2008JeffJourney

Remembering Pearl Harbor

December 7, 2009

Or learning about it (depending on how old one is).

The Dixie Wing Commemorative Air Force's mission is to acquire, restore and preserve in flying condition a complete collection of combat aircraft flown by all military services of the US, and selected aircraft of other nations, for the education and enjoyment of present and future generations of Americans.....

Besides providing the aircraft for us to observe they also organized a time to honor those who survived the Pearl Harbor attack in 1941.  We enjoyed seeing the replica planes and had the honor of meeting two men who were in the Army barracks during the attack. 

 

Before attending the event some of us read aloud the excellent book, Attack on Pearl Harbor: The True Story of the Day America Entered WWII by Shelley Tanaka. It follows four young men (two Americans, Two Japanese) through the day.

Thank you to all of those men and women who have served our country! What freedom we do enjoy. Let us never take it lightly.

Love is Patient

November 28, 2009

Now why is that the first adjective when describing love in 1 Corinthians 13? Put nine people shoulder to shoulder hours on end and it becomes apparent.

Location: Statesville KOA, Statesville, NC. Very easy on and off of I-77. Car Activities: Stickers galore (Grandma saved all those free promotional stickers for such a day as this), drawing, coloring, Finishing up Peter and the Sword of Mercy, Several more stories from Magical Melons (the sequel to Caddie Woodlawn) and E’s Konos assignment of Family Forum: reading a chapter from Our Father Abraham relating the relevance of the Old Testament followed by a lively discussion.

After hours of driving we piled out of the car to the stench as our nostrils filled with the wafting odor of the neighbor’s sewage.  Once again, setting up in the dark well after the dinner hour we hurried to get all the tubes and wires connected to take refuge in our little home. The promise of cable was nonexistent so the kids took a walk with Dad; a much better solution anyway to all the excess energy. The promise of internet was delivered; three computers were booted up for an evening of blog updating and regaining connection to our world.

More Driving, Driving, Driving

November 23, 2009

Location: Hershey KOA, Elizabethtown, PA. When I called they said they were closed but not closed, so we were told to come on in and register at their night desk.  We had a time trying to find our site in the dark. They do say on their website that it’s better to arrive before dark. J Many of the kids said, “I love KOAs… They are all so nice.” The sites were typical of KOAs – close together, but there were a lot of trees. K, L and I had a nice brisk walk in the morning on their hilly land.

Books: Finished Cabin on Trouble Creek and started the sequel to Caddie Woodlawn, Magical Melons.

Five states in 5 ½ hours. Gotta love those small Northeastern states. The most exciting part was pulling into C’s Dad’s driveway. We finally arrived!

Through Ohio and into Pennsylvania

November 22, 2009

Location: Deer Creek State Park, Mt. Sterling, Ohio. In the busy season one would have a much different perception of this park. On this day we were one of 3 RV campers. The other two had roaring fires and probably had filled their water tanks before arriving. All of the bathrooms had CLOSED in bold letters written on them.

One of the greatest things about state parks is the connection with nature. After eating our oatmeal breakfast and finding creative ways to clean our hands and dishes, we were off on a family hike. We found a trail lined with leafless trees leading us to a partially drained lake. Signs of fall were all around and interesting to those of us used to the evergreen landscape of GA.

Much of the day was spent driving, driving, driving… Devotions today were taken from a chapter of the book, Singing through the Night. Other than that there was a lot of reading, wading through school work, music and audio book listening, facebooking, drawing, bickering, sleeping…. You get it. Nine people – plenty of activity.

Once again we arrived at our campground, Hershey KOA, after dark.  We made sure that this time we chose a campground that had warm showers and water hookups.  It was a special treat to have full hook ups and not worry about how much water we used to clean the pile of dishes that had built up over the past few days. The day closed with bowls of hot chicken soup, toasted Ciabatta bread, Brownies and a viewing of Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs. We're feeling a bit more like we're on vacation.

On the Road Again

November 20, 2009

Location: Home to Richmond, KY

Books (Read aloud)  Cabin on Trouble Creek, This book was written by the same woman who wrote On to Oregon, a book we read aloud for Konos Kids. The author found the story of two boys who survived the winter in a cabin in the Ohio frontier as their father had returned to PA to get their mother and younger siblings. There wasn’t much factual information about the boys so the author wrote the story of what might have happened.  (audio book)  Peter and the Sword of Mercy by Dave Barry and … The fourth in the series of creative stories of life behind the scenes of the original Peter Pan title. In these books evil is very evil and the suspense is high.

