Camping Fun!

As is always the case, summer is a time that challenges my blogging schedule.  We've just got so much going on and I'm so busy having fun and being, well, busy, that I just can't seem to gather my thoughts to put them to "paper".  Still, things ebb and flow and I find myself in a relatively slow period following two really hectic weeks.  I thought I'd take the time to update you all.

Two weeks ago, we headed on our first much-anticipated camping trip of the season.  I confess that I forgot what a hassle it is to schedule around a working teenager's work schedule, but still, we made it happen!

Our travelling home away from home.

A few days before, Buttercup and I were quite productive and got the trailer ready to go:  Sheets on the beds, the refrigerator loaded up, and all the supplies made ready. 

Buttercup's bed...

Buttercup took the time to make sure that her new hamster cage would fit, as well.  What?  You don't take your hamster camping?  Seriously?  That is strange.

Froyo is ready for her first camping trip!

Finally, the big day came.  We tried to get a picture of the giraffe for Superman, but it really didn't work out well.  We did end up getting a bad one on the way back home. 

See the giraffe...our summer friend!

Before that, though, we had fun in the sun.  In the water...

Valiant and Buttercup playing on the buoys that outline the swimming area.

And out of the water...just hanging out.

Hiding her face from the sun with a big hat!

Reading good books.

Bunny enjoying the view from our campsite.

Enjoying beautiful scenery.

The bunny and the hamster, just hanging out...

After five years of camping, my "camping slippers" finally gave up the ghost.  This was their last hurrah...they served me well, but their time had come.



Last camping trip for my "camping slippers"...

 All too soon, it was time to head out again.

Bunny is noticing that we're not moving quickly enough.

 "Bunny" has been on so many trips with our family, he supervised our closing up camp.  He's actually pretty good...quite the motivator!

Chop, chop, Buttercup!  Move faster!!

Let's go...get those sway bars in place!

Finally, we're ready to head home!


We made it home just in time to get showered and have me head off to a Ladies' Luncheon and for Valiant to head off to work.  Cut it a little close, actually!  Still, it all worked out...

Those were definitely some productive days...and if you're counting along with us, today is day 100...I've added a counter to my blog page.  (Not that we're excited or anything!)

A little bit of creative productivity in between prepping for fun!

My family is headed out for a camping trip this week.  I'm beginning to realize that scheduling camping trips gets more and more difficult as the kids get older...with jobs and other commitments getting in the way.  Still, we got it to work and I'm so excited.

Fresh bloom!

In between getting the trailer loaded up, I took the time to spruce up some garden ornaments and I'm so pleased with how they turned out, I just have to share them with you.

Five years outside haven't helped these faded flowers.

These were colorful resin flowers when we got them...they were NOT all the same color, despite what you might think when you look at them.

Look how faded they are...the painted one pops, while the others
fade into the tarp.  So sad and neglected!

A few coats of "for plastic" spray paint later and they looked like this.

Painted the front and the back...so much brighter!

A little bit of craftiness by hand and some clear coat had them ready for their close-ups!

Look at how creative we got!  Don't they look happier now?

Valianted wanted us to embrace this flower's tropical heritage.  I did my best.

I love how bright they are on "their" fence.  Quick, easy, and so worthwhile!  It is really amazing what a little spray paint can do, don't you think?

Quite an improvement, wouldn't you say?

So, Days 115 and 114 were productive and now we're driving off to be productive in our campsite...reading some good books, playing games together, splashing around in the river...all very productive!!

Hard Work...

Hard work isn't always pretty...

 Hard work isn't always fun...

Hard work isn't always cool...

Hard work is sometimes awkward...

Photo credit:  Crossfit509

Hard work isn't always hard...

Hard work is isn't always lonely...

Photo credit:  Crossfit509

Worst of all?  Hard work almost never yields immediate results.  But let's be real here.  Hard work teaches us perserverance and dedication.  We fall down and get up again.  And, finally,

Hard work helps us reach new heights...

and they are all the sweeter because of the effort that went into reaching them.

