Camping

Camping is not my thing, or at least I didn’t think so. But Hubby loves it and has been talking about taking Will since he’s the ripe old age of 3 and would probably love it, too. So I scoured the internet for some of the beginner’s supplies.

I ended up at good ol’ Target getting these little camping nuggets of joy:
Coleman Ara 6-Person Tent – $69.00 (Originally $100.99 but I found a 15% off promo code + 5% discount for using my Target Debit Card. WOOT!)
Coleman Palmetto Cool Weather Sleeping Bags (2) – $28.21 each
Kids Embark Sleeping Bag (1) – $16.99

Just under $125 out the door. Not too bad for beginners! It was a good deal and doubled as Hubby’s birthday present (yes, this is a post I’ve been meaning to do since the end of July… Don’t judge. Ok. Judge away…). Our community was hosting a Campout at a local park, so we thought this would be a great introduction into camping for our little wilderness man (and his not-so-wilderness-y Mom). This event was awesome and couldn’t have been more perfect!

We arrived ready to work… Slurpees in-hand.

Our tent went up pretty easily, considering it was fresh out of the box. Hubby is an experienced camper, so my helping was less than helpful, at least for this first time around.


There were some parents that probably needed to go to marriage counseling afterwards, including one family that blew up an air mattress in a too-small-for-it tent. And yes, I walked by nonchalantly several times to see that they are actually continuing to blow that thing up in there. Hilarious.

They had tons of activities for everyone. We played catch with those Velcro paddle thingys:

Made lots of friends with all of the kids:

Will hopped along in his very first Potato Sack Race:



And a 3 Legged Race

Our small entrance fee included food for dinner

We ate lots of pizza, veggies, fruit, chips, and a soda to drink. mmmm…Cheetos.

When the sun went down, they busted out the bonfire pits and we sang campfire songs & roasted marshmallows. You know, all of the obligatory camping fare.

We brought our own s’mores supplies, so we got to have more than just the one ooey gooey marshmallow. 

A little self portrait to prove I was there, too. Will is listening intently as one of the community leaders tells a spooky campfire story.

And then it was nighty night. After a very busy day, he was out like a light. #TheBestKindofDays
We slept like logs and were up pretty early. I’m finding out that that’s the case when you’re camping.

We are definitely looking forward to doing it next summer. If you’re in the south Orange County area, you should check it out, too! This little experience sparked a camping bug in our family. We love it! And surprisingly, I love it! This city gal loves the outdoors. Who knew?!

Do you have any favorite camping recipes or activities? I’d love to hear them because we’re getting ready to go camping again, and this time it’s more than just one night! Woohoo!

Caspers Wilderness Park–Campfire Program

It was a Saturday evening in early July, and Hubby says “Let’s do something summery tonight”. Hmm… what does that mean? I throw a couple of ideas out there, but nothing sticks. I hopped online and cruised around looking for a movie in the park (some of our local parks show a movie at dusk in the park on a big projector screen. Just bring your snacks, blankets, and bodies!). Finally, I checked out just-spotted.com’s tried and true list of fun stuff to do. I saw “Caspers Campfire Program, 8pm” towards the bottom. Huh? What’s that?

First of all, I’ve been to Caspers Park before, and it’s gorgeous. We got there at around 7pm and just soaked in this view as the sun set.

After a Google search, I found this description on the ocparks.com website:
Campfire Program
8:00 pm to 9:00 pm
EVERY SATURDAY NIGHT! Come join the Park Ranger for an hour of fun and learning about Caspers Wilderness Park. Our Campfire program may include a slide presentation, wilderness safety, games and activities for children, animal adaptations, skins and skulls, a live animal demonstration and a chance to visit the Nature Center. Topics may vary weekly. Camping not necessary, day use fee applies.
Event Fee: Free
Parking Fee: $5 per vehicle
Age: All ages
Caspers Wilderness Park
33401 Ortega Hwy.( P. O. Box 395)
San Juan Capistrano, CA 92675
(949)923-2210 or (949)923-2207

Hubby and Will are on this major camping/wilderness kick. May-jah. So much so that we bought a tent and sleeping bags because we are going camping. I thought this would be a fun introduction for Will. I love it when I’m right…

It costs $5 for parking, and that’s it. We had Ranger Mike that night to light the fire (it’s gas…), and then scoop out a little lizard that was hiding in the rocks that almost got charred. Ranger Mike to the rescue!

After listening to a little “Thank God I’m a Country Boy” that Ranger Mike played as he set up, and wandering around the grounds for a bit since we were a bit early, it was show time. We learned all about the different wildlife that live in this wilderness park, and how they adapted to the environment… Enter Will as a volunteer:


Will, how do you adapt to a rainforest environment?

He even got an OCParks wristband for being such a good volunteer! HA! This kid is too stinkin’ funny.

They have a ton of animals living in this park. Lizards, rabbits, deer, mountain lions, bobcats, raccoons, snakes, tons of birds and bugs, and owls, just to name a few. We learned all about each animal and even got to see some parts, like this owl wing:
Owls are stealthy fliers because their feathers are super soft. It was pretty cool to fan this wing and hear nothing. Ranger Mike also passed around a talon and head from an owl. I’m not a toucher of dead animals unless I’m about 2 seconds away from cooking them, but apparently my son is…

We finished the night off with Ranger Mike telling us about his brush with death after being stalked in the dark, by an animal… Misery loves company, because Ranger Mike tried to sneak this on us:
Do you see it?

