Guy's Day Camping 2014
Guy's Day has become something on the Sculimbrene calendar, every year automatically. It originally was in November, but a convergence of a number of different things allowed us to do it a little early this year in September. Actually because of how Labor Day fell, Guys Day Weekend was a two month affair.
In years past P-Pa had to come in on a train, but this year Isaac had a teacher in-service on Friday and I took the day off. That meant we had a four day weekend and it also meant we could pick P-Pa up at the airport. Its a little thing, but with family every minute counts. Every single one. So with a few snacks, an iPad (again, how did parents do long car trips before iPads?), and Suby, we were ready to go. We had a few things go wrong in the morning--plumbing problems and some maintenance on our furnace, but we got to P-Pa in time. We were going to stop in Cambridge, but the plumber told us not to so we hung out at 53 Hancock all day. P-Pa and Isaac, swords in hand, went down to St. Bernard's field and I hung out with the plumber. Awesome, right? Isaac had a good time as did P-Pa.
I left in time to meet them at the fence near a neighbor's house. The neighbor has a very nice dog, Buddy, and Isaac loves Buddy, so we spent a few minutes (or 40) chucking a throw toy to Buddy.
After that we hung out at home and starting getting stuff organized for the camping trip. When I was younger my Dad and I went camping every Labor Day. I have no idea who Jerry Lewis is and I have never seen a minute of the MDA telethon because of it. This year seemed like the perfect time to rekindle that tradition and fit it into Guy's Day Weekend. Isaac is 4 and I was 4 the first time I went. He also seems interested in fire...well...that is genetic. And he has a bit longer of an attention span. So we starting packing. The weekend before we had set up the tent in the backyard to air it out and make sure it is okay and it was fine. We got a few supplies and we were ready for Saturday.
It was a busy morning, stuffing provisions in a cooler and cramming stuff in the car, but we were on the road by 11 AM. We decided to go to a place called Otter River State Forest. This is a strictly car camping place, but we figured that would work for Isaac's first overnight outside. As we were planning P-Pa had the realization that because of Isaac's strict bedtime he had never seen the stars in person. It was strange to think of but it is true.
One tradition I was worried about was a classic--we always stopped at a small grocery store before actually setting up camp. Invariably we'd get some sweet carbonated beverage to help get us in a manly burping mood. Two things made me worry--the lack of mom and pop grocery stores in New England and our ban on soda. But rules are meant to be broken and we got lucky and found a tiny place that was just perfect. Three cream sodas later and it was a burp fest in Suby. Isaac even chimed in with a few eeps. Not exactly burps per se, but you get the idea.
We found our camp site and it was quite nice. I have always been impressed with how clean and well-managed Mass camp sites have been. Before we could get to the site, we had to wait for check in time and during that time we went on a little hike. At the end of the hike we found a pond where we could do some pretty awesome rock chucking:
We also ate lunch at the pond and the peaty bio-matter in the water made it look like tea and high reflective. The sun gave a good bit of heat and we just enjoyed being with each other and outside. A
About an hour later we made our way back to camp and started setting up. It is only now that I realize why P-Pa had me "start" the fire while he set up the tent. After a few times that Isaac blithely walked over the tent while we were setting it up, we needed to distract him. We had him go get some branches with and once we were done with the tent, it was on the main camping attraction--the campfire.
When I was little (and even now) I am entranced by fire and Isaac is no different. I also remember on that first Labor Day camping trip in 1983, I got an orange squirt gun and it was a super fun thing to squirt into the fire. So we thought ahead and brought one of Isaac's Cricket water guns. Here he is ready to shoot into the fire and here that sizzle:
The fire grew and stayed warm the entire evening and as things went on, Isaac got into the rhythm of camping. Here he is with his P-Pa:
Around 5:00 we had our traditional camp dinner--Spaghettios and steak. Isaac has a fondness for Spaghettios even if he has never had actual Spaghettios (these are Aunt Annie's Organic Spaghettio-type food):
Isaac loved the food, though steak is a bit much for kids.
The fire kept us engaged all evening long, even as the stars peeked out from behind the trees. Here are P-Pa and Isaac looking for ancient civilizations among the sky:
We went to bed around 9 and Isaac chatted for a bit, but then went out. He did a little flip flopping around, but nothing much. We woke up in the morning and did some more camping stuff--Isaac and P-Pa had some cereal in a box, yet another Labor Day camping tradition. We slowly packed up and went home around noon. There was one final tradition and it involved Isaac driving the car, as P-Pa let me do when I was kid. Isaac did great and drove us out of the camp ground.
The ride home was filled with farting and stinkiness--the perfect end to camping. Sunday was great too, as we all went to Uncle John's for a cookout on Labor Day. Monday came and Isaac and I took P-Pa into the airport. It was sad, but we had such a great time that its hard to complain. Guy's Day 2014 was awesome and Isaac did amazing camping. Can't wait for next year.
