Camping While Road Tripping

When I wrote about our 2015 summer road trip, at least one person commented on the post and others commented to me personally that they were impressed we camped along the way. For us, camping along our road trip route has a lot to do with saving money. Plus, in my mind it's only a little less convenient than staying in a hotel. When you factor in getting all your stuff into the hotel and getting rowdy kids to settle down for the night in a room where they can probably jump from one bed to the next, camping is not that hard.

Now, let me also say that we do not have gourmet meals when we camp. The day we are planning to camp we will stop at a grocery store to buy hot dogs, buns, bagels, cream cheese, and fruit. On this road trip we started with a bag of marshmallows, and we never had to re-stock. We keep the hot dogs and cream cheese in a small cooler in the car, and we refill it with ice from gas stations as needed. (Sometimes gas station employees seemed annoyed that we were getting ice, but usually they didn't care.) We stocked up in the preceding months with ketchup and mustard packets from fast food restaurants, so we didn't even have to worry about keeping the condiments preserved. Even when we are not on road trips we usually opt for hot dogs for camping lest the children mutiny. (This picture is from the 2014 road trip, so the idea of hot dogs on camping trips is very ingrained in these kids by now.)

As far as supplies, we don't have very much. The fact that we eat really basic foods certainly helps. We don't have to take a pack and play for Felix to sleep in, so we can all cram into one tent. The one tent can fit two twin-sized air mattresses side-by-side without much room for them to wiggle around, so we have one large and fairly stable bed. For this camping trip we took fewer sleeping bags and blankets than usual since the nights were not too cold where we were camping. We bought a large wool blanket before our trip, but we could have done without it. We'll definitely use it for other spring and fall camping trips, though.

On this trip, since we didn't have a pack and play, we had plenty of room to take our camp chairs. That was really helpful to my pregnant self. We also pretty much stayed at real camp sites on this road trip. Not all of them had running water and showers and real toilets, but some did. The one time we showered at a camp site we realized that we had failed to bring towels. Thankfully Eric's colleagues had given him a road-trip survival kit as an end-of-school-year gift, and it included four hand-towels that expanded upon getting wet. They were basically life-savers that Saturday night so we didn't seem quite so grimy at church the next day.

I love getting my boys outdoors, especially when we've spent a lot of time in the car. Eric usually takes them for a little exploratory walk, and then they also hang around the site finding logs and rocks to jump from and bugs to harass. It helps them get their energy out before bed.

We lucked out with a couple of really great camp sites on this road trip. Sometimes when you reserve electronically you don't really know what you are going to get. Alternatively, if you just try the first-come-first-served sites, you might not get anything at all. At a couple of sites we were relatively close to a creek, which helped drown out the noises from the other campers.

I was a bit nervous about camping so much for this summer's road trip since I was just beginning my third trimester when we began, but it ended up being fine. Yes, some bathroom facilities were really terrible and stinky. But others weren't bad at all. With both of our boys potty trained, I didn't have to worry about dealing with dirty diapers, which is also a big bonus. And they certainly love the chance to just go wherever they want.

Usually our family woke up fairly early while camping. We'd get dressed and give the kids each a bagel and cream cheese and tell them to sit at the picnic table or sit in the car. Then Eric and I would pack everything up, take down the tent and camp chairs, and load everything into the car. Eric would then tie the canoe down and we'd be on our way again to the next adventure. (To Eric's credit, there were a few mornings where I was totally useless and he did pretty much everything. In fact, that can actually be said of most of our camping trips, regardless of whether or not I am growing a baby.)

We plan to take another road trip next summer, and we will most certainly have to change things up since we'll have a baby by then. But for now, this is how we travel, and it works really well for us.

The Camp

I've talked a bit about the camp/conference, so I guess I should go into a little more detail. We were asked to be chaperones, but that really meant "chefs." The other couple that chaperoned with us were Matthew and Makareta. STOP! Before you think twice about her name, I have to tell you how to say it because I KNOW how you just read it in your head with your thick American accent, and it was wrong and ugly! The "r" is rolled, like a Spanish name. Other than that, it sounds pretty much the same as "margarita" but with a "k" in the middle, and without that first "r."

