Tag Archives: beach

Birthdays, food preservation, Saving Money

Thriving in My Thrifty Week-Jan. 29, 2023

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Rob had a birthday this week. He wanted to drive down to the beach for the day to celebrate. We did that Friday, as we were working on his actual birthday. It rained a little, and the wind blew, but overall, it was gorgeous for a winter day at the beach.

Neither Papa or Malcolm cared at all if there was a little rain! Rob got Mac this super cute “fireman” rain coat at the Union Gospel Mission store for under $7. It seems like brand-new and kept him dry on this day. We took snacks and drinks, and Rob and Malcolm got chicken from a store and we all got French fries from a restaurant–I had a salad and Lovana had fish tacos. After we had gathered our food items from the various locations, we all had a blast eating our goodies and watching the ocean from a lookout point!

On the actual day of Rob’s birthday, I had some help with the cake. Malcolm and I made and frosted the cake. Jake supervised and consoled us, saying that Malcolm’s extra huge handful of mini chips there on the top looked just like a sideways heart and went with the cake just fine! We were trying to get the mini chips on the sides and the sprinkles on top, but such is life when you are two:). Most of this delicious cake is in the freezer, but we enjoyed it’s richness before I cut it up, layered it between waxed paper and froze the rest.

I experimented some more with my air fryer. I got it last Christmas and haven’t utilized it as much as I wish I had. This was parmesan chicken and was delicious with our home-canned pasta sauce and green beans. I used a fresh mozzarella log we got for 99c during our recent trip to the scratch and dent store, so it was affordable. Rob saw the same logs of cheese for around $7 elsewhere. This one was short dated, but I used it up right away.

I made egg flower soup twice. I slipped in some tofu for added protein. This is a new recipe to me and it was SO good. There was sesame oil, garlic powder, turmeric, seasoning salt and ginger in there, along with pepper. It was slightly thickened with cornstarch.

The first time, I used some chicken broth in a carton I had been given and the second time I used bone broth I boiled from some Costco chicken. I put in less egg the second time. I split the 99c tofu brick I got from the discount store and split one can of diced water chestnuts between the two batches. As I have previously mentioned, I am not a tofu fan, but Rob is. I have to say, I liked it in this soup. (I am not canning this. I just used a jar for storage in the fridge.)

I did can these, though.

We were blessed with more apples again this past week. It seems that no matter how fast we eat, we cannot use up all the good food we have been given this year. My sister had a large crop and generously shared. Rob’s sister works at an apple orchard each fall and gets free apples. Somehow, those apples keep ending up at our house over the past few months. Yum!

I decided to do some applesauce with some since they are still nice. Why wait until they aren’t to face the fact that we can’t eat them all fresh? So, I did 10 pints of applesauce Saturday. I picked out the worst looking ones to use up. It’s going to take off some stress during the canning rush next summer. Win-win! I also made a small batch of chunky applesauce this week we are eating fresh. Lovana made an apple crisp. Such a nice problem to have.

Last, but not least….I have a budding mechanic on my hands. He decided his lawn mower was broken and turned it over and proceeded to “fix” it with his toy hammer. This guy landscapes with his bubble mower, repairs equipment and works for applesauce. Now that’s the kind of help we all need!

camping, Saving Money

Thriving In My Thrifty Week–March 20, 2022

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We slipped away for a few days this past week to rest and spoil Patsy before she leaves for camp. We pulled the camper down to the Oregon Coast, at South Beach State Park, one of our favorite spots to camp. An added bonus this time is that it’s fairly close to home. We can get there in under 2 hours, even pulling, so even with the gas prices rising like crazy, we could still go.

It was not Oregon’s spring break, yet, so the campground was quite empty and peaceful. Pouring rain was promised and only happened during one night. We actually had quite mild, sometimes even sunny weather with a few sprinkles or mist at times. One day we did take a drive, but otherwise stayed close to the campground.

We spent quite a bit of time studying for the new Sunday school class we started teaching today. We get to take on the 5th graders. Because the curriculum is new to both of us, it needed some extra studying. We are team teaching so we split the lesson up and each of us took different parts to get illustrations, examples or little scripture cards ready or study more in depth. I’ve been helping in 3rd and 4th since Christmas and Rob’s been observing this class for 2 weeks, so that helped a lot. The class went well this morning, and each week we will have a better idea of how much time things take, which activities the kids like best, and so forth. I’m excited. It seems like we have a really nice group of kids to work with.

