I were there to help which made it go a lot faster. 

We each had our own job to help things work efficiently.  My mom ran the lever on the hydraulic splitter, my husband sat in front of the machine keeping it fed with stumps and tossing them to the side for me to stack, and my dad heaved the heavy stumps to my husband’s side, ready to be split.   

Occasionally the kids would come help stack.  In fact, there was one instance where I moved back to take a picture of the kids helping, however, my youngest didn’t even get a chance because a worm of some sort latched onto his bare foot and sent him hopping and screaming.  Thankfully he was okay, just more scared than anything, but he was done helping and the other two didn’t want to take a chance.  They moved on to playing again and I went back to my post as stacker.

This made for a long day but it’s always good to spend time with family and accomplish goals.  It just makes you feel better to get a big project done and out of the way.  (There are always projects on the homestead!  That's what makes it so fun and fulfilling!)  We finished the day with charcoaled pork chops, baked potatoes, and roasted zucchini (from our garden).  It truly was a splitting good time!

My parents' firewood should get them through the winter.

My Take-Aways:

1. Families are there to help and support each other.  There are some tasks that require the help of others and some that don’t.  Either way, it’s always better spending time with people you love.
2. When kids are raised seeing their parents and grandparents work hard to accomplish things, they develop a good work ethic too.  This healthy environment creates the desire in them to help out even at a young age.  They get their hands dirty and have fun right alongside us.
3. A hydraulic splitter is handy to have around.  Over the years we have always had wood that needed splitting and it is worth the money to either rent or own your own splitter.  It sure beats using a maul or wedge and sledge hammer.