Matt and Makareta had come over to our house the Tuesday before the camp to celebrate St. Patrick's Day one day late. Of course, they brought their man-cub, William. He is about 14 months old and adorable. We decided we definitely liked hanging out with them and playing games with them on Tuesday, so we were happy to learn that the four of us would be chaperoning the YSAs at their camp.

On Friday, the four of us headed out to Waikouaiti, where the camp was held. We got there early, so we went to the beach. Not to swim, because it's cold here. You don't swim in the beaches here. That is, you don't swim unless you are Eric. And then when Eric swims Matt has to swim too. While the wives look on and think the husbands are just being ridiculous. And I tricked the baby into eating some bull kelp from off the ground. (The thing is, the baby will eat ANYTHING if you say "mmmmmmmMmmMMm," so I really had to do it!)

While we were at the beach, I waded in the water for about 10 minutes, basically the length of time it took for me to not be able to feel my feet. And then I was cold, so Matt gave me his sweater to wear. I felt a little silly wearing his sweater, but Makareta assured me that it was not really his because she wears it more than he does. So then I felt okay about it.

That day we went to the camp and met the YSAs. We ate dinner and did general playing around type things. On Saturday, the YSAs went down to the beach to clean it while Makareta and I readied lunch. The boys helped. That evening there was a hangi, a traditional Maori meal that is cooked underground (in theory). And that night there was a dance. While the younguns danced, the married played cards. Rook, to be precise.

Sunday was Easter, and we had church in the lobby. It was a nice meeting. That evening we had a traditional Easter dinner of spaghetti. Wait, not traditional at all. We are in New Zealand, where is the lamb? Actually, there were only 2 ovens, which is the reason for the lack of traditional roast of some kind. That afternoon were workshops, and Eric taught an excellent workshop on goal-setting. Such a cute husband, that one.

Also, Eric totally forgot his Sunday shirt, so he had to borrow Matt's, which was too small. So he put a sweater on over the top so it didn't look so bad, and he actually looked very smartly dressed.

That night the four of us went for a walk on the beach because it was a full moon. Matthew was wearing his sweater, and he joked about it being the "communal" sweater. I said, "Well, not really because Makareta hasn't been wearing it." Matt replied, "She's been sleeping in it every night." So, truly, the communal sweater.

Then, back to camp for sleeping. Only the boys didn't sleep. They played games involving a hill and tires.

On Saturday the festivities continued. Everyone participated in rolling tires down the hill at various human targets. The night before, a girl had rolled down the hill in the tires, and she loved it so much she did it FOUR times. I figured that if I had been awake, I also would have participated in this activity. Despite Eric's warnings, I climbed in a stack of tires, and the boys put more tires over my head. Then they rolled me down.

And the tires slipped off and spread out. And I banged my head like 3 times. I'm still paying for that. Really, though, it was quite fun. Besides the banging head.

Then we cleaned up and came home.

We had a lot of fun. We loved getting to know the BYU students who were studying abroad in Invercargill. Plus, it was great to get to know the YSAs in our branch. Such great people! And, of course, we loved spending time with Matthew and Makareta. So much so that on the drive home (we rode together) they asked if we wanted to come to their house for dinner, and I said, "Well, William is still not calling us 'mom' and 'dad,' so it is clear we haven't spent enough time together yet!"

2019's First "Summer" Trip - Moab and the Colorado River

My title has the word "summer" in quotes because:

1. The first official day of summer is not until June 21, just over one month away.
2. Even if you consider "summer" to be the months of the year when the children (and my husband) are not in school, we aren't quite there yet. (Felix has three days of kindergarten left, and Ike and Eric have eight school days left.)
3. We returned to our home and had to turn the furnace back on because it's been rainy and cold at our home. (The plus side of this is that we can continue putting off turning on the sprinklers.)

Last year's summer trip was 5,000 miles long. I've noticed that usually we alternate having long trips and short trips. This is partly because of the ages of our babies (we're way more willing to do horribly long days in the car with babies than with toddlers, believe it or not) and partly because those big trips take a ton of time and energy to plan (especially for Eric who tends to obsess over them). (Case in point, in 2014 and 2015 we did big road trips; in 2016 we did a couple of short trips; in 2017 we had a tiny baby, and Eric had his grad program, so we didn't do a ton of anything; in 2018 we took a really long trip; and in 2019 we have about 5 smaller trips planned.)

