Camping!

Camping? In February? Well, yesterday I noticed the children were showing signs of cabin fever. It was also the only "normal" evening we were going to have all week. And then Jere called at almost supper time and said he had run to town for something to get his tractor working again. This cold is HARD on machines! So I decided it was time to "play summer" and go camping! :-)

 

Static!!

 

Our artificial campfire. 

S'mores with leftover chocolate frosting instead of chocolate bars. The children and Jere thought it was good! (I was a good girl and didn't indulge--though it was tempting!)

 

I think we all had a ton of fun. The boys even got to sleep in the tent last night, which thrilled them immensely. We ate supper in the living room and read stories and Jere joined them in the tent for awhile. I was too sore and weary to even consider it, as I've been exercising as well as running up and down stairs pretty constantly it feels, and my muscles aren't enjoying being pushed!

Now for a story I shared on FaceBook that everyone seemed to think was pretty funny... Yesterday morning when I had just showered I glanced out the living room window to see that Kodi had gotten in with "The Girls", who are both in heat. As we hope to do a little traveling in the spring we REALLY don't want puppies coming!

The Girls. See how high the snowdrift is?

There's a snowdrift that has shortened their fences quite a bit, though Jere had dug some of it out of Kodi's pen, or he could have walked right over it. For awhile we had Kodi tied so he couldn't go anywhere, but then he broke the chain. So Jere tried digging out some more snow, and it worked for a little bit. Hence, the discovery yesterday morning he was in with The Girls. It was about 2 degrees outside, and I had a distinct flashback of chasing a runaway dog in northern MN in my stocking feet at -10 years ago as I raced down the stairs and grabbed my boots. I didn't bother with a jacket, and because of that made it just in time. I couldn't find the big dog crate we use for transporting our dogs, so I locked Kodi inside the dog barn as a temporary measure. By the time I got back inside my wet hair was frozen in a sheet. Brrrr. To continue the story, last night Jere had to run work on the tractor a bit after the children were in bed, so I was ready for bed and reading some emails in our room when I heard a peculiar and familiar yelp. Unbelieving, I grabbed a flashlight and shone out at the dog pens. Sure enough, despite Jere digging out yet MORE snow from the pen, Kodi was in with The Girls again! I sprinted to the bedroom door, ran back a few steps to grab a robe, then raced down two flights of stairs, slipped into my boots again, and ran out to catch that naughty dog again. As soon as he saw me coming he got desperate, but he was locked back inside the dog barn. I couldn't get The Girls back into their pen without freezing (it was just below 0 this time!) so I left them for Jere to contain when he got back and hurried back into the warm house. Sigh. These dogs. I guess only time will tell, but I think we're still safe. As long as Kodi stays locked up inside the barn!