Boyd Family Camping

So we survived our camping trip. On the way home on Sunday I called my mom. My exact words were, “Mom thanks so much for making camping so much fun when I was a kid and I’m sorry I didn’t help more.”

My childhood camping memories are filled with fun times and great food. Little did I realize then that my parents camped on our vacations through Europe because they didn’t have a lot of money. This was when my dad was still enlisted and my mom didn’t work. And I had no idea about how much work it is for the mom. That is until now.

Ashley and I are big into planning everything – Ashley a little more so than I am. We basically were driving Amanda crazy the week before we went camping. She finally told us to just give her a list of what she was supposed to bring. Ashley and I went shopping for all the food the weekend before and even made spaghetti sauce (with the help of my mom) and froze it.

We originally were going to go down to Big Sur on Thursday afternoon and come home on Sunday. That was before I realized that Liam started school so early. So the Bridges’ and De Noyer’s went down Friday afternoon. We followed after Liam got out of school at 2:30. Oh, and we took my dad’s pick-up to have more room and still couldn’t fit two boxes of stuff, which Amanda was nice enough to carry down for us. I think all the moms were glad we cut it short by one night.

After trying to figure out the best configuration of tents and cars to keep the toddlers from escaping easily, we finally set down to preparing dinner. The first night was pretty simple – hotdogs, chili, and sun chips. The kids loved cooking the hotdogs over the fire. Liam cooked Brianna’s, since he doesn’t eat them. I made him a grilled cheese sandwich. So after about an hour of cooking and eating it was time to clean up. We were trying to be environmental kind and didn’t use paper plates or disposable silverware - which means that we had to clean dishes a lot. The first night that took forever because we were trying to heat water on the camp stove to do the dishes. We FINALLY got smart and put the pot of water on the fire and it heated up so much faster. We actually learned quite a few lessons.

The kids loved having s’mores that night and the next. We actually had to buy more s’more fixin’s at the little store because we were all eating so many of them. But let’s be honest – isn’t that the best part of camping. S’mores just don’t taste the same at any other time.

The first night was horrible. Poor Noah got sick and was up all night crying and miserable. Joaquin finally packed him up and took him home around midnight. So Greg was the only man in camp. He was great though. Not one complaint out of him. Amanda was smart and brought her pack and play for Des. We didn’t think about it. Brianna got to have her first out of crib sleeping experience on an air mattress covered with sleeping bags. Basically Liam and I slept on one air mattress and Greg and Brianna slept on the other one that was right next to it. Greg discovered that Brianna moves around in her sleep just as much as her brother. And of course the kids didn’t go to sleep easily. Liam didn’t like all the noise and Brianna didn’t know what to do with all the space she had. We tagged teamed laying down with them and actually ended up going to bed pretty early.

So it seemed to take forever to have meals and clean up. The next morning we had pancakes. That was an experience. After what seemed like an hour we had fed the kids, because I could only make three pancakes at a time and the side closest to the middle of the pan would sort of burn while the outside didn’t really cook all the way. So it took some getting use to. Amanda got smart and started another pot to cook them in and took over cooking so I could eat. We finally told Greg and everyone else, if they wanted more pancakes they had to make their own.

We did have a lot of fun on Saturday. Greg stayed at camp, while the moms and kids headed over to a neighboring camp ground that had a playground area that the dads had discovered the day before. The kids had a great time and the little girls held their own with all the bigger kids on the playground. Then we went back to camp had a lunch of sandwiches (yeah no cooking – except Liam’s grilled cheese) and chips. After lunch everyone changed into swimwear and went down to the river to have water play. I stayed back at camp which overlooked the river, so I got some good pictures of everyone having a good time. Brianna didn’t want anything to do with the water, which was very cold. Liam loved playing with the water guns but didn’t really like getting in the river either. Des and Kylie had a great time in the water.

We had the spaghetti sauce and pasta with garlic bread for dinner that night. It was perfect because it was filling and there’s something about being outside all day that really works up an appetite. Again cleaning all the dishes was a pain. The one good thing about all the fun the kids had that day was that they were exhausted – the little girls didn’t nap either. So all the kids went to bed pretty easily that night. We adults got to stay up and talk and have more S’mores. That was the best night but we were all pretty exhausted too. In fact at dinner that night, Amanda and I were discussing how much more fun camping was before we had kids.

Oh and Amanda came prepared. She had little jingle bell bracelets that we put around the little girls ankles just in case they strayed too far. Kylie and Liam got whistles with the rule that they were only to be used in case of emergency. Amanda also brought glow sticks for the big kids for both nights. Liam slept with his each night tightly grasped in both hands.

Sunday morning our kids were up first. Greg and I weren’t quite ready to get out of bed, so Liam and Brianna put on a song and dance show for us on the “stage” - the area of the tent at the foot of the ‘beds’ and in front of the changing room area. They were too funny and I think all our laughter woke up Kylie. It was about 6:45 when we got out of the tent and fed the kids breakfast.

