Niether rain, nor sleet, nor foot in the fire will keep us from our mission.

Posted on August 6, 2013 by Natalie

Pamplin Grove 2013. This was FINALLY my summer vacation – OUR summer vacation. Three solid days of not working. Hanging out in no-reception-cell-range awesomeness. All four of us together. I couldn’t wait.

We arrived. 4 people, 2 cars, a trailer full of gear, and 150 days worth of food.

This isn’t just any camping. This is a weekend where every person in the campground is part of an interrelated family-friends gathering. The gate closes behind us and within the confines of that campground we become part of a giant tribal community. The kids run in packs, the dogs run in packs and the adults do their best to channel low-rent parenting tactics with cocktails in hand and camp-chairs permanently affixed to our butts. Kids are encouraged to scram, armed with a base set of ground rules, checking in only if someone is bleeding or in need of hydration.

We hung our site flag, unpacked our litany of tents and chairs and food and bikes, and joined in the festivities already underway.

Then came day 2.

As I lay in my tent trying very hard to doze and ignore the ridiculously loud prattle of 6 high-pitched child voices around the early-morning campfire, I all of a sudden hear a loud scream emanate from my youngest child, a scuffle and Steve’s voice yelling. Then another more pronounced scream that made me bolt upright and scramble out of the tent. It was all pretty chaotic, and by the time I was out, Steve was already headed out of camp with a screaming Porter. It took what seemed an eternity before I was able to find the mob of kind and helpful fellow campers huddled around my husband and son at the water spigot. Porter’s bare foot had gone into the fire.

It was a bit difficult at first to actually assess the damage. Porter was pretty hysterical, and looking at his foot, the extent of the burn wasn’t immediately visible. One thing was, however, readily clear: it hurt like a mother. Thankfully one of the guys helping us had the dressing materials we needed to get the area properly hydrated, covered and gauzed. From there, one thing was clear – this kid needed some pain meds. And so it was, we headed out to the nearest ER – all the while trying to calm the wails coming from the back seat. “IT FEELS LIKE A THOUSAND ARROWS SHOOTING INTO MY FOOT!”

At the ER, Nurse to Porter: “Okay, so on a scale of one to ten, with one being no pain and 10 being… -NINE!” (the poor nurse wasn’t even able to finish asking the question). Meds were administered and a little more calm evaluation was able to take place. First and 2nd degree burns, side of the foot, most likely no permanent damage, good that it wasn’t on the sole or toes. “You may want to think about cutting your camping trip short.” Steve and I kind of look at each other like, “Um. Yeah, no.” He is going to be fine. We will keep it clean and dry, use common sense if anything looks amiss and you send us back with that nice prescription of pain meds. We will take it from here.

By the time we left, Porter was describing his visions of rainbows and unicorns and proclaiming a gleeful “ZERO!!” when asked by the nurse about his pain level. We got into the car, headed to the nearest pharmacy for a bottle of pills, a bag full of gauze and tube of Neosporin and headed back to camp.

Once back, Porter got a hero’s welcome and the men got right to work on a proper shoe in which he could hobble around. Out. Came. The. Duck. Tape. And that, as they say, was that!

Camp on!

We celebrated Liam and Melissa’s birthdays in appropriate style – with a PBR-themed cape, water balloons, presents and treats. We ate deep-pit pig and lamb, watched the large gaggle of children perform skits and songs around the main communal fire-pit and roasted an insane amount of marshmallows. Somehow, Lynn, Melissa and I all ended up with these sweet Momgyver shirts that another camper had brought for the moms of the group. Porter hung in beautifully. He was disappointed he couldn’t be in the river, but made the best of the situation by parking himself on the beach in a chair while each of us took turns playing rounds of UNO with him.

Last year’s gathering had a broken leg. This year not only had a burned foot, but also a foot-in-wasp-nest episode. Each one slowly fossilizing into legends.

(Psst. You can find the entire photo set here.)

My Friends: Andrea

Posted on March 30, 2012 by Natalie

Last Saturday Andrea turned 40. [Giggle Giggle. Tee hee.] I, on the other hand, am maintaining my youthful 39-and-9-month glow. Bask in it. Go ahead.

