The kids had a wonderful time Nate got several lego sets (star wars and mars mission) a chemistry set and a remote control bat car.
Lexi got a bratz convertible car, a barbie head makeup set, and a makeup kit (grrrrr, thank you grandmoo, we already have glitter all over the bathroom and playroom) a Dora flying pegasus, and several barbie dolls.
The big thing we got this year was a Wii and several games. Nate played the tank battle and cow race from the Wii play all day.
Hope everyone had a happy new year.
Friday, December 26, 2008
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
With the freeze we get an icicle tree
So I was picking up the mail after work Monday and I looked up and saw the above.
Now all the other bushes looked normal so there were two possibilities: Chris is decorating the trees and only got one done or there is a BAD water leak somewhere. So hoping against hope I went in and asked Chris if she had decorated one of the bushes. After getting the expected answer (no) I went out and sure enough there was a hairline crack in the outside faucet. Which was shooting a fine mist of water about 12-15 feet and with the cold it was pretty much freezing on contact.
I showed it to the kids and gave each of them a small part of an icicle to munch on. It was pretty easy to convince Lexi that icicles grew on trees but Nate (being seven) was skeptical but did not connect the spraying water to the ice until he asked why I was not letting them get their own icicles.
So I called the plumber and ran up to work and grabbed my laptop so I could work from home Tuesday. Chris filled up a bunch of buckets, pans, containers with water and when I got home I shut off the water. The plumber showed up around noon and fifteen minutes and $125 later we had the faucet fixed and the water running. Luckily it was only the faucet that was cracked - I was deathly afraid that the connecting pipe had cracked too.
More than the campout did this experience teach me the simple pleasures that running water brings: a bath, hygiene, drinks, flushing toliets. Though we had plans for all of them except the last one you still miss the ease in which having water on tap can bring. Fortunatly it was only for a day.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Happy Thanksgiving
Well another Thanksgiving has come and gone. We had both families over this year plus Bobby and Darlene were able to fly in too. My parents had offered to take us all out for the Thanksgiving meal but Chris really wants home cooked meals for the holidays (tradition) so Chris, Carol and I prepared and cooked the Thanksgiving dinner.
This was the first year that Chris and her mom did the dressing. The dressing was a family recipe that unfortunately was largely lost when Chris' Aunt Gail passed away last year. So there were some interesting times when the two of them were trying to figure out how much of what ingredient to put in. But after all that the stuffing was excellent (I liked it).
After dinner we broke up into different groups. Bobby and Darlene played with the kids while the rest of us swapped out between resting and cleaning up.
That night we had an early Christmas for the Conway family. The kids really enjoyed that. Nate got a Air Hogs flier that he has wanted for a long time. Lexi got a Build a Bear and she is in love with it.
Friday morning Mom, Dad, Bobby, Darlene and Nate went to go see Nate's great Nana in Carthage. I took Lexi over to Carol's to return some stuff she left over then I took her to McDonalds to play until she was ready to leave. After that I did some more shopping with her and called it the day.
Saturday Lexi had went to a birthday party for one of her classmates (Caleb) it was at 1:30 so I took her out to lunch at IHop and then we went to the birthday party. Lexi had a great time until she jumped out of one of the bounce houses wrong and landed on her knee. I thought she just hit her funny bone until Sunday when I saw a small bruise above her knee but she is running around okay now. After the party came home and rested. That night we had pizza and shortly after that Bobby, Darlene, Mom, Dad and Nate got home and we watched the Star Wars clone wars DVD and went to bed.
Mom and Dad left Sunday morning and I dropped Bobby and Darlene off at the airport.
And now its time to get ready for Xmas.....
I posted what pictures I took in the photo album. Enjoy!
This was the first year that Chris and her mom did the dressing. The dressing was a family recipe that unfortunately was largely lost when Chris' Aunt Gail passed away last year. So there were some interesting times when the two of them were trying to figure out how much of what ingredient to put in. But after all that the stuffing was excellent (I liked it).
