When It Rains, It Pours...

We did the Florida homeschool conference this weekend. It was a BIG adventure! The boys were with Grandma and Grandpa and we took Miss Priss with us - camping. We found this great little city park in Orlando and got a RV camp site for $15. Sure beats Mickey Mouse prices! The park seemed absolutely beautiful: on a lake, well-shaded, pool, fishing, children's farm. It was really incredible. It seemed like our weekend was going to be a breeze - that is, until we read the weather report the day we headed up: storms - lots of them, all the time. Our best bet 80% chance of rain - and as we were on the highway heading up the iPhone was saying 100%! Yikes.

Our friends who were camping with us abandoned us. They called us on our cell. Wimps! We weren't backing down. We told them this even after passing through a really horrible patch of the storm that wanted to pick the truck up and toss it. The noise of the rain on the windows was deafening. "No thanks. We'll be fine. No, don't try to find us a room, too."

We set up camp Thursday night and actually did not have to deal with rain at all that night. The park was everything we had been hoping it would be and the staff was friendly - bonus! The facilities were OK (Our state parks sort of spoil us: they are very clean and most of them have relatively new facilities. These had been well-used, but they were clean.) Katey acted as the friendly neighborhood alarm clock at about 6:30 - chatting away with the dawn.

We made it through our sessions Friday, went to dinner and got back to camp minutes before the light shower started. I had to use the bathroom, but I just said I'd wait for it to blow over. It didn't. It POURED!! It poured and poured and poured. Jim was so great. He carefully watched the tent and monitored any possible leaks. We had one, but we couldn't quite figure out if it was coming up from below or if it was being blown in sideways under the rain fly. After about 15 minutes of rain, I was fast asleep. I just love the sound of a good rain and it put me right out. Katey, too. Jim didn't sleep so well, but I woke up well-rested. I think that's the first time in our history that I was able to sleep better than him!! It had stopped raining by morning and I bumped into a few other homeschoolers in the bathroom. Some of them had already packed up to head out and home that night. We had paid for that night just so we could take our time breaking camp. We would come back that evening and pack up to go home.

It poured while we were at the conference - just thundered away! By the time we were done, it had once again stopped. We went back to camp, threw our soaking wet tent in a big, black bag and took off toward home. We'd have to put it up to dry out at home.

All in all, we had the best possible scenario. We didn't have to set up or break down in the rain. WOO HOO!! We didn't have any leaks that soaked our stuff or caused damage. WOO HOO!! I got a great night's sleep. WOO HOO!! We saved at least $100. WOO HOO!! We found a great park that is a must-do-over for our whole family someday. WOO HOO!! Jim feels tough and I feel outdoor mom-ish. WOO HOO!!

Here's a link to information on the park:
http://www.theotherorlando.com/contents/chapters/16/turkey.html

The boys on the air from the local radio station today, April 30th.

The Lion's Roar

We went camping this past weekend with the Cub Scouts, again. It was to be our last campout of the year. It was just our pack and we stayed at the KOA near Lion Country Safari. I have read about this campground as being one of the very best in Florida - because you can hear the lions roar. I thought it would be like seeing a falling star - how you have to have your eyes in just the right place at just the right time to see them. It's not like that at all. The lions started to roar between 4 and 5am on Saturday morning and they continued to roar periodically until about 8am. It was really something to listen to! I was quite taken with it. It was so odd sitting with the scouts, drinking my hot camp stove coffee and listening to lions roar nearby.

We visited the park and did the safari that day and ran our pinewood derby races that afternoon. That night, shortly before 10pm, the chimps went off on each other for a while. And Sunday morning, there were the lions again, heralding the new day.

This is definitely a must-do-over camping trip for me. Where else could one hear that kind of noise safely? I've heard the National Zoo can be noisy for its neighbors, but there's no campground.

Roger Dean Stadium

We went to a minor league game tonight with a group from the cub scouts. We watched the Jupiter Hammerheads (feed into the Marlins) vs. the Vero Beach Devil Rays (feed into Tampa). I have never really loved baseball. As a matter of fact, I despised the sound of it on TV as a child and even the games I attended in person couldn't hold my attention - but I only recall seeing games in Dolphin Stadium, which is definitely not built for baseball.

I've started to soften a bit toward the game, though, now that the kids are old enough to play; and tonight was a perfect night. The weather was incredible - overcast, dark gray, and possibly rainy to the south - which gave the grass that really intense, green look. The stadium is modern and yet intimate, and the boys, wearing their class A uniforms, scurried quickly into seats behind the dugout along the third baseline. We sat and ate Cracker Jacks and rooted for the home team and the kids that PR pulled from the stands to play the goofy games between innings.

The crack of the bat on the ball sounded so close it made the game exciting. And when a bat broke (and at least 3 bats did), the air just sizzled with the noise - the way lightning does. The boys looked cute sitting with their gloves on in anticipation of foul balls heading their way. Several balls popped up into the stands, pinging around on the aluminum bleachers before being snagged by a child racing to beat out the others nearby. Some flew right over us, past the structure and out onto the street in front of the stadium. (I was really glad we hadn't parked there!) The players could hear us cheer, and we knew that because we could hear what people had to say all the way over by the first baseline. It made me conscious of my words.

After the game, the boys boogied over to the side of the field by the dugout and waited patiently for the players to notice them, and I tagged along to keep a watchful eye. There were some other young moms with their small children with us, who turned out to be the players' wives and families coming down to greet them and kiss them. One of them had a baby only 23 days old. Soooooo cute! Can you imagine the adventure they're living? Waiting to get called up to the majors? Anyway, the boys were really pleased, the players were great and gave them several signatures.

It was all remarkably Norman Rockwell. The smaller venue makes all the difference in the world to me. No wonder this country loved baseball the way it did when my dad was growing up. He still loves baseball. And if all games were like this one, I would be completely hooked as well.

We Learned to Wave!

Katey learned to wave today. Ok, it's one of those mom and dad things in which it's really not all that perfect, but we're pretty sure she means it. She thrashes her whole arm up and down and smacks her legs with a vengeance. To my chagrin, it's usually at Dad - her superhero! It's awfully cute, though.

Missing a Concept Here

So, the 4-old goes into the men's room with his dad and stands before a urinal. He then proceeds to yell, "I need some privacy!!!"

Why Is It So Quiet?

So to continue on about the birthday thing... Jay wanted to have a few boys over for a Mars Mission get together. It's a Lego thing and I'm not exactly sure what he thought we'd do, but I made him a Lego brick cake and put one of his little green men on top. I tried to make it bright orange like the theme's colors, but it sadly came out sort of tropical coral looking. Oh well, Jay has a forgiving nature. He moved on without a thought after pointing out the cake looked "pink".

I bought the boys the little $4.99 Lego Minis for a party favor. We had a variety of Creator, Racer and City Minis to choose from. I love watching them decide which vehicle is "the one" for them. As if touching the box will deliver some kind of whispered paranormal message - "Pick Me!"

After everyone had left, I began to focus on getting my two boys and their friend washed and ready for bed. The three boys opened their Lego Minis and began to work as each one was banished one at a time into the bathroom for the inevitable (and sometimes questionable) bath.

It went perfectly! They were quiet, there was no complaining, and they washed quickly so that they could get back to finishing their vehicle. (Maybe most moms wouldn't appreciate "quickly" like I do - but my oldest is king of the 50 minute bath.)

I talked to one of the moms this morning about how her two boys enjoyed themselves. She began to relate to me that she had arisen that morning and assumed the boys were still sleeping - only to discover they were quietly working on their Lego vehicles. Where did I find these magical toys?

Legos. It's a special kind of boy magic.