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Thursday, November 24, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving!

1 Year, 31 Weeks.



Thanksgiving

For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food,
For love and friends,

For everything Thy goodness sends.

- Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)



The Holiday season is officially here! 

You can just feel it in the air.  Or, at least, see it wherever you go:  Christmas decorations are up!  Black Friday marketing ads are suffocatingly everywhere!  It's on every channel on TV and you hear it constantly on the radio!  The shopping madness!  This year's "must have's"!  Doorbusters at midnight!  No, at 9 pm Thanksgiving Day!  The best deals of the year!  Get it before it's all gone!  Don't think about it, buy it now!  The biggest stuff!  The best stuff!  Even stuff you don't need!  Never ending stuff!  All consuming stuff!  Stuff, stuff, stuff!  Just...stuff!

Enough.  Stop.  Be thankful.

Here is what's important:  Love, family, relationships, friends, health, time together, and peace.  Be grateful for what you have.  Share your blessings.  Cherish the moments. 

The Holiday season is officially here.

I'm sure most of you, like ourselves, are busily getting ready for the hustle and bustle of Turkey day and weekend, so I'll keep last week's summary brief:
  • Friday night:  Tangie came home from 3 days in Pensacola, fighting a cold.  I couldn't sleep due to a couple of owls perched on top of our house at 2 AM having a hoot off.
  • Saturday:  Everyone still sniffling so we skipped out on church to be outside.  Swung by a family festival in Winter Garden and had lunch at the park.  Went grocery shopping for our 27 lb. turkey that evening.
  • Sunday:  Drove out to Christmas, FL to use a Groupon for Jungle Adventures for the kids.  Braelyn enjoyed feeding all the animals, including the alligators!  (vienna sausages on a pole for the baby gators)
  • Monday-Wednesday:  Braelyn has entire week off of school so is hanging out with Daddy and the twins.
  • Tuesday:  Spur of the moment, I challenged myself to take all 3 to Downtown Disney.  Had lots of fun!

At the oriental market, the twins point to the fish swimming below, before they meet the fate of their cousins on ice above.

Who is this masked crusader?

What great weather to spend outside!  Festival in downtown Winter Garden.

Braelyn tours the old trolley, now a museum, that used to be part of the Winter Garden railroad.

Kohl enjoys munching on some kettle corn.

Befuddled.  How do these work?

In front of "Swampy the Gator", at the entrance to Jungle Adventures.

Close encounters with the alligators.

I sure hope the fence is strong enough!

Maddy at the Indian village lecture.



The cutest Spanish conquistador!



Maddy spots something way in the back.



Got gator?

I spy...an alligator!  Can you see it?

The peacock wanted to be in the picture as well.

Mommy making new friends.

Pretty fearless, waiting for Tangie to crack open some peanuts.



Braelyn feels the smoothness of the boa constrictor.

Madelyn with a tarantula.

Kohlden touches the scorpion.

On a private boat tour around the swamp.




The kids feeding the black bears. 

Rainforest Cafe at Downtown Disney.
Warming up to the fake giraffe.

Mesmerized by the fishes.



To infinity...and beyond!

Putting together their Mr. Potato Heads.

Playing with the legos at the Lego store.



Maddy:  "It's our's Kohldie.  Yours and mine!"
Kohlden:  "I can reach it!"

Maddy does a great version of planking here.  Or gymnastics.

At the T-Rex restaurant, they have a place where kids can excavate fossils.  Pretty neat.






Sibling love.


This week's randoms:


And we thought we had a lot of stickers on our vehicle.

When you gotta golf, you gotta golf!



I didn't know Lala had her own brand of milk!


Some foods prepared this week:


Pad Thai with quail eggs.

Cheese platter.

Grilled ribeye with garlic mashed potatoes and basil cream sauce.


Have a great weekend, and a wonderful Thanksgiving!


Kids nowadays and their hats!




Friday, November 18, 2011

Happy Campers!

1 Year, 30 Weeks.



Flashlights?  Check.  Sleeping bags?  Check.  Tent?  Check.  Lanterns?  Check.  Cooking supplies?  Check.  Food?  Check.  Clothes?  Check.  Power inverter?  Check.  Folding chairs?  Check.  Shade canopy?  Check.  Toys?  Check.  Diapers?  Check.  Stuffed animals?  Check.  Pack 'n plays?  Check.  Children?  Um...let me check...