Summer Vacation - Part III - Tears, Hugs, Mud, and Screams

One month after we returned from our Boston trip (definitely a study in extremes as Clark pointed out), we greeted Superman at the airport for the start of his long-awaited leave and our summertime adventures continued...

What We Did During Our Summer Vacation - Part IIIa

by the Nagle5

Superman arrived at our little international airport on August 19...he was greeted by enough tears and hugs that the normally stoic/impersonal security person leaned over and gave me a kleenex.  To say we missed him would be an understatement.   I think we just about melted him with our tears of happiness.  To say he was surprised by Valiant standing next to him at a full 6'2" would also be an understatement.  He stands eye-to-eye with both our sons these days and that is just so strange.

Anyway, Superman carefully timed his leave so that he could, jet lag and all, participate with the Nagle5 in The Dirty Dash the next day.  Bright and early Friday morning, we got into our cars (even Charming headed out of his place to join us) and headed over to the race location.  It was crazy.  Our heat began at 9:00 a.m. and what followed was 6.2 miles of mud, dirt, hay, and water.  We ran through mud pits.  We ran through dirt. 

 (Superman, Valiant and Me,

trying to finish together...

harder than it looks!)

We jumped over hay bales and walls.  We ran through the river and walked across beams.  We even slid down a giant slide. 

(Buttercup and Charming coming off the slide...

the fire hoses the race people aimed at them did wonders!)

Good "clean" fun for the entire family.  We can hardly wait to do it again next year!

PS.  Yes, we ARE insane!
Still, Superman said it helped him beat his jet lag, so he said we need to figure out something exhausting to do for the first day of his next leave.   What? Braving the malls at Christmas isn't exhausting enough?

The next day, we hooked up the trailer and headed to our favorite campground with our friends. 

(In the meantime, our beloved Charming showered a few more times (the mud was everywhere!) and headed off to work for the week...such is the life of a new hire!)

While Charming worked in the salt mines, we played in the water,

(Valiant is giving his dad

 a lift out of the water!)

the "men" played a mean game of Risk,

and we pretty much messed around for four days. 

But we didn't stop there...oh, no.  We all hooked up the trailers once more and headed to Silverwood, the Pacific Northwest's own little theme park.   Disneyland it is not, but it is definitely a fun place to play.  Superman and the kids did roller coasters...don't they look like they're glad they didn't puke on Panic Plunge? 

Me?  I relaxed at Boulder Beach...Superman did a little of that, too. 

(Aren't we cute?  I am still sporting that farmer's

 tan from whale watching in Boston!)

Okay, I did like the log ride and the bumper boats.  Can you tell?  I was drenched!

Finally, it was time to head home...it had been fun, but I was ready to sleep in my own bed.  Besides, we missed Charming!

Remember those end-of-summer essays...

...the teachers seemed to love to assign the first day back to school? "What I Did During My Summer Vacation" Do you remember how you couldn't think of anything exciting that you'd done? How you'd spent that past three weeks desperately waiting for school to begin so you could wear your new school clothes? Use your new lunch box? See the friends you hadn't seen since school let out in June?

Well, as in days past, I, too, was ready for summer to end. Like the blogger at The Intertidal Years, I always feel like the new school year is the start of The New Year.  Still, reflecting on our Summer Vacation is putting a smile on my face, so I thought I'd write my own "What I Did During My Summer Vacation" essay...after all, I like feeling a smile come to my face as I remember the good, the bad, and the ugly.  Who doesn't?

What I Did During My Summer Vacation - Part One

by The Nagle5

During our summer vacation, we went camping.  Twice.  Both camping trips were fun, but they were quite different.

During our first trip in June, we went without Superman, which was weird for us all.  Still, we managed to keep it interesting.  Valiant did an amazing job helping me set up our trailer.  We learned new things, too.  For example, did you know that you can use Crazy Glue in lieu of stitches if need be?  Yeah, I didn't either.  However, when you combine a 15-year old boy, a pocket knife, bad habits, and a little time, you have the perfect storm.  Yep, Valiant sliced right up the back of his ankle, narrowly missing the Achilles tendon. 