Then we started packing up, which seemed to take longer than set up – mostly because we were all doing it at the same time and having to watch the kids, which wasn’t exactly easy. But we didn’t lose any of them. After Greg got the tent packed up, I discovered a cool looking bug on our tarp, so I called the kids over to take a look. It was the first bug we actually encountered, which is weird because I thought we’d be surrounded by them.

And just for the record, everyone gave me a bad time about bringing so much stuff, but we used everything except the space heater. And when we packed up, it all fit in the truck because a lot of the stuff was food that we ate up during the weekend.

My favorite part was when Greg was talking to Liam and saying (not a direct quote), “You had a lot of fun didn’t you? Mommy put a lot of work into this trip, so you should give her a big hug and kiss and a big thank you.” Liam then proceeded to give me the biggest thank you I’ve ever received and a huge hug and kiss. It made all the work worth it in that split second. The aching back was forgotten, the nasty dishes forgotten, the cold, uncomfortable, sleepless night forgotten and I basked in the glow of my childhood memories that I had just recreated in my son. And isn’t that why we enter into this crazy thing called parenthood. For all the pain, worry, stress, etc. those fleeting moments of pure joy that your child gets to experience make it all worthwhile.

Greg was all ready to make this a family tradition. I’m all for that as long as we don’t have to do it again for at least a year. I need time to recover.

There is one little tip I’d like to leave you with – Don’t take toddlers camping. Take babies that can’t yet move on their own or kids that are old enough to come back when you call them. If you must bring a toddler, I’d suggest tying them up to a rope between two trees. This may sound cruel, but trust me it will save your sanity. : )

P.S. When I picked up Liam from Porter Youth Center on Monday, his teacher told me he couldn’t stop talking about his camping trip and how much fun he had.

Camping and Singing

First, we are taking the kids on their first camping trip this weekend. Yes, I’m a bit scared. Some people have told me I’ve over packed (Greg!). And while I don’t like the boy scouts policy on gays, I do believe in the motto of “Always be prepared”. “Better safe than sorry” “A penny saved is a penny earned” Oh wait, I digress.

So, we are camping with the Bridges (Joaquin, Ashley, Kylie, and baby Noah) and some of the De Noyers (Amanda and Des). Liam and Kylie will entertain each other and Des and Brianna are starting to get use to playing together (ok side by side still with a little interaction every now and then). So the adult to child ratio is still one to one, but we can tag team and I think that will make it somewhat relaxing. This is really going to be the test of whether we keep all our camping equipment when we redo the garage or whether we decide that we can’t hack it. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Brianna LOVES to sing. Liam liked to sing. But Brianna really LOVES it. She’s always singing in the car, when I change her diaper, in her crib -- Basically anywhere. And you better clap for her when she’s completed the song – even if it’s hard to tell when that is – although lately she lets you know by clapping herself. She doesn’t have a big repertoire, but that doesn’t seem to bother her. Here are some sample lyrics.

Up bove whirl so hi
Ike dimnd sky
Winkle, winkle ittle star
Wonder wwwaa are
(that’s Twinkle Twinkle Little Star)

MeDonald hav farm
Eieio
Moo moo here
Moo moo here
Eieio
Donald farm
Eieio
(that’s Old McDonald Had a Farm)

Ring rosy
All fallllllll downnnnn
(Ring Around the Rosie)

EEEEEEEEEEEEEE
(Brianna’s impression of an opera singer – she actually stretches out her arms to either side and screeches at a decibel that I think is going to break our windows one day. She typically only does this when Liam or I are not paying enough attention to her.)

Back to School Night

So this past Tuesday was Back to School Night. Basically the principle addressed the parents and talked about the typical stuff – how to join the PTA, if you want to chaperone a field trip starting this year you must be fingerprinted, etc. Kind of makes you wonder why they started fingerprinting this year – did something happen last year?

Anywoo, then we got to go to Liam’s class room and his teacher, Mrs. Hord, explained stuff to us. Also, the kids weren’t at this little meeting. So Greg and I sit in the teeny, tiny chairs and start looking around before the ‘talk’ begins. Liam’s class is the frogs. So there is a bulletin board with frog cutouts and a picture of each kid on the face of the frog – very cute. Mrs. Hord also made the most delicious lemon cookies. I think between Greg and I we ate a half dozen.

Transitional kindergarten was explained in more detail. Basically it’s a smaller class size and has a dedicated teacher’s aid, so the ratio is 10 to 1. They start the class off slow and by December they have a good idea about where kids are, so in January they divide them up into four groups based on how well they are reading. The best readers go to a more advanced reading group for an hour a day and the ones still having problems stay with Mrs. Hord for the hour reading group – the other two groups go to other groups that are appropriate. So starting in January she said that they are basically doing exactly what the other classrooms are doing and everyone is ready for 1st grade by the end of the year. One of the parents asked if any of the kids re-did kindergarten. She said that last year (the first year of this program) three kids did stay back a year, but one of them was because of emotional development.

Oh, Mrs. Hord was a pre-school teacher and has been a kinder teacher for two years. She looks younger than Janelle, so that took some getting use to for me. But she is super nice.