Anyway, we kicked off our summer trips this weekend. After bombarding you with all that unnecessary text, I will now bombard you with tons of pictures.

We headed out Friday morning (Eric, Ike, and Felix skipped school, which meant missing Felix's kindergarten graduation, which was a bummer). We drove through Spanish Fork Canyon. Our school district has a summer camp in a city up that canyon, and Eric works at it a few weeks each summer. Working the summer camp has meant he has learned lots of information about the canyon. As we drive in, he always tells the kids about the important landmarks, some history of the canyon, and other interesting tidbits. (Of course, once we pass the town where the camp is located, he tends to get much less informative.)

The interesting thing about this trip is that we had invited several other families to join us. Eric initially invited families to come canoeing with us on Saturday morning, and he told them our family would be camping on Friday night. Most of the families said they wanted to camp too. Usually when we go to Moab we camp in a ghost town near Moab, but we knew our spot would not accommodate as many people as would be joining us. When we got to Moab we went to the designated camping spots only to realize there were no vacancies. Thankfully my over-obsessed husband had planned for this contingency, and we ended up on some camping-approved BLM land even closer to Moab than where we normally camp. (The pictures Eric had seen of this land had made it seem like a terrible place to camp, but once we got there we realized the pictures don't do it justice.) Trixie also learned that she loves porta-potties at this camp site. It is a strange new fascination for her.

We set up our area and did a lot of waiting around. Our cell reception wasn't great, so we were worried about the other families finding us. While we waited, the kids found and caught lizards. (Among the families joining us is a family that has ten children, of whom seven are boys. They brought six of their boys on the trip.) At this point there was also a family with a teenage boy and a little girl who joined us, as well as a another family who brought two of their three boys.

Hank caught this lizard.

And then its tail came off:

Then we drove over to Arches and went hiking. We didn't have a lot of time, and the weather at the park wasn't promising, so we just did Park Avenue and Double Arch.

This was the only little girl with us for most of Friday, and Trixie sort of fell in love with her.

No, my husband did not morph into another man. We were in a big group, and Eric was down taking photos, so Beau helped my kids and me get up.

We camped that night, and had a great time hanging out with our friends. In total we had six families camping together. 

Our family camped in a tent that we've owned for a while but had never used. Eric had picked it up at a yard sale for $10 knowing that the zipper was broken. Earlier in the year we set it up to see how bad it was and realized we couldn't just make do with a broken zipper. I did some research and purchased a zipper repair kit. Last week we set up the tent in the yard. I got out my seam ripper so I could access the ends of the zipper, then Eric put a new zipper pull on, then I stitched her back up. When you factor in my labor costs, it was not a cheap repair, but still a better price than we would have paid with a professional repair of the zipper or a new tent of that size.

This was the first time since 2015 our family all slept together in the same tent. Had Felicia been well (she was a bit sick on Friday, but we kept her dosed with ibuprofen), it would have been a great night. We were all plenty warm and comfortable. Felicia did end up in my bed because she just wasn't feeling well. (I took her this morning to urgent care, absolutely certain that an ear infection was the culprit, and I was wrong. She's just regular-sick. No antibiotic cure for her.) And Trixie ended up in Eric's bed because she just loves to cuddle with her dad.

On Saturday morning we ate breakfast, packed up, and headed to the Colorado River for canoeing. One other family joined us, bringing the total to seven families in ten canoes. We canoed a stretch of what Eric said was 8 miles, but is actually closer to 12. (One guy in our group tracked it with GPS). We were done in about 2.5 hours. The views were beautiful, the weather was mostly good (a bit chilly when the wind blew), and everybody who entered the water did so of his own accord.

A bunch of the older boys dared each other to take a dip, and it was apparent that the water was incredibly cold (as recently thawed ice tends to be). They all climbed back in their boats as quickly as they could. Upon seeing them Ike wanted to try it to. He was in our neighbors' boat (they came sans children). Unlike the big boys, Ike really jumped away from his boat, which meant he had to swim back a few feet. His facial expressions said it all.

Then the poor kid didn't have the upper body strength to get back into his boat on his own.