I did my own personal quilting retreat. Rob and Patsy went rock collecting on the beach a couple of times and I stayed back at the camper and sewed. I continued my project of sorting out old projects to see if I still had all the parts and pieces and using up scraps and pieces of fabric I’ve had on hand for a long time. I am happy to report I’ve organized yet another old project and am ready to sew on that one soon. I actually sewed on a baby quilt I’m working on that uses both scraps and fabric purchased in the past. I’m not fast, and I have a lot of old projects and fabric, so I’ll be at this for a long time.

We took walks on a trail that surrounds the campground, down on the beach, and around the campground. When we took our little drive, we walked a short distance on a trail near the town of Yachats. It runs along a rocky area of the coast. We want to go back another time and go much further as the area was beautiful, but Patsy had elected to stay in the van with the dog after Rob walked her, so we couldn’t go far. Patsy wasn’t in the mood for a hike right then and we didn’t want to just hike off and leave her in the van, so…..more to look forward to in the future.

The beachcombers were happy with their haul.

We cooked at the camper. These brand-new pans were part of a set Rob and I found on one of our walks in a “free” box alongside the road. They were much better than what we had in the camper, so we snagged them, popped them into the bottom of the stroller, and gratefully wheeled them home. Thankfully we had the baby along that day!

I felt very ill-prepared for this camping trip. Usually, I cook lots of food ahead, and all I have to do is warm it up. This time, I was too busy to get that done. We worked over 80 hours, plus babysitting and our normal life projects last week. We made out just fine in spite of it. I had to ride down to the beach with an almost-forgotten mayonnaise at my feet, and we had to loop around the block (with the camper of course) for another forgotten item, but we survived! I baked cheesy biscuits from a box. I warmed up canned chili. We used assorted crackers and chips, ate hot dogs and opened a can of pork and beans. I’m glad I always keep the camper well stocked with those kind of foods, and it’s good to use them up when the occasion arises. I emptied and took leftover food from our home fridge and we ate it the first day or so. I did get 4 potatoes baked to take and we fried them, or ate them with meals.

Part of the purpose of this trip was to spoil Patsy. So, we did Taco Bell one time, got French fries another time, and some candy another time. The beach-combing was something she loves and she got down there 2 or 3 times. We even got her a t-shirt. She also got to sleep in a lot, stay up late watching movies, and read books.

We saw the babies for hours the day before we left, and had no sooner got parked and unpacked when they showed up again Saturday afternoon. We saw them again today, so although we missed them while we were gone, we got our “baby fix” right away. Mac was a little mad at me for being gone, and I got the cold shoulder for a couple of minutes, but he soon got over it. So funny! We took him to church again this morning, and he’s loving the nursery so much now, it’s heartwarming to see.

Our camper is starting to show how much we have used it and we had a couple of things break on this trip. Although it was very annoying, we were so happy that Rob could get down on the ground to peer at the broken jack and could get up again! For you new readers, that sounds funny, but for years, before his total hip replacement, he never could have done that. We felt so blessed that he could do that and that between the two of us, we got the problem fixed enough to go home. I mean, you can’t drive around with a jack half up and half down. It involved bungee cords, an electric drill I ineptly ran, a long iron bar we got pulled out, and so forth. He was on the ground, peering up, calling out directions that I was just terrible at following, but we made it through and will make it to our 40th anniversary this fall, still happily married. That jack is completely broken and will be replaced, not a huge issue. The heater stopped working. He figures it may be a fuse and will fix it or get it fixed here at home. We just used a space heater when we felt cold, and were toasty warm.

We were talking the whole week about how 2 years ago he could not have gone down to the beach 3-4 times, walked along the trails, or any of those things. We are constantly grateful to God for His healing through this surgery.

I’m heading into a somewhat quiet week. I got a lot of rest at the beach. I slept in a lot, and even took a nap one day. Even with all that, I won’t argue if I get a little more rest after the hustle and bustle of getting Patsy off to camp. We’ll see how that works out for me:)

camping, Garden, Saving Money

Thriving In My Thrifty Week–September 15, 2021

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This past week, we went camping down at the coast. Although we have been doing homeschool for the past couple of weeks, this was our outdoor school. We did regular schoolwork with the kids in the mornings and then did fun, outdoor activities in the afternoons.