OK, back to the classroom. She has created a chart with four frogs on it and everyone has a clothes pin with their name on it. They start each day on the green frog square. If they are having a super day they get to move to the rainbow frog square. Not such a hot day the yellow, and if they are having a really bad day (i.e. not listening) then they have to move their name down to the red square. They can move up and down throughout the day. If they’ve been in the green all day, then they get a sticker – on rainbow you get two stickers. After four or five stickers you get to go to the treasure box and pick something out. You know Liam just loves that idea.

She gives a homework packet every Monday and you have to complete it by Friday, which works perfectly for us because some nights Liam falls asleep on the way home. He has to write his name every night (actually trace it). Then there’s cut out the lowercase letter and paste it under the same upper case letter. Color the pictures that are the same. Cut out two different type of objects (different fishes & different flowers) and then paste them in the correct column (fish under fish, flowers under the flower) and color them. This was the first week of homework and Liam started out every session with I can’t do that. So I’m trying to be as encouraging as possible without losing my patience. So I show him one cut and then tell him to just try. He gets so upset if he cuts off the line even a little bit. So we’ve been explaining a lot about having to practice before you’re good at something and how Mommy and Daddy had to practice a long time before we were good at cutting a straight line. So that’s been our biggest battle so far. But he likes to color, especially when I break out a coloring book and color in it while he’s doing his homework – because I want to have FUN too.

This is only the third week of school, but I notice that he’s still pretty much a loner out on the playground when I drop him off and he still wants me to stay and watch until they blow the whistle to line up for class. I’ve also volunteered to help in the class one day a week. On Thursdays from 10:45 to 11:45 (so I can just take an early lunch – nice thing about the school being so close to work), I’ll be helping with Math. Yes, that’s the math time and my mom and Greg are already worried for these poor kindergarteners. But I’ve explained that I should be fine with kinder math, as long as we don’t have to go up past 100 – those zeros can really throw me off. Actually I think they do calendar work with the math section and I’m really good at the days of the week. : )

I’ve also volunteered to help with some of the classroom parties – cuz you know how I love a party. I can’t wait until I get to make 20 themed cupcakes. I’ll be letting you all know how things are going with kindergarten and Liam, so stay tuned.

Kindergarten for Liam

I know I haven’t blogged in a long while. I’m so behind – it’s just hard to find time at home when you’ve got two extremely energetic kids. And there are some people I’ve wanted to write to, but haven’t gotten around to that either - But enough about my inabilities to manage my time.

After much stress and a few visits to the Monterey Peninsula School District offices, we finally got all the paperwork done and approved for Liam to go to Marshall Elementary. It has really good scores and is just a 5 minute drive from work. After talking to a lot of co-workers the interdistrict transfer process doesn’t get any easier as the kids get older and it seems they change the process every other year or so. So the stress will continue.

Anyway, Liam did get to attend a Kinder Camp for two weeks. It was offered through the Army Community Services and because we work for the Department of Defense, Liam was eligible. It was actually held at Marshall, so he got use to the campus. It was only a half a day and the staff at Porter Youth Center would go and pick the kids up and walk them to the youth center for the second half of the day. We just love that the youth center is one block from the school. Liam LOVES the youth center. He plays really hard there - so hard that during the summer, many days he would fall asleep on the way home and sleep through the night – missing dinner. Liam also started taking martial arts classes at the youth center. A friend from work, Chris, teaches the classes and Liam just loves them. It’s two days a week for an hour. He’s getting better and before long will be able to kick some hinny. : )

So, Monterey School District is on a modified year round schedule. Liam started school this past Monday, Aug. 4th. I wasn’t really ready for him to start school so soon and because we found out so late that the interdistrict transfer was approved, we were scrambling the last week and a half before school started. They interview/test all the kids going into Kindergarten and we didn’t get a little about the appointment to do this, so I had to call and arrange it. Liam wasn’t on the original list of students. I was filling out a questionnaire about Liam, while he was playing “learning” games. And it was so hard to listen to because he wouldn’t answer, when I knew for a fact that he knew the answers. He was just too shy to answer. He doesn’t like to be wrong and would rather not say anything as opposed to being wrong. I’m trying to work on that with him.

The Friday before school started, they had an ice cream social get to meet your teacher event. Liam’s class is room 1, which is the same room as the Kinder Camp was held in. This helped him out so much because he was at least familiar with the room. His teacher, Mrs. Hord, is really nice and looks about 12. This is her second year teaching. Liam is in what they call transitional kindergarten. We’re supposed to learn more about what that means soon. But basically he wasn’t as ready for kindergarten as most other kids. We figured this would be the case because his birthday is only a week away from the cut off for entering kindergarten. If he was a week younger, he wouldn’t have even been able to enroll.

So here are some pictures from his first day. He loved it and hasn’t clinging at all. I actually had to call him over to me to get my hug and kiss goodbye and then he was off again. He knows two of the kids in his class from the Child Development Center and Porter Youth Center. Unfortunately, Dante (Liam’s best friend) isn’t in his class, but they get to see each other at the youth center and take the martial arts class together. We’ve gotten through the first week of school and hopefully, I’ll be better about keeping this blog updated with all our adventures.