After dinner we broke up into different groups. Bobby and Darlene played with the kids while the rest of us swapped out between resting and cleaning up.
That night we had an early Christmas for the Conway family. The kids really enjoyed that. Nate got a Air Hogs flier that he has wanted for a long time. Lexi got a Build a Bear and she is in love with it.
Friday morning Mom, Dad, Bobby, Darlene and Nate went to go see Nate's great Nana in Carthage. I took Lexi over to Carol's to return some stuff she left over then I took her to McDonalds to play until she was ready to leave. After that I did some more shopping with her and called it the day.
Saturday Lexi had went to a birthday party for one of her classmates (Caleb) it was at 1:30 so I took her out to lunch at IHop and then we went to the birthday party. Lexi had a great time until she jumped out of one of the bounce houses wrong and landed on her knee. I thought she just hit her funny bone until Sunday when I saw a small bruise above her knee but she is running around okay now. After the party came home and rested. That night we had pizza and shortly after that Bobby, Darlene, Mom, Dad and Nate got home and we watched the Star Wars clone wars DVD and went to bed.
Mom and Dad left Sunday morning and I dropped Bobby and Darlene off at the airport.
And now its time to get ready for Xmas.....
I posted what pictures I took in the photo album. Enjoy!
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Mineral Wells campout: retrospective
Where I work at we have a retrospective meeting at the end of each iteration of the project. Basically we discuss the good, bad and ugly of a project to see what's working, what can be improved in the next iteration and what we never want to try again.
Given that I would like to try the same thing with the our campout
Mineral Wells campout (retrospective/lessons learned)
Good
- Nate had a really good time (he really enjoyed the tug-of-war and the three mile hike)
- Nate has been more willing to try new foods.
- No rain! Originally there was rain forecasted for Saturday.
- The tent held up against the wind very well.
- I purchased my new favorite winter hat.
Bad
- Found out the hard way that a sleeping bag rated at 30 degrees means you will survive at that temperature – not be comfortable at it.
- Need to find more comfortable padding for under the sleeping bag (hard ground bad). The think foam pad I have is not enough for me. An air mattress is a BAD idea in cold weather.
- Layering clothing won't always work unless you have one thick layer or have a lot of layers.
Ugly
- Was not fully prepared for the cold nights.
The Friggin hilarious (A new category I want to add in)
- The parents that complained on Friday that what we had was not a real campout because we had running water and a bathroom at the campsite. All I could do was remind them that this was a cub scout camp out – not Survivorman. After the first night no one complained (especially when they discovered that the bathroom had an electric hand warme....dryer. Though to their credit all the ones that complained on Friday all stayed through the whole ordeal, though I do want to point out that the whiner (that's me) stayed through it all too.
Lessons learned.
1.Get a thicker foam mattress for next camp out. Air mattress is okay if its a summer campout.
2.One of the guys at work suggested using a trash bag around the feet of the sleeping bad to help keep the heat in. I googled this and found some very interesting information.
3.Another interesting tidbit I will try out: put a tarp under the tent. The main reason I heard was that it helps the tent last longer but after reading the above article it also is supposed to add a layer of insulation under the tent. The main thing is though not to have any bit of the tarp sticking out from under the tent as it could help water to collect under the tent.
4.For cold weather I will bring the heavy clothing. This last trip I relied too much on layering. Next time I will bring the heavy coat and heavy wool pants that was not only comfortable in the 5 degree Minnesota winter but actually warm because I would only be wearing it for a couple of hours. But I definitely could have used the wool pants at night.
5.When its below freezing I will bring a blanket for inside the sleeping blanket (if I do all this I should burning up in all but sub zero temperature – but better than being cold because I can always remove a layer).
Given that I would like to try the same thing with the our campout
Mineral Wells campout (retrospective/lessons learned)
Good
- Nate had a really good time (he really enjoyed the tug-of-war and the three mile hike)
- Nate has been more willing to try new foods.
- No rain! Originally there was rain forecasted for Saturday.
- The tent held up against the wind very well.
- I purchased my new favorite winter hat.