Felicia really struggled the last hour, and we had no medicine in our boat. She was so upset when we were done that I couldn't get her to take the medicine we had for her. Thankfully one of our group had a chewable Tylenol, which I told Felicia was candy. Worked like a charm.

After canoeing, we went back to camp because some of the families hadn't packed up in the morning. Then most of us headed over to Goblin Valley State Park. It wasn't in our original plan, but we followed the masses. Ike had a blast; Felix thought it was fine, until he no longer thought it was fine; Trixie loved it; and Felicia was adequately medicated and finally well-napped, so she tolerated being carried around on mine and Eric's back.

After Goblin Valley we drove home. We packed a lot of fun into that short trip. Everyone's super duper tired today, and it's early bedtimes for all.

Review: Ghost Soldiers by Hampton Sides

Eric's dad read this and then recommended it to Eric. Eric had barely started it when he recommended it to me. We actually got the book on CD to listen to on our drive to Seattle, but sadly, the CDs were not in great shape, and they kept skipping, sometimes skipping entire tracks. That wouldn't do.

Even after returning from Seatlle, I was slow to start Ghost Soldiers. I had already listened to the first little bit, and I knew that the topic would make this book difficult to read. The book chronicles a group of soldiers who fought and ultimately surrendered to the Japanese on the Bataan Peninsula. Then they endured the Bataan death march. Then they were sent to various Japanese prison camps. At the close of the war, most of those who were somewhat healthy were transferred to prison camps out of the Philippines. Those that were not well enough to be transferred stayed at the prison camp near Cabanatuan. As it appeared inevitable that the Americans would be retaking the Philippines, the Japanese began mass executions in some of their prison camps in the Philippines. Some of the prisoners were able to escape and share their stories with the Americans.

When the Americans learned that it was likely that more than 500 Allied soldiers were likely to be massacred at the prison camp near Cabantuan, the Americans put together a top-secret rescue mission. The book alternates between telling about the soldiers interned in the camp and the Rangers on the rescue mission.

I read this book in just a few days. (In fact, when I was up very late having contractions, I went ahead and finished it off.) It was incredibly well-written an compelling. The rescue-mission itself was compelling enough, but add to it the group of people that were being rescued and everything that they had endured, and wow. Ultimately, the men who were left in the camp truly were the sickest, which made the rescue mission all the more challenging. Not only did the Rangers have to get into the camp, they had to get over 500 unwell men out and then across enemy territory and into safety.

With that said, this book is about men who are held prisoner by the Japanese for a few years. It is gruesome and sometimes difficult to read. The book chronicles what happened to the men's bodies when they dealt with long-standing malnutrition, lack of adequate medical treatment and difficult manual labor. It also gives excellent background into the fall of the Bataan peninsula as well as why treatment in Japanese camps was so bad.

The only thing I disliked about the book was the lack of footnotes or endnotes. The author, Hampton Sides, states specifically in his introduction that he didn't provide footnotes because he didn't want them to detract from the narrative and literary flow of the writing. That is understandable, but there were so many points in the book where I wanted to know exactly where he got little tidbits of information. At the end of the book there is a bibliography, but as a person who majored in history, and still regularly writes reports with hundreds of footnotes, I like to know exactly where every piece of information comes from.

Felicia is Two!

Felicia turned two on July 1. The boys were out of town with their Uncle John, and Eric was away doing his summer gig - being a teacher for a week at our school district's summer camp. The day before her birthday (and before Eric left for camp) we had a little dinner for Felicia with just the four of us, plus our friends, Joey and Priscilla.

Felicia was really not crazy about us singing to her.

She didn't really understand the concept of blowing out the candle either. Also, she ALWAYS takes her elastic and bow out of her hair during her nap, and then she wakes up with hair like this:

The day before that, we went as a little family of four to the farm and let the girls ride ponies and play in the air conditioned play area.

On Felicia's actual birthday, we hung out at home, went to our local park, and then went to the Butterfly Biosphere.

