Oscar Stew

We came. We camped. We conquered.

Drew & I had the privilege to go on the Father & Son campout at the new Girl’s Camp site. Sorry Sisters, it isn’t quite the Hilton yet, but we did get the pine cone toilet paper stocked and bear-breath hair dryers installed…

First step: Construct our humble abode. I was thrilled at the discovery of a campsite that had been “finished” that no one had called dibs on. Sand might be firm, but it’s a lot softer than rocks!

Second step: Explore! We found plenty of “evidence” from elk and moose, but were unsuccessful in our quest to track the bear.

Third: I will teach you an important lesson in history Drew. You see, the red man makes a small fire and sits very close. The white man makes a big fire and sits far away. Which kind of fire do you want to make? That’s what I thought…

It was a cold night, but nothing us tough guys couldn’t handle. Now it was time to get to “work”. As a group we opted to stay away from the chainsaws, bonfires, and falling trees and stick to making our campsite the best in the whole forest. 

Here be Fire King and his sidekick Flame Boy, having labored much in the log moving specialty.

Finally my patience won out and I was able to photograph this rare Pine Monkey searching for his friends during hide & seek.

That’s enough dirt for one weekend. Seeeeeeeeeeeeeeeya!

I wanted to do something fun in honor of Earth Day. I wasn’t feeling crafty, so I left the decision up to D&B.  I tried to explain what Earth Day means, the best way to break it down was to tell them that today was the Earth’s birthday. Being the somewhat crunchy/granola freaks that we are, we talk a lot about being kind to the earth, so I was anxious to hear their responses.  Brinley decided on cupcakes (it’s always food with Binnie!), and Drew thought it would be nice to walk around the neighborhood and pick up trash like we did once last summer. So we donned the sweaty yellow gloves, and off we went.

Happy Birthday Earth!!!

This is the fastest way to pick up trash this side of the Mississippi!

Zooming around on his scooter filled his bag up pretty quick.

Brinley hit the jackpot with a big pile of junkmail laying in the street.

High or low, no shred of litter could escape the grippy grasp of the D&B cleanup crew.

Drew’s breakneck pace eventually was too much for Brinley, she and the asphalt made a bad trade. Oh the pain! The anguish! The agony! The drama!

One of the most shocking discoveries was finding Drew’s artwork in the street a block away. I don’t know if he was more offended that I had thrown away one of his masterpieces, or surprised to find a portrait of Edgar circling the neighborhood. In my defense, trash day was yesterday, so it must have blown out of the recycle bin. That’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it…

Rowan had a great time observing from her climate-controlled chariot.

Eagle Eye Drew spotted this sad little nest laying under a tree. He wanted to take it home and hatch the egg himself. When I ask him if he was willing to squeeze it between his cheeks for the next two weeks he quickly retracted that statement. We mourned the loss of this future bird, and moved along.

At some point Brinley stopped picking up trash, and started picking flowers. Pick as many as you like Brinley; they grow by the millions!

Dandelions, blue sky, puffy clouds, speckled eggs…all great reminders of the beauty of the Earth. I’m glad today was such a nice warm day so we were able to go outside and enjoy it!

We were all feeling a little restless last weekend, so we took a drive up to the mountains. Is there anything more fun than throwing rocks in a river?

The water was pretty cold, but Drew was brave enough to walk around the shallow areas.

Brinley barely stuck her toes in, but managed to completely destroy this outfit. So much for hand-me-downs.

And just to prove that l’il miss sis was with us… She slept the whole time, only waking up for a quick snack before heading back to dreamland. Must be the soothing sounds of the water.

The kids had a blast, and we will definitely be heading back up the canyon for more fun once the water warms up. Next time Brinley will be dressed in rags or some sort of moonsuit that is Brinley-proof.