Bad
- Found out the hard way that a sleeping bag rated at 30 degrees means you will survive at that temperature – not be comfortable at it.
- Need to find more comfortable padding for under the sleeping bag (hard ground bad). The think foam pad I have is not enough for me. An air mattress is a BAD idea in cold weather.
- Layering clothing won't always work unless you have one thick layer or have a lot of layers.
Ugly
- Was not fully prepared for the cold nights.
The Friggin hilarious (A new category I want to add in)
- The parents that complained on Friday that what we had was not a real campout because we had running water and a bathroom at the campsite. All I could do was remind them that this was a cub scout camp out – not Survivorman. After the first night no one complained (especially when they discovered that the bathroom had an electric hand warme....dryer. Though to their credit all the ones that complained on Friday all stayed through the whole ordeal, though I do want to point out that the whiner (that's me) stayed through it all too.
Lessons learned.
1.Get a thicker foam mattress for next camp out. Air mattress is okay if its a summer campout.
2.One of the guys at work suggested using a trash bag around the feet of the sleeping bad to help keep the heat in. I googled this and found some very interesting information.
3.Another interesting tidbit I will try out: put a tarp under the tent. The main reason I heard was that it helps the tent last longer but after reading the above article it also is supposed to add a layer of insulation under the tent. The main thing is though not to have any bit of the tarp sticking out from under the tent as it could help water to collect under the tent.
4.For cold weather I will bring the heavy clothing. This last trip I relied too much on layering. Next time I will bring the heavy coat and heavy wool pants that was not only comfortable in the 5 degree Minnesota winter but actually warm because I would only be wearing it for a couple of hours. But I definitely could have used the wool pants at night.
5.When its below freezing I will bring a blanket for inside the sleeping blanket (if I do all this I should burning up in all but sub zero temperature – but better than being cold because I can always remove a layer).
Friday, November 21, 2008
Mineral Wells campout: Sunday
MORE COLD!!!!
I have to say though I fell in love with the fleece cap. I like it even more than my Russian furry hat (sorry Jamie). Even though it got below freezing my head and ears were warm.
When we got up Sunday morning we discovered several things:
- The kids all got got polar bear patches (it got below freezing - 26F)
- Of the nine tiger scouts and parents there Saturday only three were there in the morning. Most had left the night before because of the cold.
- The minivan had a flat! Looking at the tire I saw what looked like a nail. I seem to have the worst luck with my tires.
Fortunately I had brought an air tank so I aired it most of the way up and then had breakfast. Breakfast was simple this time: Pop tarts, muffins and oatmeal cream pies. After a quick breakfast we broke down camp, did another trash patrol with the kids, doused and buried the campfire then headed out.
Because of the flat I went to the Wal-Mart in Mineral Wells to see if they could patch the flat tire. Now I have been to Wal-Mart before because I caught a nail in the tire. The last time was in Jacksonville and they would not fix it because the nail was too close to the edge of the tire - it was still in a groove though so it was not on the edge just too close for them to work on it. So I took it down the street and they had it fixed in ten minutes. This time the nail was in the center but they could not fix it because the minivan has an air pressure sensor on it and they could not fix my tire because they did not have a replacement sensor in stock. So all they would do is fully air up my tire so I could drive 15 miles to Weatherford to the nearest NTB to get the tire looked at.
While NTB was looking at the tire Nate and I walked over to Cracker Barrel for lunch. This was the first time I have ever been there and I was impressed! Both the food and the service was good. After that we walked back over to NTB - it turned out that the "nail" was really a flat rock and they could not find anything wrong with the tire. Better yet since there was nothing wrong with the tire they did not charge anything! I will definitely take my tire business to NTB from now on.
I have to say though I fell in love with the fleece cap. I like it even more than my Russian furry hat (sorry Jamie). Even though it got below freezing my head and ears were warm.
When we got up Sunday morning we discovered several things:
- The kids all got got polar bear patches (it got below freezing - 26F)
- Of the nine tiger scouts and parents there Saturday only three were there in the morning. Most had left the night before because of the cold.
