Welcome to the second half of my camping recap. To catch up, click here.
***
When we go camping, we don’t always stay in a campground. In fact, we would prefer not to. But for this trip we did stay at one and the campground put on little events in the evenings that the kids enjoyed going to. One such event was called “Birds at the Lake.” The leader was from Portugal and had a slight language barrier, but he did a great job and it was very fun and entertaining.
I shall call him Raul.
Simply for the fact that Raul is a fantastic name. Of which I am not certain I am spelling right.
I think Raul may have transposed the letters in “Oh” . . .
thoughts?
He had about 3 or 4 songs with the word “ho” in it! Too funny. Or at least I thought it was funny.
He shared with us all sorts of fun bird facts, with a sprinkling here and there about bears.
And now, dear readers, I would like to present to you:
Raul’s Bear Story.
Raul: I went to state park south of here. I was walking and bird watching when I noticed movement in bush. I was not scared. I had my pepper spray. You know, seasoning? And that is my bear story.
Alrighty then.
He would throw out granola bars to the children who answered his questions correctly. Of course, my children are brilliant, so they received several delicious snacks.
Plus, they had grandparents whispering the correct answers into their ears.
***
On Saturday, after the rock sliding fun-
We had to put our jeans back over our wet swimsuits (classy!) and go back for more huckleberry pickin’ fun!
My in-laws are intense with the berries, are they not?
I don’t know about you, but this just screams “bear attack!”
And I didn’t even have pepper spray on me. Nor the seasoning.
This is my husband. Picking berries. Singing a song he made up himself:
“More berries, more berries! More berries, more-more berries!”
Bet you didn’t know he was such a jolly fellow!
It is just because of the berries. I repeat, he just loves those stupid berries.
The observant reader might notice that The Lumberjack and I have a minimal amount of berries in our bucket.
That, dear readers, is the joy of huckleberry picking.
Hours upon wretched hours and you pick 2 Tablespoons.
I.
Loathe.
It.
Group Photo: Post rockslide-mid Huckleberry pick-Pre hike home Edition
These people are relentless, are they not?
I would like to report that after 2 days of picking, The Lumberjack and I gathered 3/4 of a gallon.
I will pause while you applaud our awesomeness.
***
Finally, we got to return to the beach.
Alex, in the spirit of Alex, decided to start a sand castle competition.
Don’t worry. Holly is right there keeping a watchful eye on him to make sure he doesn’t do anything too crazy.
Hey, Holly! Where was your watchful eye when this atrocity occurred?
Alright. Back to the Sand Castles.
This is the team against Alex.
He seems a tad outnumbered, no?
Team “Everyone but Alex” sent Daisy Mae over as a spy to inquire of Alex his secrets.
Team Alex remained steadfast and told her to bug off.
There he is with his pride and joy.
Then Team “Everyone but Alex” sent Baby-Zilla over to destroy it.
Team “Everyone but Alex” ‘s final product.
Since the sand castle fun had run its course, Alex needed something else to do.
So he decided to torture my boy.
My poor baby.
I fear he doesn’t adapt well to his Uncle’s crazy antics.
So, I did what any nice mom would do.
Fed him some chips and wrapped up in a towel.
Please notice Alex in the background . . . attacking the next helpless child.
Happy Wednesday!
what a great shot of your second to youngest!! I can never remember their code names….Handsome Dude? Love it! “ho give me a home!” Missing you tons!!
Does wearing a wet swimsuit under your jeans make things a little… raw? Because I feel like it would.
I’m sorry… Sometimes these things just flow out of me.
Marla @ http://www.asthefarmturns.wordpress.com
Every family has an Uncle Alex. I fear my husband may be the Uncle Alex in our family : )
Also, I meant to say in my other comment…if you hike uphill 2 miles both ways you can have an ice cream cone, a brownie and a smore. It says so in the rule book. I checked.
Isn’t it amazing how you can marry a hot young guy and a few, short years later he has morphed into a huckleberry picking daddy with a kid on his back singing songs to himself?
It happened here too. Thankfully my taste in men changed along with him. 🙂
I am tired just reading of your adventure. Time for a nap! I like Raul’s story, though. It reminds me of that movie with Ben Stiller where he goes to the Caribbean for his honeymoon and the guy walks up and is like “So, are you for thee scuba?” Ha ha ha! So funny! “You know, the seasoning?” Hilarious!
I LOVE your camping stories. However, I MUST ask why the change up in blog world? Do you not like wordpress or is it still wordpress but not the free version. Have you decided to use you hard earned vacation rental money and purchase your own domain?
