The past weekend involved more running away from my garden! Sailor/Farmer/Husband had to leave yesterday for another month of training in preparation for the big deployment this fall, so we decided to go camping prior to his leaving. This is the first time I have attempted a no-plan trip with kids in tow, so it was challenging, but the kids were that much more excited. I decided Thursday morning we would go to Cape Hatteras, NC which is about a 3 hour drive from us. By noon I had the grocery shopping done and was packing the car. When Charlie woke up that afternoon (he works night shift at the squadron) I told him "just get in the car", we're leaving! It was fun, but much different than our trips before kids! I know eventually they will become more self-sufficient and I won't have to micro manage them around the water, etc and will be able to actually relax! Here are some pics of the weekend:
A rare photo of the two of us! I gave my 6 year old the camera and he actually did it! No pictures of a foot, the ground, etc :)
Charlie fishing the Pamlico Sound at sunset
Clouds rolling in...we got 70 mph winds and sideways rain, no pics of the rain since we were in the tent busy bracing the poles! Some people who were absent actually returned to find their tents were completely gone!
Gotta love our Subarus! Gets us out onto the 4-wheel drive beach.
Kids fishing
Finn preparing a mess o'shrimp
Yum, fresh local shrimp!
Cape Hatteras Light
Lunch on Ocracoke Island
Marley & Sprocket love the dog-friendly Jolly Roger Pub in Ocracoke
Finnegan & Daddy
Of course when we returned, there was a harvest. We actually had a few heirlooms ready, although they look terrible! (You should see the ones that didn't make it into the picture, lol!) Finally a few french beans, and ugh...another 100 jalapenos. I really need to find a happy medium between not growing enough of something and holy crap, why do I need 1000 jalapenos?!!! Actually, I knew better when I planted them, but since I started them from seed and wasn't able to give all of them away, I planted them like a moron...it seems like I look at the seedlings as if they were pets...why couldn't I have just thrown a few seedlings into the compost pile? Anyone else have this problem? I didn't have a problem throwing the tobacco hornworms in the trash, that's for sure!
WOW! What an incredible harvest and an even more impressive vacation. You guys look like you had so much fun. I know it's got to be so difficult to have the man gone for stretches at a time, but I think you guys cherish the time you have together more than the lot of us whose men are here day in and day out. Y'all's picture is priceless.
ReplyDeleteWhat fun to see all the gorgeous pictures . . . including the one of you and hubby. (Your son may have a future in photography!)
ReplyDeleteWhadda harvest! I'm exactly the same as you are in regards to not being able to toss any plants that I've started from seed. Why is that? The nuturing/mother instinct? We just end up stressing ourselves trying to "use" the too-much harvest or dumping it from desperation. Silly, huh?
Great to see your update.
Lol, I totally get the rare couple picture, I don't know if you saw, but I posted one of hubby and I recently. Funny how those things become such a delight isn't it?
ReplyDeleteI love how you can take your dogs everywhere with you, they must be very well behaved!
Looks like you had a great time camping, crazy weather you had though, YIKES!! I have always liked the Subaru but hubby refuses to even look at them. Even with the storage on top I am wondering how you fit kids, dogs, and gear in there?!?
Peppers, I think my jalepenos are ready to be picked, but have no experience here.....any size? Pick while green? (Not even positive they are my jalepenos at this point, all tags were removed by little fingers)
Kelly, don't get me started on the Subarus! Absolutely LOVE them. I will not own anything else. Our family has had 4 if you count the little Justy's my husband & I had before we became "a family"! It is not unusual to have over 200k miles on them, and they always start even in the MN cold! As for the Outback, they are a little more comfortable in the backseat area, drive like a little sportscar (manual tranny of course), but nothing beats the Forester for cargo capacity in the back. We have both, lol...a '98 Forester and the Outback. And the AWD is awesome, gets us through the deep sand at the beach and snow back home. We haul most of our gear up top (cargo carrier & kayaks or bikes) on long trips and we all fit with the dogs in the back. I had a minivan for about 2 years but traded it back in for the Outback. I get 30+ mpg even fully loaded with gear on the top...need I say more? LOL, those Subaru Love commercials could be our family easy! :)
ReplyDeleteGorgeous photos -- thanks for sharing! And BTW, I'm totally impressed at how well behaved your dogs are. We have a 1-1/2 year old Aussie and while he's great at home he's still got so much puppy in him when we take him anywhere. Maybe the key is having two Aussies??
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