So, we laid him out on a covered picnic table, held the slice together until the crazy glue good set and reinforced with butterfly bandages. 

Kept it wrapped in an ace bandage for the remainder of the trip and he was good to go, albeit slowly and carefully. 

Did I mention that I took the knives away for the remainder of the trip.  I can only deal with so much, you know?

 The rest of the trip was uneventful.  The weather was beautiful.  Look at the sky as we headed out for this trip.  Wasn't it gorgeous?

We had some stowaways who were full of high spirits.  They were found hiding in the trailer microwave.

Then I saw some of them in the tree.

The group of them tried to steal a bike.

They kept insisting that Buttercup had invited them, be she denied knowing any of them.  I have my doubts, especially as I found her sharing her bed with them! 

Still, their pranks were harmless and they really didn't eat much.  It was all good.

We had some visitors.  This squirrel was sure we were holding out on him.

This butterfly just came by to share her beauty.  We were grateful.

We made the kids do chores, too.  Here are the boys (Valiant and Two-Bit) doing their share of the dishes. 

Oh, and we saw a giraffe. ;)

There you have it..."What I Did During My Summer Vacation - Part I"

Why, Yes, That is a Hamster in My Trailer

or "Why the Nagles Camp With a Hamster"

At the beginning of the summer, on the eve of our first camping trip of the season, I mentioned to you all that we camp with our hamster, Biscuit. Yes, you read that correctly, we take our hamster camping with us every single time. Many of you inquired, when you were done laughing, why on earth we'd take our hamster camping and I promised I'd tell you the story. I've decided that this, our last camping trip of the season, is the perfect time to tell you why we camp with our hamster(s).

Two and a half years ago, we took the children to an indoor waterpark for a little winter vacation. We were going to be gone two nights and barely three days. Buttercup begged and begged, "Oh, please Mommy, can't we bring Nibbles and Winnie with us?" "No, Buttercup, they'll be fine while we're gone." "But, Mommy, what about the cats?" she wailed. I responded with a mini-lecture on how the cats have never bothered the hamsters and there was no reason for that to change during this trip. [You can see where this is going, can't you?] So, we headed off for our mini-vacation and left Nibbles and Winnie behind.

After a fun trip, we headed back home. Buttercup ran upstairs to her room, eager to see Nibbles. Instead of Nibbles, however, she saw a massacre of hamster bedding and hamster cage parts all over her room! It was horrible. Apparently, Jane, our shelter adoptee, didn't know the rules about leaving the hamsters alone, even when the people were gone. Fortunately, there were no blood spatters or hamster parts anywhere. We quickly searched for the missing hamster, wanting to be certain that the adults were the one to find it (assuming, of course, that it was deceased). We couldn't find it anywhere. She was inconsolable.

Now, what you might not know about me is that I am seriously in tune to the noises my home makes and, for whatever reason, I've managed to find every single hamster that has ever "escaped" its cage. Without a body, I was beginning to suspect that Nibbles had outwitted that bad Jane. I sent everyone out of the house and let the house settle down. Then I listened and listened some more. Finally, my listening led me to the back corner of MY closet, where that wily Nibbles had stashed so much food she would have been fine for weeks. Apparently, she'd been heading back and forth between our room and Buttercup's room the entire time we were gone, dodging cats the entire time. Needless to say, Buttercup was thrilled we found Nibbles intact and went on to live a long hamster life.

Unfortunately, my credibility was shot. The next time we headed out of town and I tried to say, "they'll be fine", she looked and me and told me that I'd said that the last time and look what happened. Nibbles wasn't fine. Even though we were tent camping, we had two hamster cages! "You can't leave Winnie behind! She'll be sad."

Now that we're down to one hamster, Biscuit comes with us. Buttercup is happy, Biscuit is happy, and Superman and I think it is just funny.

We leave the birds at home, though.