One day, I read a book about a silly, fantastic sand castle contest and then we went down to a beach and the kids built their own.

We read fall-themed books and decorated fall-shaped sugar cookies.

We read about sea creatures, then went to the Oregon Coast Aquarium.

Rob organized this project. He melted old candles he collected from friends and family and some shells from the Dollar Store to make sand candles. He took the kids to the beach to collect the sand, and got the wicks from Amazon.

I thought they looked great.

There were lots of trips to the playground at the campground, and many, many times where the kids rode their bikes and I trotted along behind as fast as my short legs would trot:). We took a couple of drives down the coastline, and stopped at a candy store and for French fries. I read aloud for hours. The kids are enjoying Trixie Belden books right now. Of course Patsy has encountered them before, but they are all new to Jake and he’s loving them.

It was a very busy week, but a fun one. The weather was perfect and I’m so glad we got one last camping trip in before the fall rains come.

Once we got home, the garden needed attention. I picked tomatoes, we picked and chopped peppers to freeze. Just tonight, I canned 9 pints of crushed tomatoes. Rob’s been doing load after load of laundry and we’ve all been folding like crazy. There was more than usual because since this is our last camping trip for a while, there was extra bedding and such that needed washing.

We’ve been eating the leftover camping food for the past couple of days. I also unloaded the camper freezer, and we’ve been using the items that were in there. I always keep some chicken, hamburger, bread products, etc. in there for the entire summer, replacing as we use them on camping trips. So, I didn’t need to shop except for some milk, 1/2 and 1/2 and bananas.

Last evening, I dug up my old strawberry raised bed, put in some bags of steer manure, compost, coffee grounds and worm castings, and planted a few fall veggies. It may be too late to get much of anything, but it was worth a try and I simply couldn’t get it done before we went, as I was spending every minute canning. Those berries were done. They only last 3 years. I have some different berries in other places for next summer. So it feels good to have that mentally-daunting job done, whether I get any fall veggies or not.

Saving Money, Vacations

Thriving In My thrifty Week–March 29, 2021

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We spent last week at Beverly Beach State Park, camping. We had an extreme mix between gorgeous, sunny weather and windy, rainy days! Thankfully, we had a great travel day to drive down to the coast, and a showery mix on the way back today. During the first part of the week, it was just Patsy, Rob and myself. The second part of the week, we were joined by our niece and nephew. We specifically planned some activities just for Patsy, to spoil her a little while the other kids were not with us, and plenty of fun things for them all, once they arrived. We did crafts, played “hot and cold” as is tradition on our camping trips (with small prizes for them to find), and had glow sticks. There was lots of candy, movies, games and chips, involved. We were thrilled to take the lot of them to church in the nearby town on Sunday morning. Besides the obvious spiritual reasons to attend church, it provided a great outing for our “camper-bound” crew on a rainy morning. The wind blew so fiercely that night that the camper was actually shaking and we could hear it howling. It was an adventure, for sure.

We took many walks and hikes, some on the beach and some on the trail that winds its way around the campground along a pleasant stream.

Trails like this tempt me every time and I can rarely resist following them. I hiked this one twice. It wasn’t long, but it was lovely.

Another day, we drove down the coast, and yet another time we hiked a trail from the Newport Jetty to the South Beach State Park day use area.

We visited the Oregon Coast Aquarium twice. We got a membership on-line before we went. The first time, we just took Patsy. She got to look at everything she wanted to without having to share her trip with the other kids. Then, we went back once the other two joined us, and we all enjoyed it again, together.

We had to call and get a ticket reservation each time, which was waiting at the ticket booth for us, for a certain time. We had to wear masks, and there were markings on the floor, so we could distance ourselves from others. Everyone waited patiently for everyone else, and surprisingly, we didn’t feel rushed and everyone got to see everything for as long as they wanted to. It was a one-way walk through the aquarium, and you could not backtrack. But, I believe you could have gone around again, if you wished. We were tired by then, so went out. By going those two times, we’ve already paid for our membership, but still can go all we want for the next year. We are thinking Patsy wants to do Marine Biology next year, so I’m sure she will want to visit again, and Michaela, especially, loves all kinds of animals.