- The minivan had a flat! Looking at the tire I saw what looked like a nail. I seem to have the worst luck with my tires.
Fortunately I had brought an air tank so I aired it most of the way up and then had breakfast. Breakfast was simple this time: Pop tarts, muffins and oatmeal cream pies. After a quick breakfast we broke down camp, did another trash patrol with the kids, doused and buried the campfire then headed out.
Because of the flat I went to the Wal-Mart in Mineral Wells to see if they could patch the flat tire. Now I have been to Wal-Mart before because I caught a nail in the tire. The last time was in Jacksonville and they would not fix it because the nail was too close to the edge of the tire - it was still in a groove though so it was not on the edge just too close for them to work on it. So I took it down the street and they had it fixed in ten minutes. This time the nail was in the center but they could not fix it because the minivan has an air pressure sensor on it and they could not fix my tire because they did not have a replacement sensor in stock. So all they would do is fully air up my tire so I could drive 15 miles to Weatherford to the nearest NTB to get the tire looked at.
While NTB was looking at the tire Nate and I walked over to Cracker Barrel for lunch. This was the first time I have ever been there and I was impressed! Both the food and the service was good. After that we walked back over to NTB - it turned out that the "nail" was really a flat rock and they could not find anything wrong with the tire. Better yet since there was nothing wrong with the tire they did not charge anything! I will definitely take my tire business to NTB from now on.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Mineral Wells campout: Saturday
COLD!!!!
Oh My God it was cold! And the wind!
I learned that night that all a tent is is a overglorified windbreaker - and at high winds some will still get in. Combined with the fact that it was 36 degrees it got cold.
Now the sleeping bag I had was rated to withstand 30 degrees. My body was okay but my exposed head froze. I ended up sleeping with my cap on. Nate on the other hand was small enough to duck all the way into the sleeping bag so he did okay.
If it sounds like I am whining its because I am. I am not an outdoor person. So giving up my soft bead with heated mattress pad and down comforter for a cold tent on hard ground in near freezing temperatures was not an fair trade by a long shot.
So when it was time to start breakfast and they realized that we did not have any flour I VERY quickly volunteered to run to Wal-Mart to pick it up. While I was there I got a fleece cap for me and a knit cap for Nate.
Breakfast was good. We had scrambled eggs, sausages, bacon, milk, orange juice. One of the parents brought Pop Tarts for their kids so Nate and some of the others showed up with Pop Tarts. But even then by the time I got through the line the bacon was gone and there was only a couple of sausages left. The Webelos helped some with the cooking and alot with the cleaning.
After breakfast the scouts had a trash patrol where we walked over the whole camp area where we were staying and picked up trash. I was really proud of Nate - he voluntarily went through briar bushes several times to get trash and toward the end he was getting good at it.
After that we had games. The first game was tug of war. They broke it up by rank: Tiger (which Nate is), Wolf, Bear, Webelos one and two. It worked out as follows:
Tiger vs Wolf - Tigers won.
Tiger vs Bear - Tigers won (This was not surprising as there was only two bear scouts at the campout vs nine Tigers)
Tiger vs Webelos one - Webelos barely
Webelos one vs Webelos two - Webelos two.
After that it was Fathers vs scouts. The first was five vs five (fathers won) then it was five fathers vs ten scouts (fathers one) then it was five vs all scouts (fathers won barely after a couple of fathers jumped in and helped).
Then there was Tank and Commander. Basically its twelve scouts - six tanks and six commanders and six or more soft nerf balls thrown out on a field. The tanks are blind folded and rely on the commander to give them directions to go to a ball, pick it up and throw it at one of the other tanks. If you are hit by a ball then you and your commander are out and the last one on the field wins. It was so funny listening to the 6-7 year olds give directions (over here, follow me, this way).
Then while the kids played the grown ups did lunch. Lunch was chicken and dumplings, Potato soup, and dutch oven cobbler. The dutch oven cobbler was awesome!
