because summer is almost over

Took my last weekend off of the summer and nearly killed ourselves trying to cram as much recreation in as we possibly could. I'm working straight through labor day weekend and out the other side, then the school year starts up again. So last friday we went to a Red Wings game. It was our first time to Frontier Field, though we drive by it all the time. What a nice park! Right in the middle of the city, there's trains that roll past right field every so often (Between the trains and the ball game S. was in heaven -- once he had it straightened out that it was Red Wings not Red Sox). After the game (home team won -- yay!) there was a fireworks show. We all got home around 11:30, crashed into bed, and got up early the next morning to pack up and go camping!

Two nights at Letchworth State Park, trying out our new tent for the first time. And the first camping trip ever for 3 year old S. We were a little apprehensive, since our history of camping with 9 year old C. is rather spotty. Her first night in a tent, in our backyard, was when she was about 2. The fact that mom and dad were right next to her made it impossible for her to go to sleep. She just wanted to stay up and play, and when we insisted on trying to sleep, she started climbing all over us, pulling hair, swinging a flashlight at us with great abandon, until finally around 2 am, we called it off and headed inside. Our last camping trip was when she was 4. It ended with her getting a stomach bug and being violently ill as we packed up camp & drove home.

This little two-night trip was great! Nice wooded campsite with tons of white pine, and a black walnut tree that kept raining down egg-sized green bombs (fortunately a good distance from the tent). The kids had a great time, didn't give us much grief, and no one got sick. We got rained on the first night, but the tent didn't leak (much) and the next day we had a beautiful sunny day for swimming and hiking.




(Home sweet home)


The next day, we packed up camp and headed out. Stopped at the Mt Morris Dam on the way out, which resulted in running commentary by J and C -- "That's an impressive dam view!" "Best dam site I ever saw!" "Well, I think we've exhausted the dam entertainment possibilities here.." "But we'll have material for entertaining dam conversations all the way home!"

We got home, unpacked, did 3,000 loads of laundry, and I headed to work for 2 back-to-back 12 hour overnight shifts. Time to lie down now, for a couple of days, I think.