Here's Jamie sharing one of his last bottles with his best friend Rico.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Best friends
We recently stopped giving Jamie bottles. He's a big boy now and he can drink from a sippy cup. Actually truth be told, he figured out how to take the top of the bottles off and pours the milk out on the floor so we said enough is enough.
Here's Jamie sharing one of his last bottles with his best friend Rico.
Here's Jamie sharing one of his last bottles with his best friend Rico.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Another Camping Trip
Last weekend we went to Blue Knob State Park in western PA. It was pretty darn cold and probably the last camping trip for the season. We drove up early Friday and almost immediately built a fire. The site we stayed at had an electrical outlet. We were fairly clever and brought a space heater to keep the tent warm. Yeah, that's cheating I know, but hey the tent stayed a cozy 45 or 50 degrees inside instead of 20...
Most of the weekend was spent trying to keep mittens on Jamie with little success.
Saturday we got a late start and went for a really short hike. Jamie wasn't much into hiking in the backpack so he got out and walked. That means we didn't cover much ground. After our short morning hike, we headed back to the campground and cooked up a quick lunch and when Jamie went down for his nap, I took off and met some friends for a bike ride. The mountain has 1500 ft of vertical elevation change so we drove to the top and rode down and had someone meet us at the bottom to pick us back up. The trails were great, really fast, and not to rough. Nice relaxing riding (at high speeds). After a few trips down the mountain, I headed back to camp to give Christine a turn.
We got out the map and plotted a route that we both thought she could handle, maybe 5 or 6 miles of mostly flat trail with one good gradual climb to the top of the mountain and about 2-3 miles of road for the return trip. She left the campsite around 4:30 with an estimated return time of 6pm. Jamie and I hung out and played on the campsite playground and gathered more firewood, built a fire, had a snack, played with blocks in the tent and generally tried to stay warmish.
6 rolled around and still no Christine. 6:15, 6:30 still no Christine. Keep in mind that the sun went down around 6:15 but doesn't get real dark until 7:00 so I'm starting to panic a bit. We jumped in the car and drove to the top of the mountain to see if she was anywhere to be found. Nope. Now of course lots of things could happen while riding a mountain bike, a flat or other mechanical malfunction, a wreck, an encounter with a hungry bear, God knows... So after I didn't find her, I went back to the campsite and alerted the camp manager that we might have a missing camper. Since it was so close to dark, he went racing off looking for a ranger. This was right at real dark. Meanwhile Jamie and I had to stay put (and keep the campfire burning.) Right around 7:15 Christine rolled up looking real tired and cold. Turns out she was never lost, exactly, but she did take a wrong turn on the top of the mountain that took her about 3 miles out of her way (then 3 miles back up the mountain). To top if off her water bottle had fallen off who knows where so the entire ride was waterless. So we called off the search party and had dinner and a glass of wine (or two) and called it a night. Whew!
Our lovely campsite:
Most of the weekend was spent trying to keep mittens on Jamie with little success.
Saturday we got a late start and went for a really short hike. Jamie wasn't much into hiking in the backpack so he got out and walked. That means we didn't cover much ground. After our short morning hike, we headed back to the campground and cooked up a quick lunch and when Jamie went down for his nap, I took off and met some friends for a bike ride. The mountain has 1500 ft of vertical elevation change so we drove to the top and rode down and had someone meet us at the bottom to pick us back up. The trails were great, really fast, and not to rough. Nice relaxing riding (at high speeds). After a few trips down the mountain, I headed back to camp to give Christine a turn.
We got out the map and plotted a route that we both thought she could handle, maybe 5 or 6 miles of mostly flat trail with one good gradual climb to the top of the mountain and about 2-3 miles of road for the return trip. She left the campsite around 4:30 with an estimated return time of 6pm. Jamie and I hung out and played on the campsite playground and gathered more firewood, built a fire, had a snack, played with blocks in the tent and generally tried to stay warmish.
6 rolled around and still no Christine. 6:15, 6:30 still no Christine. Keep in mind that the sun went down around 6:15 but doesn't get real dark until 7:00 so I'm starting to panic a bit. We jumped in the car and drove to the top of the mountain to see if she was anywhere to be found. Nope. Now of course lots of things could happen while riding a mountain bike, a flat or other mechanical malfunction, a wreck, an encounter with a hungry bear, God knows... So after I didn't find her, I went back to the campsite and alerted the camp manager that we might have a missing camper. Since it was so close to dark, he went racing off looking for a ranger. This was right at real dark. Meanwhile Jamie and I had to stay put (and keep the campfire burning.) Right around 7:15 Christine rolled up looking real tired and cold. Turns out she was never lost, exactly, but she did take a wrong turn on the top of the mountain that took her about 3 miles out of her way (then 3 miles back up the mountain). To top if off her water bottle had fallen off who knows where so the entire ride was waterless. So we called off the search party and had dinner and a glass of wine (or two) and called it a night. Whew!