And the list went on and on and on...

We were anticipating this past weekend for quite some time now, as it would be a very new experience for us as a family.  We had been invited to join some friends and their families for a weekend camp out, and what had originally started with 3 families somehow ballooned to 8, and with our children included, the group totalled 33 individuals.  And at the head of this massive endeavor was William Cochran, who orchestrated it from start to finish with flying colors!  Talk about some serious planning!


The group minus the Vargas family.  (L to R)  Deiningers, Grodacks, Bergherms, Cochrans, Biris, Zbaraschuks, and Isidros.


We were also pleased and excited to find out that we were in for some great weather.  Or at least, during the day time.  A cold front had come through Thursday and with it the lowest temperatures of the season, so we heeded the warnings of the forecasters and concerns from my parents and made sure we brought along plenty of warm blankets for sleeping, just to be safe.  We would later find out that it was a very good idea, and essential for our survival!

I had been purchasing and preparing our gear and doing inventory on supplies we already had in storage for the past 2 weeks.  I wanted to make sure we had everything we might need, or thought we needed,  to make this a camp out we would always remember!  It had been 8 years since Tangie and I had gone camping, the last one down in the Keys with some newly married couples like ourselves back in November 2003.  The allure of cruise ships and hotels have significantly played a role since then, which was why going back to camping and "roughing it", this time as a family, was such a big deal.  And it was going to be with our close friends and their children, so yeah, we were stoked to say the least.


Our 2 man dome tent, Florida Keys, 2003.


Tangie was able to get off of work early and pick Braelyn up by one on Friday, and I had loaded up the van the night before and during the twins' naps, so by the time they got home we were just about ready to go.  We waited another hour as Kohlden slept; he had started teething again and had had a fever the night before.  His molars are finally breaking through!  I was just getting over a small cold I had from the prior weekend, so I was crossing my fingers we would all be okay over the camp out.  I was becoming slightly concerned again of the forecasted overnight temperature that night: 44°F.  Doesn't sound too bad though, does it?  (I can just hear the folks up north scoffing)   But let me remind you that a refrigerator is set between 34 and 38 degrees.   And food freezes at
32°F.  And although 44 degrees doesn't accompany the term "freeze warning", it's usually because we're inside a house whenever it gets that cold, not outside...in a tent.

Only a 45 minute drive north from Ocoee, Clearwater Lake Recreation Area in the town of Paisley, is just on the southern cusp of the Ocala National Forest, but I still say it counts for being in the wilderness.  We arrived there just a little after 4, so we had a short time to set up camp as darkness (literally, as the campsites were non-electrical) would soon descend on top of us.  We met up with William who pointed us to our site.  It was the largest one, with overhanging oak trees, and a gradual sloping through the woods to the water's edge about a hundred yards away.  We were next to the Grodack's site, as we were paired to cook and provide breakfast for the entire group on Sunday, and setting up together would be easier with the proximity.  However, their site really didn't have a large enough area to set up their mammoth of a tent newly purchased that week, so we thought it would be a good idea to have them share our site, and set up their tent, which surprisingly looked familiar, just across from ours.


Family vans backed up to unload.

Our campsite.  Our tent is the one on the right.

A quick walk down to see the lake.

Tangie and the children plus Calleigh.

Goodbye sun.  Hello cruel night.

The boys bundled up.

Baby Brady getting body heat from his daddy.  Or was it the other way around?  Hmmm....

Mommy and Maddy enjoy the sunset.  Papa would be proud of Maddy's choice in head wear.


At $124 from Walmart, this 20' X 11', 220 sq ft., 3 room, 10 person tent is the best deal anyone can get, which I think is why we found 3 more of the same exact tent on 2 other camp sites later on during the weekend!  Now, we could've easily upgraded to the one with the wrap around kitchen, marble jacuzzi bathtub and upstairs bonus room but c'mon, it's not like we were going to spend all of our time inside the tent, were we?  No, but seriously, I'm sure the Grodacks, as we did, appreciated the space needed to accommodate a family of five, along with their pack 'n plays, baby swings, and elevated air mattresses!  It was neat to see both tents up, with only a canopy tent and absolutely nothing else in between to muffle the screams of the crying children inside.  Note to self:  tent walls are not sound proof.


