Back in September, parents of 6th graders were asked if they wanted to be counselors (chaperone) at camp KEEP. When I went to KEEP we had high school counselors...and it didn't go very well. When I met with Bubba's teacher, for the end of quarter parent/teacher conference, and she asked me if I wanted to go, I said yes. Luke said I was crazy and didn't want me to go. He thought it would be good for Bubba to experience KEEP with his mom. I of course really felt the need to go.
Of course as it approached, I was more nervous and dreading the whole thing. I was finger printed back in November and the first part of January I received my Counselor handbook. I was not looking forward to sleeping in a cabin, in a sleeping bag and supervising a cabin full of girls.
Nevertheless...the day of departure arrived. I dropped off the boys first at school and then Wiggy at pre-school. I headed back to the school to check-in, because I didn't have to be there until after 8:30am.
Lots of nervous parents, waiting around the school cafeteria with their children for the 9am departure. I would've been one of those parents if I wasn't going. (I would've been crazy out of my mind, with worry!) :)
It was eventful before we even arrived. On one the buses, one of the girls vomited over and over. At one point, our bus pulled in front of a McDonald's to wait for the other buses, and an old man parks about two feet in front of the bus and refuses to pull forward, to give us room to pull out. It was absolutely hilarious to watch this old man flip us off and cuss at the bus driver. I have no idea what his problem was.
We got to KEEP around 12:30pm. We unloaded all of the luggage and bags while the kids went with the naturalists. It was going to be a long four days for a girl who isn't very outdoorsy.
I was able to see Bubba during the hour of free time before dinner and occasionally during meals we could exchange a few words in passing.
Bubba and his friend Mitchell liked hanging out in the Discovery Zone, as opposed to playing outside.
Days 2 and 3 were spent hiking all over the county. Luckily they place the counselors with their child's hiking group, so I got to be with Bubba during these days. The morning of Day 2, Bubba was picked to be on the "Weather Team." When he signed up on Tuesday afternoon, he didn't know he would have to speak in front of everyone. When he was selected and went with the naturalist he became very nervous. The Weather team was going to present after breakfast. When I saw Bubba walking across the field I could see him crying and he told me what was going on. He said he was scared to death to get up and talk because of his speech. We spoke to his counselor, who spoke to one of the naturalist. They worked it all out and Bubba presented with the Weather Team. I was very proud of him, but I also knew that was why I was there. Bubba kept telling me how happy he was that I was there.
Our first day of hiking, our group went to the Mud Flats to dig for creatures and then to Morro Rock.
Bubba wasn't interested in getting his hands dirty or digging in the mud. I don't blame him at all. Some of these kids got shoes and pants very muddy.
After walking back from the mud flats, my shoes seemed to be walking uneven on the trail. I bent my leg up so I could take a look at my feet, and the sole of my boots are completely coming apart!
Perfect.
By lunch time, the entire sole came off and nothing but a small pad of cushion was attached. I ended up borrowing a part of rubber galoshes from the bus driver while we were at Morro Rock.
Our second day of hiking was out to the Sand Dunes. We hiked out to the tide pools and then the boys got to run down the dunes like lunatics. The hard part was climbing back up the dunes when they were done.
Bubba was sick and tired of listening to the naturalists talk and talk and talk....and talk. This photo reminded me of me. He is a lot like his mom.
Bubba was in the "Dolphins" cabin and they were "Cabin of the day" for the boys on Wednesday. I was very happy for them!
Bubba tried my soy milk this week and became a fan. (Pay no attention to the mustard around his mouth)
We rubbed sedimentary rocks together, from the creek, to make paint and painted each others faces.
The Seahorses.
Two of our girls went home vomiting the day we got there, so we only had eight girls. (Hallelujah!)
We were "Cabin of the day" on Thursday, which meant we were the first to eat at every meal and we got to choose our log first for camp fire Thursday night.
The bus ride home.
He was very anxious to get home. This was taken as we pulled up to the school.
Bubba and I both survived. It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be...but I am thankful I have a two year break before Tubbs is in 6th grade.
While we were off "roughing it," Luke was home tending to a sick little girl and Tubby-Wubbs. Thursday morning Wiggy woke up at 4:30am and vomited all over Luke and Tubbs. Good times for Mr. Mom and a little boy who was dry heaving from the fumes.
Awards Assembly that mom missed :(
Honor Roll for Tubbs!
T
his was my third attempt at the Tinkerbell Half Marathon at Disneyland. I was feeling much better about this one because of the cooler weather and the 32 miles I was able to put in over Christmas break.
I love running.
I take that back...I love running when I have REALLY loud music playing. (I don't know how anyone can run without music. Boring.) A really good run for me is when I forget I am running and I catch myself miles into a run just thinking about things going on in my life and people in my life. Those are the best.
All righty...on to the recap....