Wow! I totally sound like I know what I’m talking about.
I don’t.
I am like you in computer world.
I. Am. An. Idiot.
NOt to say you are an idiot.
Because you’re not.
Oh, boy. NOW look what I’ve said.
You are brilliant and classy!
That oughtta dig me out of a hole, right?
Have a great day.
I’m forever in love with Raul. So hilarious.
“He give me a big laugh”…”Oh give me a can of pepper spray”. um. yes.
Can’t you just nap while everyone else huckleberry picks? I’m not understanding this…it seems like a great opportunity for your children to bond with your in-laws…and for you to take a nap.
Uncle Alex is awesome, but I think he’s been eclipsed by Raul. Sorry Uncle Alex…maybe you need a bear story of your own to redeem you.
I had an Uncle Alex, only his name was Uncle Mike. He used to torture the kids but good when we were little.
Looks like a fun weekend.
I agree with many other comments, that every family has an “Uncle Alex”, and my husband is that uncle. Oh, the kids LOVE him!! I’m sure Alex has a very special place in their hearts. AND, Taylor, now I have to go because I just got a call someone wants to see the house! Woo-hoo! Pray!!!
Taylor: You are so beautiful.
And, I mean that in a totally nonstalker, non-psycho sort of way.
Oh, and not only am I coveting your ruralville house that I have no clue where it’s at…I covet your chances to camp. Not huckleberry pick, mind you, but camp and hike and have fun. My hubs has got to find more free time!
Of course, one of the kiddos has mono so that can’t happen for a bit anyways…
“Gloom, despair and agony on me!”
100 meaningless points to the person who can name that show!
Hee Haw!
This is such a funny post! What is it with your husband’s family and huckleberries?
😀
We expect you to get 12 jars of jam and two pies out of your huckleberry gatherings, I am sure you can make it stretch..
I fear I am raising a whole colony of Uncle Alexes.
Before your next camping trip, buy a bunch of berries (black, blue, raspberries–whatever looks like a huckleberry), and stash them in your backpack. Then dump them a few at a time in your bucket when you’re berry picking. When anyone asks you where you got them, you can say, “Over there, but I think I picked them all.”
Then go to the beach and have fun.
Oh yes, I know all about the huckleberry craze. Hours of backbreaking work, picking one pea-sized berry at a time…and then freezing or jamming the results and being FORBIDDEN to eat jam or berries! That is why when Costco started carrying Huckleberry Jam, my parents went on a buying spree. Sure tastes the same, without the backache or sunburn. Ahhh!
We picked currants which are very small here and must be picked one at a time. I barely had enough for one batch of jam and I’m not sharing it with anyone, so I know the lure of the elusive berry. But I’m thinking I wouldn’t be hiking in a wet swimsuit and jeans to get them! Looks like you had a fun weekend!
My Uncle Alex is named Uncle Kevin. And where is the rock sliding campground? Can you tell us because it looks like scary fun…..
I wonder what Santa says in Raul’s world?
Hey Taylor! Remember a while back you said you wanted to be made aware of typos in your blog? I found one-“Since the sand caste fun “.
Sorry about that.
But I enjoyed your post!
Ooooh! Thanks! You are the best! 🙂
Our uncle Alex is actually uncle Jason and the kids are crazy about him but I wasn’t too happy that he taught them wrestling moves to use on each other. Ugh. Your camping vacation does look like a lot of fun!
Ho, Im laughing out loud.
Ho, so is my sweet husband since I just told him the story.
Ho, I’m afraid I will be saying Ho all week just because it’s so stinking funny.
Taylor,
I heart your life! 🙂
Has anyone in the clan ever encountered a bear, ever, while berry-picking? Because I did once at Twin Lakes in Montana.
Darlin’, if you pick huckleberries for two days and only gather 3/4 gallon, I’m afraid you all need a new picking spot. You should have at least 2 gallons after two days of picking!
See?? You think you’re in-laws are crazy? You don’t know what “huckleberry intense” is until you’ve picked with me and my family!! 😛 One year, when we were kids, we hauled in 64 gallons of the purple gold.
And don’t even think of asking where my picking spot is! 😉
Darlin’, if you pick huckleberries for two days and only gather 3/4 gallon, I’m afraid you all need a new picking spot. You should have at least 2 gallons after two days of picking!
See?? You think your in-laws are crazy? You don’t know what “huckleberry intense” is until you’ve picked with me and my family!! 😛 One year, when we were kids, we hauled in 64 gallons of the purple gold.
And don’t even think of asking where my picking spot is! 😉