After lunch clean up we did a three mile hike. Nate did really good and would not let go of his buddy (we were using a buddy system) until the end when they had to go up a steep hill and I convinced him it would be easier if he would let go of Devon (his buddy).
After that was dinner. Dutch oven Lasagna, smores cake, and apple crumb cake. All of it was good. And even Nate enjoyed the meatless lasagna.
After that I helped with cleaning of the ironware. Now while dutch ovens are awesome to cook with they are a pain to clean as they are cast iron. Basically we cleaned it with steel wool then heated some water in the pot and dried that out with a paper towel (to get any food left behind) then we heated it again and then put a thin layer of oil on the inside, then we heated that.
After dinner the kids told stories around the campfire for a while then we all bundled up in multiple layers of clothes climbed in our tents/sleeping bags and went to sleep.
More later....
Oh My God it was cold! And the wind!
I learned that night that all a tent is is a overglorified windbreaker - and at high winds some will still get in. Combined with the fact that it was 36 degrees it got cold.
Now the sleeping bag I had was rated to withstand 30 degrees. My body was okay but my exposed head froze. I ended up sleeping with my cap on. Nate on the other hand was small enough to duck all the way into the sleeping bag so he did okay.
If it sounds like I am whining its because I am. I am not an outdoor person. So giving up my soft bead with heated mattress pad and down comforter for a cold tent on hard ground in near freezing temperatures was not an fair trade by a long shot.
So when it was time to start breakfast and they realized that we did not have any flour I VERY quickly volunteered to run to Wal-Mart to pick it up. While I was there I got a fleece cap for me and a knit cap for Nate.
Breakfast was good. We had scrambled eggs, sausages, bacon, milk, orange juice. One of the parents brought Pop Tarts for their kids so Nate and some of the others showed up with Pop Tarts. But even then by the time I got through the line the bacon was gone and there was only a couple of sausages left. The Webelos helped some with the cooking and alot with the cleaning.
After breakfast the scouts had a trash patrol where we walked over the whole camp area where we were staying and picked up trash. I was really proud of Nate - he voluntarily went through briar bushes several times to get trash and toward the end he was getting good at it.
After that we had games. The first game was tug of war. They broke it up by rank: Tiger (which Nate is), Wolf, Bear, Webelos one and two. It worked out as follows:
Tiger vs Wolf - Tigers won.
Tiger vs Bear - Tigers won (This was not surprising as there was only two bear scouts at the campout vs nine Tigers)
Tiger vs Webelos one - Webelos barely
Webelos one vs Webelos two - Webelos two.
After that it was Fathers vs scouts. The first was five vs five (fathers won) then it was five fathers vs ten scouts (fathers one) then it was five vs all scouts (fathers won barely after a couple of fathers jumped in and helped
Then there was Tank and Commander. Basically its twelve scouts - six tanks and six commanders and six or more soft nerf balls thrown out on a field. The tanks are blind folded and rely on the commander to give them directions to go to a ball, pick it up and throw it at one of the other tanks. If you are hit by a ball then you and your commander are out and the last one on the field wins. It was so funny listening to the 6-7 year olds give directions (over here, follow me, this way).
Then while the kids played the grown ups did lunch. Lunch was chicken and dumplings, Potato soup, and dutch oven cobbler. The dutch oven cobbler was awesome!
After lunch clean up we did a three mile hike. Nate did really good and would not let go of his buddy (we were using a buddy system) until the end when they had to go up a steep hill and I convinced him it would be easier if he would let go of Devon (his buddy).
After that was dinner. Dutch oven Lasagna, smores cake, and apple crumb cake. All of it was good. And even Nate enjoyed the meatless lasagna.
After that I helped with cleaning of the ironware. Now while dutch ovens are awesome to cook with they are a pain to clean as they are cast iron. Basically we cleaned it with steel wool then heated some water in the pot and dried that out with a paper towel (to get any food left behind) then we heated it again and then put a thin layer of oil on the inside, then we heated that.
After dinner the kids told stories around the campfire for a while then we all bundled up in multiple layers of clothes climbed in our tents/sleeping bags and went to sleep.
More later....
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