Well this is finally the week of our first camping trip, today is K day and he is napping now after helping me to prep the trailer for our first trip. This involved many carry trips to the back acre where we store the trailer, finally whittling down the area where we were stacking all the stuff..to have our pioneer adventures with!

I am confused by the older boys, they have no excitement for this, yes I know they are teenagers, but I must confess it hurts a little! I call them the McDonald's generation . Tell me when it is time to go, pick me up and deliver me back when done. J was told he was the first to bring a friend. Last week I sent him an email reminding him of it and wanted to know if his friend's parents wanted to meet us first before sending their only child off with strangers. Today when I picked K up for our day and after talking to Mom last night he says to me.".is it this weekend? I do not think anything else is going on" Do you want your friend to come? "I will ask today" but J I need to buy enough food to include your friend..I am working the rest of the week, "I will let you know tonight..so the order has not been made yet, but when it is , it must be ready on demand! What are we doing to our children? What happened to planning..anticipation..and fulfillment? I am afraid these are concepts that are no longer valued, and are just in the way of imminent gratification.....

N is going to come out on Friday and help with the prep..not his idea, it was Moms but at least he will participate, perhaps he will enjoy it more, I sure hope so! Our menu depends on a fish catch, but I have also included a back-up plan, not sure they will remember to bring fishing poles..LOL.

As we approach the beginning of this years Odyssey, Grandpa and I look back on our one and only camping trip when we were raising D and R. My parents had moved to the Oregon coast for retirement and we were going on vacation to see their new home. We borrowed a 3 room tent from one of Grandpa's co-workers to camp on the way up with the boys. D was a toddler and R was a baby(about 5 and a half months old). After what seemed like forever we arrived at a campground in the redwoods on the northern coast. We put R in in infant seat under a tree and proceeded to set up camp. Back in those days tents did not have pop-up poles and were not made of nylon..but rather this was a full fledged canvas army tent! By dinner we were exhausted and headed to bed. That was when R decided to begin the process of cutting his first tooth! No ice..no teething ring and no ambosal, just a screaming child in pain! Grandpa loaded D into the car and headed for the closest town..a 70 mile round trip!! I walked R through the campground singing his favorite songs to him, doing what ever I could, including him chewing on my fingers to help him, until Grandpa and D got back. At 5 am we settled down for a nap..by 6 Grandpa and I were back up again to make the fire, coffee and breakfast.

We shared that campground with only one other couple that night...they were starting their honeymoon with just married plastered all over their car! As they were having coffee she said to him "you are right..we should wait a long..long time to have children!!

and so it goes..into the future