Why do I think that it won’t take days to get us all out of the house?  After all these years of packing and planning I would think that I’d get better at making an accurate itinerary.  The plan was to leave at about 1 p.m. after the boys finished their Thanksgiving Feast with CCS. We didn’t do too bad leaving at 2 p.m. Usually the ride is about 6 hours up to my sister's home. This time it took us 8 ½! We opted to call out for pizza at about Knoxville and had a picnic in the camper. By 10:30 p.m. we arrived to a welcoming crew. The kids all settled in to catching up with the cousins as did the adults.

The Making of our New Home

November 2009

#1 Find a book that inspires you to dream big.

#2 Convert 14 ft plan to 11 ft plan then buy 2 canvas drop cloths at a local hardware store.

#3 Recruit an older son to come and hold a string (preferably with his big toe) attached to a pencil to draw the outline seen in the book.

#4 Recruit husband and another son to make 14 ft poles (explain that making them out of 2x4's is much easier than the original way (Hunt 12 trees that are long and staight, peel them, put them in a place where they will dry straight...wait) so that they will think that spending the hours in the garage cutting and staining is no big deal.

#5 Spend a weekend sewing and hemming canvas and adding handsewn button holes.

#6 Move all furniture out of dining room. Lay plastic. Thin house paint and recuit older son to paint. Continually remind kids NOT to walk through the dining room in hopes of limiting paint tracked through house.

#7 Spend most of day on other pursuits (including washing paint off hard wood floor that seeped through canvas and misplaced plastic) so that tipi is set up as sun sets. Recruit many hands.

#8 Enjoy view of finished project in light from headlights. Not perfect but it' will do for tomorrow's big event.

Considering a New Home?

November 2009

"The tipi is much better to live in; always clean, warm in winter, cool in summer; easy to move. The white man builds big house, cost much money, like big cage, shut out sun, can never move; always sick." Flying Hawk, Lakota

-quote from Paul Goble's brillantly illustrated Tipi: Home of the Nomadic Buffalo Hunters 

Ever since seeing the plans in an old book on my husband's childhood bookshelves, Indian Crafts and Lore by Ben Hunt, I've thought, "Wouldn't it be fun to make a tipi?"  Enlisting the help of many family members, some enthusiastic, some reluctant but willing, we've begun....

Maybe We Can Just Live Here

October 31, 2009

M was convinced that we could just pack up our home and move right into High Falls State Park.

No question that it is beautiful, but an afternoon of hanging out together was about all we could justify on the calendar.  It rained on and off. L&I finished up Bound for Oregon, an inspiring based-on-a-true-life story of a family moving from Arkansas to Oregon by covered wagon. They lacked the conveniences of the indoor bath and the luxury of turning on the heater on a damp, chilly afternoon. We do have so much to be thankful for!

 

In between drizzle we biked and hiked. But all too soon we packed up to head back to our home.

What are We Reading These Days?

July 2009

Why good books, of course. Because I am their mother, when at camp we have to carve out at least a little time for reading and being read to. 

A’s favorite is Blueberries for Sal or Blueberries for A— as she prefers. (She could have been the model for the illustrator for sure.) The first time we read it, it went to bed with her.

Our read aloud has been deemed, “My favorite book ever,” by M.  Recommended by a friend, Gentle Ben, has been a great book for our campy, though bearless so far­­­­­­­­­­­­, life in the woods.

And if they are not listening to either of the above, they get Swallows and Amazons in the car. L seems most taken with this island adventure.  She would love to take part in such imaginative play.

Besides these, there is the left over school work that leads J and I on a discussion of Communist Manifesto and L reading aloud through The American Girl Molly Series.  D is taken with the Mr. Tucket series by G. Paulsen and C seems to prefer to stick with his work, The Strategic Treasurer: A Partnership for Corporate Growth …. (which, by the way, is now available wherever books are sold….)

On the Road Again

June 24, 2009

Location: Too long at home; Fort Mill, SC KOA

Car Activities: Flush by Carl Hiassen (author of Hoot), Adventures in Odyssey, The Mystery of Phantom Ranch (Nancy Drew)

As usual the departure time slipped by. Even once we got out of the door we were slowed down by errands and a stop at the bank. But finally we were on our way north – four hours behind schedule. Traveling was slow too – a stop for lunch, bathroom breaks, “Oh No!” the strap came loose for our car top carrier… we limped on back roads to the nearest Walmart to remedy the situation.

Sigh. It is taking us way too long.

By 8 p.m. we pull into the KOA. After traveling through many KOA’s on our Out West Trip and seeing their cabins, we decided to rent one instead of going to a hotel. We were pleased. Not only was our car parked close so we didn’t have to worry about having our car carrier messed with, we were able to stay in one facility. The kids were excited to see the jumping pillow, mini golf, pool and playground. After getting settled into cabin, eating a late dinner we headed out to walk and play.