At two years old, here are some things I want to remember about Felicia:

• She is getting better at playing with her siblings and loves to be a part of the group.
• Felicia is quite the mimic. She doesn't talk a lot, but she mimics people in very physical ways.
• At her two-year checkup, when they asked if she speaks in two-word sentences, I said yes, but it's still very rare.
• She begs for bites of whatever I'm chopping, slicing, or cooking, especially onions and garlic.
• Eric took her pacifier away while I was away at Young Women's camp. It doesn't seem to be the magic bullet for speech that it was for her older sister. But we're confident it's not going to hold her back either.

• She's a bit tyrannical. Actually, she's very tyrannical. We have a kid-sized chair in our living room, and she doesn't like anyone to sit in it, even if she is also not sitting in it.
• Felicia demands to say her own prayer after she hears anyone else saying a prayer.
• She adores our nightly hug-a-thon, when everyone in the family hugs everyone else in the family. She happily says, "hu-fon" while she hugs everyone in the family, usually multiple times per person.
• Felicia actually loves to get her hair done, and happily runs into her sister's room (where the hair stuff is) when I suggest we do her hair.
• She likes animals but is pretty nervous around them.
• Almost any time I ask her if she wants to ride on my back, she is excited to do so. I use the Ergo to carry her for far more than just hiking.
• She is my most cuddly child, often asking to be picked up and held. At bedtime and naptime, we rock her in the rocking chair and sing songs to her. She usually insists on holding her pillow, a blanket, and as many stuffed animals as she can fit in her hand. When I tell her to close her eyes, she covers them with her hands.
  
• She loves baths and frequently takes multiple baths in one day. I don't feel like arguing with her about the baths, so I just let them happen. She loves to dump water on her head over and over and over again.
• Along those same lines, she loves swimming. She especially loves jumping off the side of the pool into the pool and letting somebody pull her out from under the water. She has no fear.
• When not done, her hairstyle is definitely a mullet. Grow, hair, grow.

• She is so friendly and says hello to just about everyone we pass. She is also rather scared of big trucks. One day she was repeatedly jumping off our front step (a hobby of hers), when a UPS truck came up the street. I was on the side of the house watering the tomatoes when I heard her screaming, "Mama! Mama!" I ran over, worried that she maybe had been stung by a wasp and realized that she was just afraid of the truck. As it went on by, her shouts of fear turned into, "Bye! Bye!" as she gleefully waved at the passing truck.
• I hate to admit it, but she's looking more and more like Eric. She used to look just like me, so I'm a little sad to be losing my mini.

And here's a little video we made of her singing one of her favorite songs with me a few weeks ago:

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If you need something cute or if you need more goofy camp songs (🐸 🚗) in your life (and don't we all need more camp songs?):

A post shared by Sherry (@containyourexcitement) on Aug 9, 2019 at 5:18pm PDT

Felicia is such a fun age. We love how she's learning, increasing her vocabulary, and discovering the world. We are excited to see what becomes of her in the coming year, and I'm really looking forward to having more individual time with her and her sister as both her brothers are in all-day school this year.

Day One

On Monday we left for our trip. We went to the Catlins. (It was our third time there). (The photo on the left is of our German friends, David, Thurid and Mira).

We went to Bluff.

Then we headed to our camp site by Lake Monowai. On the drive there Jenn and I were busy singing annoying camp songs from our years at girls' camp, and Eric was buys being annoyed, so we missed the sign to our camp ground. When we got there it was nearly dark, but we managed to get set up for the night just fine.

Overall, it was a nice first day, but it wasn't especially stunning. In fact, the only day we were really hindered by the rain was that first one.

Road Trip to Southern Utah

Our original road trip plans were rather ambitious, but as the reality of "we have a small baby" set in, Eric and I (mostly I) decided to tone things down. We spent a few days in Southern Utah, and everyone had a splendid time.

First we went to Bryce Canyon National Park. It was my first visit, and I was really impressed. Eric had been once before, but he only hiked around the rim. We did a few hikes, and our boys did great. One hiker said, in broken English, that Felix is a future Everest hiker. We loved listening to people speak different languages and then telling our kids to say hello to those people in their native languages. Also, some Asians took pictures of our boys while they were sitting at the picnic table without us. I guess they like blondes. And many Asians were obsessed with Trixie, especially when she was leaning out of the hiking backpack as best she could to see what was going on in front of her.