After a delicious supper of haystacks (that's a corn chip salad with toppings for those of you who are not SDA and thought we actually ate stacks of hay!) provided by the Deiningers and Zbaraschuks (who were still en route from picking Amy up at the airport) we brought the children back to base camp for what we hoped would be a drama free turn in for bed.  The temperature was now dropping rapidly, and we struggled to keep them in layers as we exchanged clothes into their fleece pajamas.  We had brought a small space heater that Tangie uses at her office to help offset the chilly conditions, and I was hoping to use it that night with the help of a power inverter I had purchased just for occasions such as this.  I plugged it in and waited for the moment of truth...and...nothing.  Actually, the display on the inverter said "overload".  Are you serious?  I know the box said 1200 peak amps.  And it came with 2 120V plug in ports.  We would later find out it couldn't even power an electric griddle for pancakes, much less a regular coffee maker.  I was totally bummed.  I couldn't believe I had spent a hundred bucks for it.  Perfect portable power my @$$.  At least I saved the receipt.  But now what?  Good thing Tangie brought along a big pile of blankets and beach towels.  We were definitely gonna need all of them that night!


Dinnertime!  Haystacks never tasted so good!

Trying to keep warm around the campfire.

The twins sound asleep in their pack 'n plays.  Notice the completely useless space heater and power inverter in the middle.

Kohl cuddles with his blanket bear, Carter.

Likewise, Maddy and Bearington under a slew of covers.


The twins went down fine, and were snug as bugs under layer upon layer of covering.  Braelyn joined the adults and older kids at the campfire where we enjoyed the warmth and glow of burning wood, finally falling asleep on Mommy's lap.  It was nice to catch up with the other parents and get to know new friends better.  It's amazing how cold weather makes you become closer as friends, literally!  Of course the majority of the topics involved our children but we did get to enjoy a beautiful rendition of the African classic, "Nants ingonyama bagithi Baba" from the opening song Circle of Life in Disney's Lion King, courtesy of Abel Biri.  The twins did fairly well for the first part of the night, just crying out a couple of times when they lost their pacifiers.  We all decided to turn in just before midnight, reveling in the fact we were awake at 11:11 pm on 11/11/11.



Duncan adjusts his wood as the girls work on their laptops.

Braelyn keeping Mommy warm.

Calleigh calling out for her parents.


The second part of the night didn't fare as well.  First of all, it was cold.  No, it was FRIGID!  And every time I heard any of the children stir I had to get up and check on them, to make sure they hadn't somehow wriggled out of the warm cocoons we had created with their blankets.  So that made it pretty hard to get some real solid sleep.  Secondly, I had to go to the bathroom twice, which is a lot harder to do when you have to put on your shoes and go out into the woods to look for a decent tree that didn't have a bear hiding behind it ready to pounce on you while you did your business.  Last but not least, my beautiful son Kohlden decided that he was wide awake and ready to play before anyone else on the entire campgrounds.  I took a quick glance at my watch.  It was 3 o'clock AM.  And since he refused to get back in his bundle of covers and go back to sleep, I brought him over to our bed, where for the next hour he flip flopped between Tangie's sleeping bag and mine, grabbing at the shadows of oak trees splayed on the tent walls from the full moon overhead.  So this is what camping with toddlers was like.


We put all 3 together in one pack 'n play for warmth until we heard other campers waking up.


All 3 children were wide awake come 6:30 in the morning.  That meant we were wide awake too.  So as soon as we heard the Grodack kids talking we let them loose out the tent.  Duncan started the fire and I worked on getting our coffee started.  At least the inverter could power the coffee pot specifically for camping, but it only made 3 cups and took forever to drip.  I guess this was a lesson to be learned:  Don't mess with the basics ~ a fire boiled pot of water into a French press works just as well, if not faster!  By the time the coffee was ready, it was announced that it was time for breakfast, hosted by the Cochran and Vargas families, so off we went.  We were treated to breakfast burritos and veggie sausage/patties, which the kids enjoyed minus the tortilla wrap.  Just as well.  They could probably eat the same thing for every meal and be just as content.


Heat rising from the lake in the morning.

Maddy couldn't figure out how to work Aubree's tricycle.

