Child Boot Camp

Where has the summer gone? It was so hot the past few months it has put my big plan on hold:

Child Boot Camp!

Hubby and I have been longing for years to be able to do some of the things we enjoyed before kids, with the kids - namely backpacking, hiking, canoeing, etc. Of course we got the backpack to carry the kids in for a hike, but then who carries the gear? Then, they were too old to ride in the backpack, still too young to carry their own. This brings us to now: they are 7 & 5 years old and it is time they gear up and get their hike on and see if they can hold their own.

I took the kids out to the wildlife refuge here for a hike this weekend to see how they would do. It was a nice breezy 85º, got the sunblock and bugspray on and headed out. At this point all I want them to be able to do is carry their own water and maintain a relatively decent pace. Loch really has no issues, he's becoming a real carbon-copy of his daddy and was eager to get started and in addition to his Camelbak, he carried the binoculars, cell phone, first aid kit, sunblock and bug spray inside his pack. Unfortunately, my battery in the real camera died and all I had was the crappy iPhone camera along, but it's better than nothing.

Map of Back Bay Wildlife Refuge, we are very lucky to have this ecosystem in our own backyard to explore, I just wish it was cooler this summer!

Finn as ready as he'll ever be leaving the parking lot.

Through the salt marshes, kids learning all about watching for snakes, we saw tons of beautiful wildlife along the way: turtles, osprey, blue herons and lots of seabirds

Is there nowhere to escape this? See that flag in the sky? It's a GEICO banner headed to the resort strip - ugh - we're trying to commune with nature here, people! Tourists go HOME already!

The dunes are in sight

Up and down, a good test of their stamina

Finn lagging way behind... I told Loch he was a real outdoorsman, to which Finn replied "well, I'm an INDOORSman"!

Almost there!

They made it to the beach! Now they have to hike all the way back...

Congrats, boys - 3 miles total!

Finn not looking very happy afterwards. In my defense, he looked like this 100 yards into the hike, and I had just splashed him with some cool water!

Loch wants to know when we can go again, I think next time we will take the bikes and they can bike the refuge gravel road, maybe Finn will like that better :)

Today's harvest was a small one, but that's okay with me as I really want to spend the end of summer having a little more fun with the boys. Note to self: me & Loch's version of fun is not jiving with Finnegans!

Of Bathrooms: Indoors & Out!

Hubby got home last night and I got my camera back! Here's the new bath!

My new sink rocks! Makes me want to floss more. My husband laughed when I put up the extendable shaving mirror... I have always wanted one of those, don't really know why, they are just cool...

He also returned with some photos on the camera from his "guys only" weekend:

This is where they left my car... you should have seen it when he pulled back in the driveway last night, it's caked with mud.

The cabin they hiked into, 3 hour hike through the snow to get there from where the car was parked. It's owned by the Appalachian Trail Club, who does maintenance on the primitive shelters and trails in the area. Although this had no heat and an outhouse, this is definitely not one of the primitive ones! It had a fireplace and wood cookstove inside to provide a little heat.

Sailor/Father/Husband

I know there are alot of outhouse art fans out there, this one is photogenic! I may enlarge it and frame it for my new bathroom!

View from the outhouse/privvy

Roaring fire, was 20 degrees in the stone house/cabin!

He was wrecked when he got back last night, lasted long enough to strew backpacking gear and dirty laundry around the house and mess up my bathroom, then fell asleep!

So now it's back to catching up on the garden stuff, namely, my next seed sowing! I have been neglecting that the past week with the remodeling but will dive back into it tomorrow morning.