On one of our walks, when we were out quite early, we came upon several salamanders. This one was plodding along, but was quite clumsy, and tumbled off this wooden block placed over a marshy spot on the trail. It was clear that he already had a owie on his back from some previous excursion, but Rob put him upright, and tried to steady him a bit and put him on a better path, but he just started on again immediately, tearing off to run into another little rock or dirt clod. It brought to mind Matthew West’s song, “Truth Be Told.” It’s one of Jake’s favorites and he can sing it all the way through, but it goes something like this: “I’m fine, yes I’m fine, oh I’m fine, yes, I’m fine, but I’m not, “I’m broken.” (It’s easy to find on U-tube). We got a chuckle out of this salamander, who did not have the sense to even rest up a minute or take the help Rob was offering….and while we were laughing at that silly salamander, we knew there was a lesson in there somewhere…..

Rob and Patsy went down to the beach frequently and collected agates, beach glass and other rocks and shells. Rob and I took walks together down the beach, then I took them alone when the kids got there. We switched off so someone could stay with them, once they were there.

The campsite we got this time was such a treat. It was up at the front of the campground, and I had an ocean view out of my camper window. Rob got this one by getting up at midnight, the very first day they were taking reservations for this time period, and clicked the button just in time. We’ve only been able to get reservations in that part of the park once before in our whole life, so we enjoyed every minute. Next time, we will camp elsewhere, but that will be fun, too!

I’ve been doing laundry since the moment I walked in the door, but there’s more. We used a lot of old towels, due to the mud and sand. I’m glad I have a washing machine, and we were able to take enough clothes and towels that we did not have to visit a laundromat, as we’ve done when the big kids were small. It’s always nice to not have to spend a lot of quarters:). Tomorrow, we will have a day to get back into the groove of things, and back to work on Wednesday. I have a bit of cleaning to do in preparation for Easter, a little cooking to do, and the garden is starting to need some attention. Last week was fun, and this one will be, too, in a different way!

camping, Saving Money

Thriving In My Thrifty Week– March 1, 2021

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We finally got to go camping! We had hoped to go a week ago, but the ice storm ruined our fun. Last summer, trip after trip was cancelled from Rob’s surgery, wildfires, Covid closing campsites, and so on. We hardly got to go. It was starting to feel like de ja vu, but we found an available spot when we had to postpone.

Most of last week was spent busily cooking, cleaning, watching the baby and driving the girls around, as they did not get power until Tuesday night. They were out for 11 nights–they finally went home that very night once power was restored. That day was beyond busy, as there were so many errands, trips to take people here and there, that Rob and I think we drove out 13 times between the two of us to take someone somewhere, or get prescriptions, etc.! Yikes. Hands down, it’s the most we’ve done in one day since Covid started!!!

We even managed to squeeze in our son, Anthony’s, birthday party. We had to change times on him once, which is not good for autistic/Aspberger’s sons, as he loves his routine, so we had to just carry on by putting them on one end of the table, us on the other and all the girls and baby in the other room with their plates. It felt great to be able to get together at last and he had a good time.

I made him a cake–chocolate, as requested. Of course, this all happened on the same day as all the errands, and the power returning to the girls’ house. So, while Rob was taking him home, I took the girls home, helped turn on the breakers, helped clean the rotten food from the fridge, and took Lovana shopping. We went to Grocery Outlet, and she re-filled her fridge. At least most things were bargains at that store. The next day, I picked up a few other items for them that were forgotten, and took a few things from my storage. It was so nice to have extra to share.

The baby was gifted a port-a-crib by one of my friends, and he was popped right in it in front of their gas fireplace and was settling down all cozy and warm when I finally went home.

I finished getting ready Wednesday, then we finally got away on Thursday. We were pretty tired, so the first day, we didn’t do much, and in fact swapped off taking naps.

We took a few walks. We saw this tree on a hike we took.

Rob and Patsy went rock hunting, but the surf was so wild, and high that they didn’t stay long. Rob felt it was actually dangerous where they were, so left after they scrambled higher onto the path and watched waves cover the path where they just were a minute before. We took a drive one day, and saw even more wild waves. That was the day we got candy at a candy store, and Rob waited in line outside of a little hole-in-the-wall restaurant next door to the candy shop and ordered 2 large fries, thinking we could all share. What he got was 2 huge take-out cartons of plank fries, piping hot and delicious, and we couldn’t even finish them between the 4 of us. What a nice treat!