We left on a Saturday morning, in our usual style. This run we had the kids with us. We went back and forth on if we should leave them behind, but ended up taking them along. In the past I never really knew if the kids would even enjoy themselves and frankly, there are so many people watching the race, I was afraid of losing Wiggy-Witherbottoms in the sea of spectators and runners. So, we asked the kids if they wanted to come along and they all said YES.
We got to the Disneyland Hotel to pick up my race bib and then we headed over to Knott's Berry Farm. It's so nice having the season passes. We thought maybe we would ride a few rides before dinner.
Ran into Cassandra Lynn after I picked up my bib.
"Cheeeeeeeeese!"
Of course nothing ever goes as planned. We park the car at Knott's and as usual, the boys are screwing around as they get out of the car. The trunk of the car is open and as Tubbs is reaching in to grab something, Bubba shuts the trunk on Tubbs' head.
Yes...needless to say, Tubbs had a bit of a headache after that. We walked up to the entrance of Knott's before Tubbs sat down crying because his head hurt. That's when we turned around and headed back to the car. That's when I was asking myself whose idea it was to bring the Hogue Tag team along.
From there, we found the hotel and checked in. We lounged for a little bit before walking across the parking lot to eat at Outback. We had a gift card from Christmas, so it was a perfect opportunity to use it.
I somehow manage to fall asleep around 9:45...knowing I will be waking up at 3:45 am. It was not a smart choice to stay up so late, but I did have three little bugs in the hotel room.
The race started at 5:00am, so I got to the shuttle at 4:15am. It was an early morning!
Luke was sending me texts, pictures and videos of the kids during the race. It was nice to have them come along. They met me at Mile 11 and it was so much fun to see their little faces. I gave everyone quick kisses and sped off. :)
I was pretty happy with my time. All I wanted to do was set a PR and I did that by two minutes this race. Every time I do one of these, I am hoping for a PR, so I am happy with this year. (At the Disneyland race in September, I just wanted to survive that race....it was so humid. Compared to that race, my time was 6 minutes quicker this time around.)
Disneyland does this cool thing, where you can sign up for alerts. You can get them in a text and/or e-mail. These were my split times and my average pace. It also states what the estimated finish time will be. I did use the bathroom once, around mile 4 or 5, so average pace increased.
The kids and I after leaving the race and pulling up to the hotel. My legs were killing me!
These are pictures taken by the official race photographer.
It was pajama night at Color Me Mine on December 28th, which meant we had no "sitting fee." Since their Christmas stuff was on sale, it seemed like a great idea. Luke was going to watch the UFC fight, so I took the kids to the Marketplace to paint a few things. Bubba and I painted a platter, Tubbs painted the Santa and Wiggy painted a small Christmas tree plate. All was going smooth for the first hour...then Bubba and Wiggy started getting bored.
I had a coupon for free cupcakes from Sweet Surrender that expired on 12/31 so of course I had to pay a visit! Tubbs went on a run with me, so this was his reward after we got home!
After putting together a puzzle on NYE that the boys got for Christmas, we headed to Target to buy a few more. We ended up putting together puzzles three nights in a row.
The family joined me on the bike path for a six mile run/ride. Afterwards we went to Denny's because we had a gift card from Uncle Bertsie.
We made many trips to Jamba Juice with gift cards the kids got in their Christmas stockings from Grandma and Grandpa Baer. Lucky for us, we kept getting BOGO coupons every time we went in.
Winning!
Wiggy kept asking me to take her to the mall and go shopping. I really dislike our mall, but we went for it one morning...in our matching purple shirts! I love this little girl and her shopping genes. :)
Luke took me shooting at the range, with his Kimber 45.
WOW is all I can say. It was fun though.
I couldn't leave out this picture of my whiny Christmas princess...who dried her eyes after getting some brownie brittle. Yes, I had to bribe her to ride home with me after church. (The boys rode with dad)
That Stop Wasn't On My Itinerary....
So the Hogue's made it to Florida for our first official family vacation. It was Sawyer's first plane ride....and Simon's first plane ride that he can remember. We were excited....the boys were stoked. We had everything we needed! But it seems that Sawyer packed something with him that wasn't on our checklist: a big case of pneumonia. Yes, the little fella made it almost one whole day in Florida before he started heading downhill fast. Our 2nd day in Orlando we were in the Urgent Care south of Cocoa Beach. (By the way, to see a doctor more quickly, it helps if you vomit all over the waiting room in front of the receptionist. Little tip for ya) After chest x-rays they advised us to head to the ER in Melbourne, where they eventually admitted him to the hospital. So, we had 3 night deluxe accommadations at the Holmes Regional Medical Center. The little whipper snapper was a trooper though! The nurses loved him, thankfully, and made us all feel right at home. We were going to send postcards out with pictures of the hospital since we spent 40% of our trip there...but they didn't have any. Imagine that!Hmmm.....maybe its something they should consider.