In years past P-Pa had to come in on a train, but this year Isaac had a teacher in-service on Friday and I took the day off. That meant we had a four day weekend and it also meant we could pick P-Pa up at the airport. Its a little thing, but with family every minute counts. Every single one. So with a few snacks, an iPad (again, how did parents do long car trips before iPads?), and Suby, we were ready to go. We had a few things go wrong in the morning--plumbing problems and some maintenance on our furnace, but we got to P-Pa in time. We were going to stop in Cambridge, but the plumber told us not to so we hung out at 53 Hancock all day. P-Pa and Isaac, swords in hand, went down to St. Bernard's field and I hung out with the plumber. Awesome, right? Isaac had a good time as did P-Pa.
I left in time to meet them at the fence near a neighbor's house. The neighbor has a very nice dog, Buddy, and Isaac loves Buddy, so we spent a few minutes (or 40) chucking a throw toy to Buddy.
After that we hung out at home and starting getting stuff organized for the camping trip. When I was younger my Dad and I went camping every Labor Day. I have no idea who Jerry Lewis is and I have never seen a minute of the MDA telethon because of it. This year seemed like the perfect time to rekindle that tradition and fit it into Guy's Day Weekend. Isaac is 4 and I was 4 the first time I went. He also seems interested in fire...well...that is genetic. And he has a bit longer of an attention span. So we starting packing. The weekend before we had set up the tent in the backyard to air it out and make sure it is okay and it was fine. We got a few supplies and we were ready for Saturday.
It was a busy morning, stuffing provisions in a cooler and cramming stuff in the car, but we were on the road by 11 AM. We decided to go to a place called Otter River State Forest. This is a strictly car camping place, but we figured that would work for Isaac's first overnight outside. As we were planning P-Pa had the realization that because of Isaac's strict bedtime he had never seen the stars in person. It was strange to think of but it is true.
One tradition I was worried about was a classic--we always stopped at a small grocery store before actually setting up camp. Invariably we'd get some sweet carbonated beverage to help get us in a manly burping mood. Two things made me worry--the lack of mom and pop grocery stores in New England and our ban on soda. But rules are meant to be broken and we got lucky and found a tiny place that was just perfect. Three cream sodas later and it was a burp fest in Suby. Isaac even chimed in with a few eeps. Not exactly burps per se, but you get the idea.
We found our camp site and it was quite nice. I have always been impressed with how clean and well-managed Mass camp sites have been. Before we could get to the site, we had to wait for check in time and during that time we went on a little hike. At the end of the hike we found a pond where we could do some pretty awesome rock chucking:
We also ate lunch at the pond and the peaty bio-matter in the water made it look like tea and high reflective. The sun gave a good bit of heat and we just enjoyed being with each other and outside. A
About an hour later we made our way back to camp and started setting up. It is only now that I realize why P-Pa had me "start" the fire while he set up the tent. After a few times that Isaac blithely walked over the tent while we were setting it up, we needed to distract him. We had him go get some branches with and once we were done with the tent, it was on the main camping attraction--the campfire.
When I was little (and even now) I am entranced by fire and Isaac is no different. I also remember on that first Labor Day camping trip in 1983, I got an orange squirt gun and it was a super fun thing to squirt into the fire. So we thought ahead and brought one of Isaac's Cricket water guns. Here he is ready to shoot into the fire and here that sizzle:
The fire grew and stayed warm the entire evening and as things went on, Isaac got into the rhythm of camping. Here he is with his P-Pa:
Around 5:00 we had our traditional camp dinner--Spaghettios and steak. Isaac has a fondness for Spaghettios even if he has never had actual Spaghettios (these are Aunt Annie's Organic Spaghettio-type food):
Isaac loved the food, though steak is a bit much for kids.
The fire kept us engaged all evening long, even as the stars peeked out from behind the trees. Here are P-Pa and Isaac looking for ancient civilizations among the sky:
We went to bed around 9 and Isaac chatted for a bit, but then went out. He did a little flip flopping around, but nothing much. We woke up in the morning and did some more camping stuff--Isaac and P-Pa had some cereal in a box, yet another Labor Day camping tradition. We slowly packed up and went home around noon. There was one final tradition and it involved Isaac driving the car, as P-Pa let me do when I was kid. Isaac did great and drove us out of the camp ground.
The ride home was filled with farting and stinkiness--the perfect end to camping. Sunday was great too, as we all went to Uncle John's for a cookout on Labor Day. Monday came and Isaac and I took P-Pa into the airport. It was sad, but we had such a great time that its hard to complain. Guy's Day 2014 was awesome and Isaac did amazing camping. Can't wait for next year.