I had been preparing the camper for this camping season for several weeks–cleaning, organizing, and so forth. I had already filled the fridge with fresh veggies and dairy products when we realized we were not actually going last week. I was able to bring all of that into the house, of course, and not waste it. I found great deals when I went to replace it when we found we could get away last Thursday. One item was milk for 44c/1/2 gallon. I prefer 1/2 gallons in the camper anyway, so it was a super sweet deal for me.

We take our own food, purchased at sale prices or in bulk and transferred into containers. Even the most hard-core McDonald’s lover realized that we cannot pull through a drive through on our way to camping, so he does not beg us to do that. Whew!!! I cooked several things ahead of time such as chili, pork Chile verde, taco meat, hard-boiled eggs and cooked white rice (for Jake mostly). I bought bagels and cream cheese for an easy breakfast in the car this morning on our way home. (Rob never wants to cook a big breakfast, or even sit down while he is packing up, so eats in the car on the day we go home.). Our camper has a very nice propane stove, fridge and freezer, they are just small. Rob often cooks outside, but we knew the weather was going to be rainy part of the time, so I made other arrangements this trip. We did manage one hot dog roast, though.

Of course, Jake went camping with us, as he does every time he can manage it. I did several hours of school with him Friday morning, but otherwise, he was free to play.

Rob and the kids found a garage sale and Jake bought a Mousetrap game for $1. He and I spent an afternoon building the trap and simply trapping the plastic mice. It was pretty fun. He and Patsy played with it another hour or so, and I put it away for next time we go. We also played Quixx and he built his camper Legos. I read aloud for hours, as he became interested in a book about the Dutch resistance in WWII, “The Winged Watchman.”

We even got to go to church on Sunday. We chose one Rob had heard good things about in the town near the campground, and had a nice, socially distanced service. They were following mask wearing to the max, so we felt very safe, and had a wonderful time. Since last Sunday was our first time back in any church building for a year, we didn’t want to miss the second chance we had to go! Everyone was as friendly as can be from 6 feet distance, the sermon was enlightening, and the kids got cookies in little packages afterwards, making them very happy!

It was fun to get away, and equally fun to come home. We got everything put away, and the laundry was started. The weather was so nice this afternoon, Rob and I took a good walk, then I worked outside in the yard, clipping and pruning and weeding, until the yard debris bin was full, just in time for it to be emptied tomorrow. I always like it when it starts to feel like spring and I can get outside!

Saving Money

Thriving In My Thrifty Week–July 20, 2020

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Every day, Rob has been walking and doing his physical therapy exercises. He is getting a little bored of walking around and around the block near our house, so we’ve been venturing out to other areas. One day, we drove over to the coast and walked on a concrete trail at South Beach State Park. We started at the South Jetty, walked over to the campground and scenic boardwalk viewpoint, and back to the jetty. We are still looking for places that are relatively flat, and smooth, as he is still in the middle of the 6-week “be careful” phase after his surgery. He is easily walking around 2 miles at a time now.

Lovana had the day off, so we picked her up and took her along. It was nice to spend some time with her. Her job is just as busy as it was pre-Covid, in the little coffee/crepe shop. They had a time period, at first, where business was very slow, but now, it’s picked back up, due to the added orders coming in from Uber Eats and Grubhub, coupled with the fact that people can come in and eat at tables that are distanced from each other.

I got my first canner-load of beans this morning, and every one sealed! That makes it a very good morning for me:). I also got my first dill pickles canned–just 4 pints, but it’s a great start. Rob eats a lot of pickles, so I’m hoping to get lots more.

I keep doing yard and garden work at every opportunity. The weeks keep growing, produce needs harvesting, and we did some tilling and transplanting where crops were finished.

I’ve been picking berries and freezing them and now have many, many baggies in the freezers. I was able to freeze 3 baggies of green beans this morning, as well, from what wouldn’t fit into the canner load. We’ve been eating lettuce daily, as well, and the zucchini is trying to take over my fridge! I’ve been sharing, both with the relatives, and also with my neighbor over the fence…I wonder if she would notice if there were zucchini scattered over her yard one morning–maybe the boys would think they grew there……..or not. Actually, I think I’ll shred some up and freeze the baggies.