The twins have fun in the small pop-up tent.


As the sun broke through the clouds and peeked through the oaks and pines, along with it came the welcomed warmth, and so the layers slowly but surely started to peel off.  William had all the families gather together around the main campfire and led us in some Sabbath school songs, then Lisa Deininger gave all the children a sheet of paper with some Bible scenes and characters to play Bible bingo, where the children had to share a story from the Bible of that particular scene.  The kids had a good time and enjoyed it.  Afterwards the entire group trekked down to the sandy beach portion of the lake, where I brought an activity for the kids to put together.  Earlier in the week I had cut pieces of pvc piping, along with appropriate connecting parts, and put them in ziploc bags.  Each bag would contain all the pieces to put together a mini marshmallow shooter.  We had seen them in a festival several weeks ago, but I wasn't going to pay $10 for something I could easily make for less than $1, no matter how hard Braelyn plead for it.  Turned out that I spent just shy of ten dollars making ten shooters!  I knew it would be fun for the kids, especially the bigger boys.  And how much more fun putting all the pieces together!  It was a hit, and the mad scramble for the marshmallows just made it much more fun to watch.  Even the dads got into it a bit!  We made sure they only used them down by the lake, as to not attract bears into our campsites with all the dirty, used marshmallows lying about.


The group gathers around the campfire for Sabbath service.

William leads the congregation in song.




Maddy balances on Mommy's lap.

Putting their marshmallow shooters together.

William shows the boys how to work it.

Karis trying to dislodge several stuck marshmallows.

The twins explore the flora and fauna.

Enjoying the shade lakeside.


Lunch was on our own so we heated up some leftover pasta we had brought along, just for this meal.  Then it was time for the kids' naps, which turned out to be a little more challenging than usual, probably because it was a different environment for the twins, and the fact that they could hear everyone and everything around outside the tent.  But they finally got down, which gave Tangie the opportunity to head to the main facilities and take a shower, and for me to get a quick snooze.  It might seem gross but the true experience of camping doesn't quite seem as authentic if showering is involved...unless it's an emergency like accidentally landing on a pile of bear poo.  Anyway, Tangie looked refreshed and happier so I'm glad it worked out.  The rest of the group that didn't have kids take naps went for a small hike around the lake, and later joined us for crafts and bubbles for the children. 


I knew the little table would come in handy!

Apparently Maddy got a bit too comfortable at the table.

Kids enjoy the crafts and bubbles makers.


Supper that evening was hosted by the Bergherm and Biri families, and what camp out wouldn't be complete without hotdogs, chili dogs, pasta salad, and s'mores to top it off?  And the weather, pleasantly, wasn't quite as cold as the night previous.  Amazing the difference nine degrees makes.  The children, especially the boys, were roughhousing in the dark, completely blowing off their parents' pleas to stop and behave, until I finally stepped in and played camp counselor.  It was a nostalgic flashback of the summers when I worked at camp in Cohutta Springs in Georgia, and brought some semblence of order to the group.  All they needed was someone to give them some attention and direction, right?  We played the game of "Who can be quiet the longest?", which was something I had just made up, and "Simon says", until the parents realized their children were actually quiet and behaving.  Which apparently didn't rub off on our kids, because when it was time to get them changed and ready for bed it was as if 3 bombs exploded and we couldn't extinguish the flames to save our lives.  Maddy because she was tired;  Kohl because he was teething; Brae because she was reprimanded for not listening to Mommy and Daddy and irritating the twins.  So it was like the Three Sopranos for a good ten minutes, although this was a trio I'm sure the entire campsite didn't enjoy hearing.  I kept reminding myself of the Whitakers, God bless them!

Finally, after it was all said and done, and all the kids, including the two eldest Grodacks were asleep, the secret society of aged meat eaters, along with Corey Grodack, who is a staunch Republican and vegetarian (good for you Cor!), assembled around our campfire to partake of a small sampling of aged beef tenderloin filets I had prepared for our final night here.  This was as close to "glamping" (glamorous camping) as we could get!  I had some that were aged 4 days, and others aged only 2, but they tasted just as good, complete with boursin cheese.  There is just something so raw and wild about cooking and eating meat over an open flame.  The Native Indians really knew what they were doing.  Meanwhile, Corey held strong and steadily munched on her pita chips and hummus.  Afterwards, she, William, Bruce, and I battled it out with a fierce round of "call partner" Rook, where flashes of resurrected glory emitted from my brilliant card playing and I emerged victorious!  And yet I am still humble enough to realize and publicly admit that I may never beat Corey at Dutch Blitz.  Ever.