Don’t worry, it’s just the head.

It was a really fun evening. Will conked out after about 2 minutes in the car on the ride home. We will definitely be back to go camping at this park very soon. $20 per night for your camping area is a heck of a deal, especially when it’s 20 minutes from our house. And even better that you can have your own campfire at your site! mmmm… smores here I come! Oh, and did I mention that not only will this be Will’s 1st time sleeping in a tent, but it will also be mine! I’ve only ever camped in a camper or a cabin… ever.

With my outdoorsy boys, I’ve got some learnin’ to do! Any advice for this newbie?!

Definitely check out the Campfire Program if you have a Saturday night to spare. I didn’t ask Ranger Mike if we could use the fire to make smores… I’ll definitely ask next time!

The Summer Buzz

I don’t know why, but Boys + Summer = Buzzed Head in my brain.
I've been itching to give Will a good old fashioned summer buzz cut because he has always had a LOT of hair.

First Birthday after his first haircut:

6 months later:
             
                                                                               2nd Birthday (above)

You get the picture. Hair. Lots of it. It grows fast. And it took me 2 years to find a good kid’s hair stylist that won’t give him a bowl cut. There was a period of this poor child’s life where he looked like Lloyd Christmas. Not cool.

After a long walk/bike ride to and from our favorite nearby park, we got home and Will was a sweaty mess.

[He was working on a double thumb’s up, but here it just looks like blurry gang signs…]

In an effort to keep the kid cool and sun-shielded, we practiced our hat-wearing skillz. This kid is not much of a hat wearer. I’m trying to convert him. It’s slowly working…


So when we got home I decided it was time to bite the bullet. I gave him a popsicle, set him up in a chair in the kitchen for easy clean up, and busted out the equipment. About halfway through, we both had faces looking like this:
That’s our work face. Popsicle eating is serious business, and so is hair cutting.

Thanks to the popsicle, he sat incredibly still for the entire process. He was very focused on not letting hair get on that icy treat. As soon as the hair buzzing was over, he willingly hopped in the shower for a quick hose-down since the little bits of hair were itchy. After a wardrobe change, we were done:

Not too shabby, if I do say so myself. There were a few stray hairs I saw as he wandered about the house, but nothing a quick snip with the scissors couldn’t fix. Hubby isn't totally on board the buzz-cut train, but Will loves it. He rubs his head and wanders over to a mirror to check it out often. My favorite part is the lack of bed-head since he won’t let me comb or even wet down his hair to fix the mop he was waking up with. Low maintenance is the essence of summer! If I was a boy, I would totally buzz my head.

Do you cut your kids’ hair? Do you have a summer hair do for yourself or your kiddos? Please tell me I’m not the only one that thinks summer is deserving of a shorter low-maintenance do!

I need a little somethin

Does anyone else go through a period where they are completely on hold....mainly due to lack of funds?  Sonny and I are really trying to get our chizz under control, which means putting lots of house upgrades on hold. And...if you don't know already...that makes me cry.  Being a stay at home mom and being in my house most of the day makes me look around and want to change/create/organize/decorate things.  But when you look at the end of the month and realize you're only ahead by $50....all that "want" stuff goes bye bye.  But, we are saving and planning to upgrade our master bathroom floor (which in turn puts money back INTO the house).  So in this horrible meantime, I thought I'd share some of my favorite things to keep me inspired and maybe do for frrrreeeeeeeeee....from Pinterest of course!

Alfresco Dining:

via

I mean...we gotta eat right?  Why not enjoy some nosh outside.  I love this setup. It's so cute.  I'm pretty sure I have a few fabrics I could make an adorable table runner out of and just enjoy an evening outside.  That way I can create something, and then have a little party in the backyard.  DONE.

Hang Kid Art:

Via

If I can't buy things to hang on the walls, I'll just enlist my chitlins to create stuff for me.  And I love how she hung it on twine.  So cute!  And the filler of the fabric bunting?  Genius. And free for me, considering I just made a WHOLE bunch of bunting goodness for Jagger's birthday

Making My Own Shtuff:

 

These are baby wipes.  I have a bunch of paper towels.....I could do this.  I could save a ton of money.  That money can go towards buying me a new desk for the bedroom, or creating my curtains for my bedroom.  Genius.  I shall do it.

Make My Own Clothes:

I have material.  TONS of material.  Fabric galore.  You could almost go shopping for fabric at my house right now.  SO if I have all that stuff....why don't I try to make myself a few new things?  It would give ME a pick me up, and I'll feel like I have something new to wear, even though it's been sitting in my basement for 2 years!  YES!

Create Our Summer List:

I saw hundreds of lists on blogs everywhere last year and I totally want to do one this year.  The boys are old enough to where they will kind of get it...and this list above has a bunch of free things like touring a fire station, watching the fireworks, do a treasure hunt, and make a robot (hello use for all our cardboard boxes!)  Then I can take a picture of each one as we do it and hang in on the twine that also holds our kid art!  FUN!  This all should keep me busy for awhile and definitely (hopefully) keep the savings in our bank!

Any of you doing free yet fun things for your house, self, or family??  I'd love more ideas!