It’s been pretty hot, for our area–upper 80’s and low 90’s. I dug out some squirt guns and water balloons, and the kids, small and large, had a nice afternoon getting wet.

Those kiddie pools have come in handy since last summer when we bought them! They ended up using buckets, milk jugs, bowls that had berries in them for a snack, and a plastic water pitcher when they felt the squirt guns weren’t enough! Lots of fun for everyone:)

Saving Money, Vacations

Thriving In My Thrifty Week–January 6, 2019

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This past week was so restful, compared to the hustle and bustle of the holidays. Months ago, my sister had planned a get-away for our families down at the beach. We all packed up and headed down there on New Year’s Day. She graciously got us wonderful accommodations, using her time-share points.

My sister took us all out to lunch to celebrate Alissa’s birthday. Most other food was eaten in our hotel.

Because we were in a time-share, there were full kitchens in our units. We planned the meals ahead of time and took turns cooking the dinners. One of my dinners was spaghetti and turkey meatballs with salad and home-canned green beans. I pre-made the meatballs at home and used jarred sauce that was purchased a while back for 99c/jar.

Our other meal was steak, baked potatoes and cauliflower. Because we buy 1/4 beef each fall, it’s the same price for steak as it is for hamburger. Of course, we need to pace the steak dinners throughout the year, or they would be gone quickly, but Alissa’s birthday dinner was a worthy occasion! That girl loves steak:).

The process of cooking the steaks was quite comical. As Rob was attempting to barbecue this steak on the little balcony outside of our room, the wind was blowing so hard that it was whistling through the windows of our room, blowing rain sideways and blowing out the flame on the barbecue, but he managed! Afterwards, he said they were on fire at one point, not cooking at all at another point, and he was absolutely amazed that they turned out so well. But, they were wonderful, so all’s well that ends well:)

Rob ate the zucchini-noodle lasagna for several lunches. We also took salad stuff, sandwich ingredients, and gluten-free pizza crust to made quick meals. Breakfasts were things like eggs, sausage, and cereal. We ate breakfasts and lunches in our own rooms, and ate all the dinners together.

I exercised several times at the small gym in the hotel. We didn’t take many walks. On the few occasions we ventured out, we were hit with ferocious winds, driving rain, and even hail pellets in my hair one morning when a walk was attempted by my sister and I. We turned around immediately and headed for the stationary bikes!

I read a couple of library books and watched a little t.v.

The kids played a game borrowed from the hotel’s stash, Jake build Legos, Patsy did a little school, her friend Celeste did a lot of school, I read an entire chapter book to Jake, my sister took them all to play arcade games in the town of Seaside, Rob took Patsy rock collecting, we took them all to the small aquarium, they watched movies, Rob took Michaela down to Costco for a hot dog while he got a case of water, my sister braved the outdoor swimming pool several times with the kids IN THE RAIN!!, and we all played Bingo when the hotel offered it as an activity.

Everyone took turns with the kids, so I feel relaxed and rested. The only thing that would have made the trip better was our other sister who intended to come down for a little bit, but her plans changed and she was not able to make it:(

The girls got a real kick out of the seal-feeding at the small aquarium. Those seals sure got excited. Water was splashing like crazy! The girls were squealing as loud as the seals, I think. Everyone had a great time.

We all arrived home late afternoon yesterday, and today, the week starts with a flurry of activity. I’ve got lots of good ideas for this week. January is a favorite month of mine and I’m eager to get started on all the projects and plans that fill my mind at this time of year.

Happy New Year to you all!

Cooking for a crowd, Uncategorized

Homeschool Outdoor School–August, 2019

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I have been planning an outdoor school experience for Patsy for a few weeks. When Jake heard she was going camping and doing school, he insisted on some school, too:). He was always going camping—he loves it so much. So, along with the notebook I was making for Patsy to do, I had to make one for Jake, too. For his, I had Rob run off some word searches from the internet, and let him do those. I planned lots of fun, outdoor activities, as well, along with “messy” crafts that were perfect for doing outside.