We hiked the Navajo Loop. It is 1.4 miles total, with the first part being down some switchbacks, and the next part being up some different switchbacks. Our little troopers hiked the whole thing (with many breaks).

Most of the time, Trixie looked like this, and people found her position very amusing:

Ike and Felix are best friends, and I love it. (Though, if you ask them who their best friends are, neither will name his brother. One day they'll recognize that they are more than brothers.)

That night we camped near Bryce Canyon, and it was a perfect camping spot. Everyone did great at camping, except Trixie. She needs more practice.

The next day we returned to Bryce Canyon for more hiking. We hiked the Queens Garden Trail, and I liked it even better than the Navajo Loop. It was slightly longer, and again, our boys did really well.

We ran into Eric's cousin and her family while we were there. The following day they ran into Eric's brother and his family, who also were in Southern Utah for our sister-in-law's family's reunion.

As the weather warmed up (triple digits - we did not luck out with nice weather for this trip. It was blazing hot.), we headed to Cedar Breaks National Monument. It is like Bryce Canyon on steroids. It is a much higher elevation, so it is closed for most of the year, and it is generally inaccessible. There are a couple of trails, but they were still very muddy and snowy, so we just checked out the lookout points and went on our merry way. (Also note that this was the only time during the trip that I wore Trixie in the pack. Eric is a pack mule. That girl is heavy.)

Really though, these boys love each other. And look how blonde they are. It's no wonder the Asians were marveling at them.

After Cedar Breaks, we went to St. George and stayed in a condo. The next day we went to Snow Canyon State Park, which is a pretty cool place. Have I mentioned the heat? It was oppressive. We didn't last long at Snow Canyon before we headed back to our condo for mandated naps before going to see Zootopia.

On Saturday we went to Zion National Park. We had high hopes for an early arrival and a day full of hiking, but our late start and exhausted bodies stymied us. We hiked to the lower Emerald Falls, walked along the River Walk Trail, played in the very cold river, and then called it a day. What should have been a four-hour drive home took us six due to unscheduled potty breaks and ornery children, but we all made it home in one piece.

For the record:

• The boys had been to Zion before, but neither could remember it.
• On his last camp out (father and sons camp out with the ward), Felix fell into a Dutch oven and sustained a nasty burn on his leg. On the camp out before that he fell into a cactus, and we had to pick barbs out of his bum by flashlight in the dark. This camping trip was injury-free for him! (My dad says we need to get him a suit of armor to wear while camping, and that's probably true.)
• Trixie liked to fall asleep with her head sticking out. In the one picture above where she is resting her head on Eric's back (like a normal person would), she was only in that position because I placed her so. Usually when I tried to rearrange her sleeping body to a comfortable position, she would flop right back to the head-sticking-out-to-the-side position.
• If you ask Ike and Felix about their favorite part of the trip, they will tell you it was the swimming pool at the condo and going to see Zootopia. So, basically, things we could have done at home.
• I really am pleased with how well my boys hiked, in case you couldn't tell. Nearly two miles (length of the Queens Garden Trail) on steep trails for a scrawny 3.5 year old is pretty impressive.
• Ike wore a "Don't Mess With Texas" shirt one of the days, and he loved to "trick" people by telling them our family was from Texas. Where in Texas? "Just the normal part."
• Both boys were totally zonked out during church on Sunday.
• On the drive home when Felix was incredibly cranky, Eric and I decided to stop and get ice cream. We went to a Burger King, but ice cream was not on the dessert menu, so Eric ordered a couple of shakes, which, Felix was not particularly interested in having. He then declared he wanted crackers (which we had in the car). As Ike and I finished up the shakes, Eric took Felix back to the car to get the more desirable crackers, when he saw a man walking out with a couple of soft-serve ice cream cones. And that was not the most humorously frustrating stop on our drive home, but now you have a better idea of why it took us so long to get home.
• Okay, I can't reference a more humorous stop and not give more details. Shortly after a bathroom break, Ike declared he needed to go. We tried to make him wait but ultimately had to pull over to a rarely-used exit to let him do his business. While helping him, Eric was attacked by angry bees. While Eric literally ran around the exit ramp swatting at the bees, I stared, baffled, from the car. Ike continued his procedure totally unaware of his father. Somehow everyone was able to re-enter the car un-stung.