Our lovely campsite:
Friday, September 19, 2008
Vacation! Deep Creek Lake
Yea! We finally got to take a vacation. Better late than never as they say and for the most part that held true in this case. We loaded up the truck and headed to Deep Creek Lake State Park where we had rented a yurt for the week. The yurt was tucked away at the back of the campground, away from all the other campsites, nice and private. (Turns out this didn't really matter, because it rained and 70% of the camper reservations canceled).
The Yurt:
The yurt is set up with a full-size bed, a pair of bunk beds, and a nice large table and chairs. There is electricity, but no running water or cooking space. All the cooking takes place outside on the fire or the camp-stove. So it's like camping but with the comfort of a bed.
Christine enjoying our bed:
We managed to get there early enough in the day to take a nice little hike around the lake front and headed back to camp to whip up my famous chicken potpies in the dutch oven.
Old photo of my famous chicken potpie:
The next day we took hike around the perimeter of the park. It was kind of a mellow hike, one good climb and lots of fireroad. It's maybe 5 miles long. After naptime we loaded up the boy in the bike trailer and headed down to the beach. Originally we had planned on coming in July when it would be warm, but this didn't work out. We had to settle for September. When we arrived at the beach it was maybe 70° outside.
That did not deter the boy from playing in the water though...
Or the sand:
Or the water:
Later we went out for ice cream:
We grilled a steak for dinner and had hobo vegetables on the side with s'mores for desert.
That night around 5 am it started raining and didn't stop for 2 days. The first day we tried to go outside for a hike at the Cranesville Sub-artic Swamp. It cleared up so we made a go of it. Of course it started pouring as we reached the furthest point on the trail from the car. Needless to say we got kind of wet. Jamie was a good sport of it and didn't complain a bit.
Back at the yurt, things were different:
He complained quite a bit about being cooped up inside. The next day was a little better, even though it still rained off and on, it warmed up and being wet didn't seem so bad. We got up first thing and went and rented a kayak for Christine. She paddled from the rental place back to the park (2 or 3 miles) exploring all the little coves along the way.
Leaving from the rental place:
Bye Bye:
After she got back, I took off for a bike ride. Things were a little on the sloppy side but the trails were mostly gravel and rock so it wasn't as muddy as it could have been. I think I managed about 10 miles. When I got back, Christine went for another paddle. Then we went out for Pizza. Jamie now knows what pizza is so when we said we were going to get it he got really excited and then really mad because he doesn't understand that "going to get it" means that you have to wait a little while before you can have it. Toddlers only know the meaning of NOW!
Speaking of toddler stuff, there was a little short trail right behind the yurt and all that boy wanted to do was hike. He would go and find our hiking pole and announce "I'm hiking" then take off. It was cute but got to be a little tiring chasing after him every 5 minutes. He doesn't come back or answer when you call. It's kind of unnerving.
Hiking with Dad:
Admiring a daisy:
Well that's pretty much it. We packed up the next day and hung out at the beach until lunch, when we fired up the camp stove and reheated the leftover p-i-z-z-a (don't you dare say pizza with in earshot of the boy unless you have a slice to give him, I'm warning you!).
All-in-all, it was good to get away. Deep Creek Lake is a nice place, it's kind of touristy and has that touristy feel and all the touristy type stuff to do. However, if you stay in the park, you can get away from the people if you want or if you choose to get ice-cream, or if you forget all your groceries on the kitchen counter (which we did) you can run out and get it.
The Yurt:
The yurt is set up with a full-size bed, a pair of bunk beds, and a nice large table and chairs. There is electricity, but no running water or cooking space. All the cooking takes place outside on the fire or the camp-stove. So it's like camping but with the comfort of a bed.
Christine enjoying our bed:
We managed to get there early enough in the day to take a nice little hike around the lake front and headed back to camp to whip up my famous chicken potpies in the dutch oven.
Old photo of my famous chicken potpie:
The next day we took hike around the perimeter of the park. It was kind of a mellow hike, one good climb and lots of fireroad. It's maybe 5 miles long. After naptime we loaded up the boy in the bike trailer and headed down to the beach. Originally we had planned on coming in July when it would be warm, but this didn't work out. We had to settle for September. When we arrived at the beach it was maybe 70° outside.