Here’s where the big surprise came in…..I wrote the date down wrong. Really, I did! So, we woke up on Saturday and I leisurely asked Rob to look up which campsite we had, just for fun, and YIKES! we were due down there at the coast that day!!! I called my sister to see if Jake could go with us earlier than we had planned, so they packed him up, came over and helped us get ready and hustled us off on our adventure.

The very first day, there was a ranger program about agates. Rob took the kids down to it and they were hooked! The ranger gave them each 2 agates and they spent hours hunting for more down on the beach in 3 different places. On the 3rd beach we tried, they finally found some. They were excited.

Patsy did bookwork each morning, like language arts, Bible, math, and science. Jake did a few word finds. I read aloud to both of them, mostly things Patsy needed to hear for school–good for them both. I also read a beloved Boxcar Children book to Jake in the evenings. In the afternoons, we did fun activities.

Patsy had chosen 2 simple cooking projects to do on the trip. One was trail mix …

and the other one was Camping Haystacks–mostly a can of chili on top of Fritos with some salad toppings. She loved it! I mean, who wouldn’t want chips for the main part of dinner, right?

Patsy and I went clamming and caught nothing. Jake and Rob did not walk out with us, but instead, Jake dug for gold. He did not find any gold, either, but he made it clear that if he had found any, it was, and I quote, “ALL MINE!”

The weather was amazing. It was in the upper 80’s (or warmer) most of the time. There was wind or a breeze frequently. I heard we escaped some awfully hot weather back in the valley. In this picture, we had gone for a drive and stopped to feed some seagulls.

Patsy and I took a few walks. I have been working on training our dog— if she pulls, the “Haltie” on her nose (black leash) tightens on her nose, which she doesn’t like. If she isn’t pulling, I let her run on the blue leash and let the other one hang loosely. I only tighten the black one if she pulls. I have no idea if anyone else does it that way, but it’s working well. She managed to walk calmly through the entire campground full of dogs and children without going ballistic by the end of the time. I’m starting to take her places with more and more people and animals, and she’s not comfortable, in fact shivering and shaking on the crowded beach one day, but I want her to get used to it.

We read books about fall and decorated fall cookies. I had hoped to bake them before we went, but with our hasty departure I couldn’t, so I had to make them in the camper. It worked, but the oven isn’t the best. Of course, this activity was geared for Jake, but no one argues with cookies around here.

Patsy did another craft..a coconut oil-brown sugar scrub. They both folded some origami animals as well, and decorated sunglasses with duct tape. They had a lot of squirt gun fights.

The tree was a favorite perch all week.

Our other nephew came down the last night after he finished work. Jake immediately roped him into game playing. We had a great visit, although short, and we all headed back to the valley the next morning.

I had Rob develop some pictures of our activities and we put them into a notebook for each kid so they would have good memories to keep about their fun outdoor school.

I am very satisfied with the fact that we are now most of the way through the first 4 weeks of school with Patsy. I hope to finish week 4 today. I love getting started in August. It will give me more leeway during the year when I get super busy. I also love the fact that we could take school on the road, get a lot done, but still have so much time to enjoy the outdoors. It took a lot of planning and a lot of supplies for so many crafts and hands-on activities, but I love to do that.

On Wednesday, the weather started to change. I enjoyed the cooler weather, and came home Thursday to a city that was considerably cooler than it has been, which was a relief. I gave a happy, sun-tanned boy back to his daddy and he’s going to spend the next couple of days snuggling with his mama. I’m going to put the house back together, can up some applesauce and start working outside in the garden and yard a bit over the next few days. Things are quite messy after 2 trips away, but then again, the work will always be here. Little boys and teen-age girls won’t.

Vacations

Our Adventure: A Trip Up The Rogue River and Beach–August, 2019–Part 2

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After riding on the boat all day last Sunday, we travelled to Bandon by the Sea, a town about an hour from the town where the boat was.

We served out a quick dinner of tacos. I had pre-cooked the beans and meat and the rest was quickly put together. It was all devoured! Everyone was starving.

The next morning, Rob and I made pancakes, eggs, fried ham, and fruit. Patsy got a pancake shaped like a fish. It was a complete accident, but she really liked it! We decided it was a perfect beach breakfast;)

Most of us went to the West Coast Wildlife Game Park. It was a place where the kids could pet animals. There were also lots of big cats in cages. Michaela loves those more than anything. This trip was especially for her, but all the kids enjoyed themselves.