Tenderloin ready to be roasted over the fire.

You could just feel the anticipation while their meat was cooking!

Bringing out the big guns.

Braelyn keeping warm with Patique.


That night was a little better sleeping, but not by much.  The Grodacks had their own little episode with Calleigh around midnight, so I'm sure it wasn't the best night for them either.  You can check their version on their blog by clicking here.  Anyway, Braelyn crawled into my sleeping bag around 4.  Kohlden woke up as soon as dawn broke, but still way too early for everyone else, so he joined us three.  Maddy did the best of all 3, sleeping soundly throughout the night and waking up with a smile on her face.  But I had never been happier and so content than at that moment with my entire family with me, under the stars, in the wilderness.  It made me even more satisfied that Tangie had reached over to me and was firmly, almost reassuringly, gripping my hand.  I found out later it was because Kohl was pushing her off the edge and she needed some help to keep her from completely falling off.  Well, so much for that moment!

As we were in charge of breakfast that morning, we forced ourselves up so we could begin putting together our supplies and cooking gear.  I started a morning matinee of Sesame Street in our minivan so all the kids could be contained and distracted while we set to work.  Alas, with the complete failure of the power inverter for the pancake griddle, we had to resort to using other families' cooking stoves.  But it's amazing how much the community comes together to aid in a disaster.  We used the Bergherm's stove to cook the eggs.  They fired up the campsite's coal bbq grill so Corey could use pans lent to us by the Deiningers to make the pancakes.  William boiled water on his bunsen burner and used his trusty and reliable French press to make coffee.  Even Jennifer ended up cooking the turkey bacon for me!  Such wonderful friends!  It truly is a blessing to be a part of this group.


The kids watch the DVD while the parents cook breakfast.

Our official family camping picture!

The van loaded up and ready to head back home.

Back at the house, getting laundry started and supplies put away.


Breakdown of camp came quickly as we packed up for home.  You don't fully realize the extent of how much camping gear you brought that was actually used, until you need to pack it back into the van, but we managed, again, with the help of our friends.  Duncan and I are now professionals when it comes to setting up and breaking down our vacation lodge the next time we go camping!  After making sure we left nothing but footprints, we said our goodbyes and slipped back to civilization.  For some reason, 48 hours didn't seem quite long enough and yet, we were ready to get back home.  We had a wedding reception at the clubhouse later that evening, hosted by the Ottati's, for Catherine's brother and his fiancĂ©e, who are getting married this weekend in Puerto Rico, hence the reception here for those unable to attend.  It was a nice gathering and reason to dress up;  The place was decorated like an intimate 5 star restaurant...that allowed children.


Braelyn shares in Mommy's food.
The pasta liked Kohlden's face...

...just as much as it loved Maddy's sweater!


Diego and Jamie cutting their cake.


The rest of the week was spent catching up, cleaning up, and putting things away.  It wouldn't have been too bad except that I got worse on Monday and started feeling the chills and aches by Tuesday.  Maddy caught it soon enough, and Tangie is now battling it as well, even while she's been in Pensacola since yesterday through Friday.  Kohlden is sporting brand new bottom molars that emerged over the weekend, and Braelyn, well, she's Braelyn. 


My kids pretending to be tough.

But they still love the slides.


This week her Pre-K class put together a play of the first Thanksgiving, and the twins and I attended it on Thursday, with a full Thanksgiving feast presented by the parents, including yours truly, immediately afterwards.  She was an Indian and did a great job being up on stage in front of all the parents and their video cameras!  Alas, the video files are too big to load up on the blog, so you'll just have to enjoy the pictures instead.  She might just have a future on Broadway!


The stage at OJA.  What a set up!

Maddy says "Shhh!" while the performers get in their places.

Braelyn and the indians get their drums.

Maddy:  "Um, Braelyn, there's something on your face..."

And then they started rolling on the floor.

The parents enjoy a Thanksgiving feast a week early.


Have a great weekend!