If I were to guess, I’d say we all have an Andrea in our lives. You know, that friend who is that quiet kind of smart that makes you realize that you are always about 6 steps behind. She’s a scientist, she’s a web-designer, she’s a knitter, a dog trainer, and an all around awesome-ologist. She has that enviable combo of smart, talent and unassuming demeanor that keeps you humble. I kind of pretty much like totally adore her.

The original birthday plan was set to go down in the Big Easy for a right proper celebration, but life intervened (as it inevitably will) – and after a quick, covert change of plans, Jodie and I decided the show must go on. So we – along with her sister Stacy – decided to descend upon North Carolina for a grand ol’ 40th birthday surprise.

And so began the extravaganza.

Brian was instrumental in helping us secure a beach-side location just up the road from their house, as well as acting as our airport shuttle and overall logistics man. Plus, he willingly hung out with 4 women over the course of 6 days, which is an award ceremony entirely unto itself. He endured a relentless, estrogen-laden conversation loop including (but not limited to) boobs, babies, parenting, periods, sex, husbands and family drama. Thanks Bri, you definitely earned your merit badge on this one.

As for the rest, well some of that has to be kept confidential (as is written into our by-laws), but I think it was fair to say that we used up all of our words, cashed in all of our drinking points, and laughed in the deep and satisfying way one does when surrounded by great friends.

Happy birthday, Andrea. Here’s to you, our friendship, and the great addition you have made to my life.

(click photo to see the entire, gory set)

Summer Vacation, blar-de-blar-blar.

Posted on August 1, 2011 by Natalie

Okay folks, I’m going to make this quick because quite honestly I’m already over it just from rounding up everyone’s photos. And when it comes to the “What I did for Summer Vacation” posts, we’ve all kind of been there and done that. At last count, I’ve written about 10 of them, and they have all started sounding pretty much the same. Unless we end up stumbling across a bigfoot or one of the kids grows a third arm, I think there’s not much new to say.

Yes! Steve and I went to Paris, and yes, it was awesome – IT WAS PARIS FOR GOD’S SAKE! AND, we were staying with friends. Yeah, it’s like that. We ate all the great food and drank all the great wine wine and saw all the great history stuff and spoke all our horrifically horrible French.

Yes! The kids were treated like royalty by their doting relatives and given everything short of matching blue ponies.

Yes! We saw the mountains, the beach and the finer points of the Central Valley.

Yes! We are tanned, and tired, and all 5 pounds heavier.

The pictures will sum it up much better. You can click through at your own pace over on Flickr, or you can watch the exquisitely crafted slideshow (not really) over here – but be warned, it will take you a while (about 14-ish minutes at last count) – and it has audio. Oh, and you probably don’t want to watch it unless you really like looking at our kids. Just sayin’.

(Photo credits go to Grandma Judy, Grandma Dani, Aunt Celene and myself – taken with various cameras and phones – accordingly, quality will vary. Amended photo credit: Shannon S. Yodowitz, because she threatened to sue me if I didn’t give her credit for the four photos she took. Effing lawyers.)

Fall is Fun, I SAID FUN!

Posted on October 10, 2010 by Natalie

Well, we did it. We survived another pumpkin patch extravaganza. Us with our crisp fall weather, and delusionally optimistic outlook. By the end we are usually pitching the pumpkins into the back of the car and dragging our dirt covered (often screaming) kids from the hay-bale labrynth. It is the sick and twisted side of my personality that stifled a giggle as a fuming Jodie comes storming up with her daughter who tried (almost successfully, I might add) to scale the barbed wire fence – trying to make a hasty pumpkin-patch escape, no doubt. Stella insisted on bringing home 5 different squash that she will later refuse to eat. Porter, miraculously wore closed-toed shoes. All in all, I’d say it was not different than any other year.

(click photo to see the entire set)

One. Two. Three? Princesses

Posted on May 10, 2010 by Natalie

Digging around in my pictures I came across this set that I realized I never got around to blogging (big surprise). They were taken a couple of weeks back when Stella had Alex over for a sleepover (her first official non-family or babysitting-type sleepover, no less). The girls ended up tromping around the backyard in princess get-ups, and right on cue Porter rummaged around until he was able to dig out his most favoritest of all dress-up outfits: The Slip. Or as I like to refer to it, incriminating evidence for later use.