While camping we made our yearly pilmrimage to pick up buckeyes! The last thing I need is another buckeye but we love to find and gather them. When we got there there was a man and a little girl and their two dogs there. They said they were from Central City and had never seen a buckeye tree before so they were really enjoying finding them. It’s especially fun to find them still in their cover and to open them up and see how many are inside. Drew had one with three inside and Mom had found one with four which Uncle Jerry said was rare. I love how pretty they are when you first find them – all different shades of brown and then they darken to a solid brown as they dry. I keep them in an old wooden bowl. They say if you find a buckeye it’s good luck – I’ve older men who keep one in their pocket all year long for that very reason!
After much debate and weather watching (cold and rain was in the forecast) last week we decided on Thursday to haul the camper out to Belva Deer. I’m glad we did. It was chilly. And it did rain. But fall is still the best time to camp. We just threw on layers and toughed it out and had a great time!
The best part of the weekend was enjoying the campfire. There’s nothing better than cool air, a warm fire and good company! This may have been our last outing of the season and it was a good one!
Diamond supervising while Grandpa builds a fire – no matter how hot it is we have to have S’mores!
Bocce ball players!
Nap time!
These two little boys put a lot of miles on those little legs!
Our campsite!
Bayah and Great Grandpa!
Water fights with the neighbor kids!
Good food – it always tastes better outside!
Walks through the woods!
Walks around the pond!
Piggyback rides!
And cheesy smiles!
We had a busy busy weekend. We spent Saturday selling shave ice – it turned out to be a beautiful day. Rain in the morning then it cleared off. Not too hot, a little breeze. A perfect day for a wonderful benefit day for Cale Jarmes. Then Sunday was spent getting the camper ready for our coming trip. Joe worked on the outside, I worked on the inside. It’s sparkly, shiny clean on the outside and organized and clean on the inside! (All except the toy cupboard. That will have to wait for a day I don’t have Drew around). Now to get salads and desserts made and clothes packed and we’ll be ready for a fun family weekend. We also took a break one eveninb, got some ice cream and drove out to Belva Deer where we saw this sweet Canadian Geese family going for a walk. They didn’t even care that we were behind them – they just kept waddling towards the pond!
After spending the day in Ottumwa shopping with Eric for college we made a spur of the moment decision to pick up supper in town and head out to Belva Deer and go for a hike. Drew had a free pizza from Casey’s he earned at school and we decided to use it tonight. It was a beautiful evening – cool and calm – perfect hiking weather!
We have been camping for years. At least 25 I would say. Our camping friends have changed throughout the years. Our campers have changed throughout the years. But still we camp. We got our first camper after Joe roofed a house for a friend. In payment, they gave him a camper. An old, dilapidated little camper actually. All the water lines were ruined and the refrigerator didn’t work. It was pretty much falling apart. But, we were young and thought we had hit the mother load! And we had so much fun in that little falling apart camper. We had friends who also had a little old camper, although it was in much better shape than ours, and we spent the weekends at one campground or another with them and their daughters. Their two girls and our two kids were so close in age and had so much fun together. They were from a neighboring community and the kids would never had gotten to be friends if we hadn’t spent so much time camping together.
That’s why we camp. We have made friends throughout the years with people we probably would have known as acquaintances but that would be it. Instead, when you spend weekends camping together you really get to know each other. In a whole different way! We have developed lifelong connections with these people and our kids have developed connections with others that they wouldn’t have in any other way.
It’s different now that we only have one little to take along. And times have changed too. At one time there would no less than four kids and usually many more and those kids would take off in a “pack” and hit the playground or go hiking or ride their bikes all over the campground. They had to check in so we knew they were okay but otherwise were free to roam. They would inevitably make new friends from around the campground. Friends they probably would never see again but they still touched each other’s lives for a day or two. They also spent most nights in a tent and not in the camper. They had way more fun together in the tent away from parents! Camping was a whole different world for them and they loved it. Even as they got older they would want to come with us and camp.
Today is not quite the same. All of our camping friends are our age and so their kids are either teenagers or are gone and so Drew doesn’t get the same experience as our older kids did. And times have changed. You don’t just let kids roam today and check in once in awhile. It Drew wants to play at the playground or ride his bike, an adult goes along. There is no letting him take off on his own and explore. But he still makes new friends. The last time we camped he met the little girl who was staying next door with her grandparents. They would ride their bikes and play with chalk and had a great time. Over the weekend we visited my sister who was camping and Drew spent the evening playing on the play equipment set up where we could sit and watch. He loved playing with a group of kids he’d never met before. Kids don’t get to do that much anymore. We have to be too much on guard at all times to let them make friends with strangers.