That took until early afternoon. We returned to the beach house for lunch and the kids played down on the beach. Then, a dinner of spaghetti was enjoyed, and we dropped into bed. On Tuesday, it was time to make the long journey home after a quick breakfast of muffins and cereal.

My sister decided we’d had enough cooking, and treated us all to lunch at Mo’s. Yum! I hadn’t eaten there for quite some time and enjoyed it very much.

We returned home late in the day, tired, but very happy and full of wonderful memories to cherish for years to come.

Cooking for a crowd, Summer Fun With Kids, Vacations

Our Adventure: A Trip Up the Rogue River and A Beach Trip–August, 2019–Part 1

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We just returned from a big adventure, complements of my sister. She should have been a travel guide…..She planned the trip out to the last minute, got all the accommodations and tickets, and arranged everything. It was amazing. Here’s what we did.

Months ago, she had purchased tickets for the play, “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” up at the Keller Auditorium in Portland (Oregon). It was for my birthday present, and started at 2 p.m. on Saturday. We had a wonderful time. It was so well done. I loved it!

When planning the trip, she found the beach house she wanted to rent was only available on this past weekend, the same weekend as the play. She also wanted to go ride the jet boats that go from Gold Beach, Oregon, up the Rogue River 52 miles and back down again. So, we needed to leave on Saturday to make all of that happen. The play caused us to get a late start.

I was in charge of the meals for everyone. Everyone included: My sister, Gail, 3 of her children, myself, Rob and Patsy, and a friend, Debbie, and her 7 children. Jake and his big sister, Caitlyn, came on Sunday night, as he doesn’t do well on boats. So, I packed a picnic for 13 to eat in the cars on the road. We pulled into the hotel around 12:30 a.m. Sunday morning. It’s a distance from here, and we didn’t leave until early evening.

The hotel included breakfast the next morning, which we enjoyed tremendously. The kids loved the waffles with the heart shapes in the center. Rob and I packed a large picnic for the 13 of us who where going on the boats, plus drinks, while the rest of the crew enjoyed the hotel swimming pool. Then, we were off for our 11:30 departure time.

Rob really, really wanted to do this trip. In fact, he declared to Gail (my sister) that he would crawl into the boat if he had to, when the subject was first brought up. He had to!

It was so worth it to him!

At the 2 rest stops, they sent a van down a steep hill to drive him (and us) up to the top, where we could use the restrooms and at lunch time, eat our picnic.

I had a blast, too! My little friend, Delaney, fell asleep between Rob and I on the way back. It was super funny because we were getting splashed with large amounts of water going down the rapids. We tried to shield her the best we could with a blanket that was for that purpose, but in the process, I was absolutely soaked. It was dripping off my hair and down my face. Some got on her, too. Through it all, she never woke up. The people behind us (and us) kept looking down and asking if she woke up, and each time the answer was “no.” Pretty soon, we were all in gales of laughter as each new wave of water doused us, and the child still slept. I guess she was tired:). When she was good and ready, she woke up and enjoyed the rest of the ride.

We saw so much beautiful scenery. There was a lot of wildlife. We saw ducks, egrets, osprey, a bald eagle, otters, deer, and a seal or sea lion–not sure which, and more.

There were a couple balancing on various small rocks. The boat driver was very skilled and got us up pretty close to this one.

We were on the water for around 6-1/2 –7 hours. We went the 104 miles, and had 2 stops. We went from the cool, balmy coast to the dry, scorching hot interior, and back down to the cooler coast once again. The driver did a great job of cooling us off with water when it was hot, and keeping us dry when it wasn’t. Running the rapids was fun. We all had a blast.

We got back into the vehicles, handed each kid a granola bar, and headed an hour north to the town of Bandon.

It was pretty late by the time we arrived, but I had dinner all planned and it didn’t take long to get it on the table. I had taco meat and refried beans premade and they were warmed up. Tortillas, garden tomatoes, lettuce and pre-shredded cheese were put out, along with a Costco bag of corn chips and some salsa. Every scrap was devoured.

Our Monday was very full of fun, as well. I’ll continue writing about our trip tomorrow in Part 2, as this post is getting pretty long, and there’s lots more to tell.