That did not deter the boy from playing in the water though...
Or the sand:
Or the water:
Later we went out for ice cream:
We grilled a steak for dinner and had hobo vegetables on the side with s'mores for desert.
That night around 5 am it started raining and didn't stop for 2 days. The first day we tried to go outside for a hike at the Cranesville Sub-artic Swamp. It cleared up so we made a go of it. Of course it started pouring as we reached the furthest point on the trail from the car. Needless to say we got kind of wet. Jamie was a good sport of it and didn't complain a bit.
Back at the yurt, things were different:
He complained quite a bit about being cooped up inside. The next day was a little better, even though it still rained off and on, it warmed up and being wet didn't seem so bad. We got up first thing and went and rented a kayak for Christine. She paddled from the rental place back to the park (2 or 3 miles) exploring all the little coves along the way.
Leaving from the rental place:
Bye Bye:
After she got back, I took off for a bike ride. Things were a little on the sloppy side but the trails were mostly gravel and rock so it wasn't as muddy as it could have been. I think I managed about 10 miles. When I got back, Christine went for another paddle. Then we went out for Pizza. Jamie now knows what pizza is so when we said we were going to get it he got really excited and then really mad because he doesn't understand that "going to get it" means that you have to wait a little while before you can have it. Toddlers only know the meaning of NOW!
Speaking of toddler stuff, there was a little short trail right behind the yurt and all that boy wanted to do was hike. He would go and find our hiking pole and announce "I'm hiking" then take off. It was cute but got to be a little tiring chasing after him every 5 minutes. He doesn't come back or answer when you call. It's kind of unnerving.
Hiking with Dad:
Admiring a daisy:
Well that's pretty much it. We packed up the next day and hung out at the beach until lunch, when we fired up the camp stove and reheated the leftover p-i-z-z-a (don't you dare say pizza with in earshot of the boy unless you have a slice to give him, I'm warning you!).
All-in-all, it was good to get away. Deep Creek Lake is a nice place, it's kind of touristy and has that touristy feel and all the touristy type stuff to do. However, if you stay in the park, you can get away from the people if you want or if you choose to get ice-cream, or if you forget all your groceries on the kitchen counter (which we did) you can run out and get it.
Update time.
I haven't stopped taking pictures. Seriously. But it has been one busy summer... So here's a few semi-recent to recent photos of the boy and life in general for your viewing pleasure.
1. Yet another of Mom's great projects. I was cussing my Mom when she sent this thing to us. It's huge, and came with exactly 1 million and 1 pieces, but once it was up we really started to enjoy it. May I present the Gazebo:
2. The baby bacchanal rights of summer. (Disclaimer: no grapes were smashed during the filming of this project)
3. Shovel's a little big for that sandbox don't ya think boy?
4. I'm pretty
5. I'm not pretty
6. This wagon is too small
1. Yet another of Mom's great projects. I was cussing my Mom when she sent this thing to us. It's huge, and came with exactly 1 million and 1 pieces, but once it was up we really started to enjoy it. May I present the Gazebo:
2. The baby bacchanal rights of summer. (Disclaimer: no grapes were smashed during the filming of this project)
3. Shovel's a little big for that sandbox don't ya think boy?
4. I'm pretty
5. I'm not pretty
6. This wagon is too small
Friday, July 11, 2008
Sandy Point State Park
Well with the real beach being 2.5 hrs away, gas being so dang expensive, and with Jamie hating riding in cars, we decided to try the next best thing, Sandy Point State Park. It's in the shadow of the Bay Bridge and practically in our back yard so why not? Turns out it was a great place for a first trip to the beach. The waves at a whopping 12" high were pretty much perfect for a little guy! He loved it.
First he tested the waters:
Then, completely fearless, he marched right in! The waves were just big enough to knock him over but he didn't mind in the least. He'd just crawl out and then go right back in again.
Splash!
Momma got in on the act too! I think that wave may have taken her by surprise.
They even took a stroll down the beach together. (all together now, say Awwwwww!)
I took him out a little deeper and tried to get him to kick his legs a bit (and to wash the sand out of his pants). There's the bridge in the background.
First he tested the waters:
Then, completely fearless, he marched right in! The waves were just big enough to knock him over but he didn't mind in the least. He'd just crawl out and then go right back in again.
Splash!
Momma got in on the act too! I think that wave may have taken her by surprise.
They even took a stroll down the beach together. (all together now, say Awwwwww!)
I took him out a little deeper and tried to get him to kick his legs a bit (and to wash the sand out of his pants). There's the bridge in the background.
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