The Boy in the Yellow Shirt

Just back from our annual camping trip with a group of families that met when Teddy was born.  We reminisced about the absent family who had gotten us all started on this adventure, before they moved away.  Some, like us, had never camped before, and others had not been brave enough to try it with kids.  Our (mostly) boys were about 4 years old that first trip, and I believe 10 families came along.  I blogged about that epic first trip here.  We realized this summer that we've been camping 8 summers, Barley must have been a year and a half.  Even more kudos to us for braving the outdoors with an toddler!

Time has sure flown since then.  We realized that Barley is now the same age as the "older" boy whom Teddy latched on to that weekend.  Teddy wore a yellow shirt in homage to that first trip.  He had become "The Boy in the Yellow Shirt" and was just as dirty by the end.

We are a lot better at the camping thing now, fully equipped with campstove, air mattresses, extra table, marshmallow roasting sticks, and tent big enough for 8, or 4 people with a lot of "stuff".  We even had one clever boy who created a special 4th of July "fireworks" show for us in dry, fireworks-free Big Sur.  He choreographed glowstick bracelets thrown into the night sky by all the children.  Once the adults started adding in fake explosion sounds, it almost did seem like we got to see real fireworks!
Other memorable adventures this trip included:

• A hike down the river to see what was there.  Answer: a cliff, a water crossing, and lots of poison oak.  Thank goodness everyone was wearing long pants!
• No crawdads were caught this trip, though we heard rumors that people in the camp across the way had some luck.  Barley was a little disappointed, but got over it.
• A brazen skunk had its way with the dog dish of one of our group.  Skunk stories peppered the rest of the conversation all weekend.
• A blue plastic boat was floated in the stream, tied to a string, and great quantities of rocks were thrown at it to sink it, over and over and over again.
• We played "Mafia": a variation on the game "Killer" where everyone sits in a circle.  The emcee is "God" and designates 3 "Mafia", 1 "Guardian Angel", and everyone else is "Townspeople".  Everyone closes their eyes, and then the Mafia, Guardian Angel, and Townspeople wake up in turns.  The Mafia designate a victim to be killed, the Angel saves 1 person, and then the Townspeople accuse and sentence whomever they think are the Mafia.  The accused has 10 seconds to defend and persuade.  The game ends when there are either only Townspeople/Angel, or Mafia left, which determines who wins.  It was pretty fun!

It was cold this trip, and hardly any of the kids went into the river on day 2, so it was good all the water play had been fully enjoyed on Saturday.  I even rode the innertube several times down the stream.  The water level was quite high, and my butt did not scrape bottom even once--yippee!  I did almost get a face full of branch several times though.

It was a longer trip than usual: 3 nights.  I was ready to come home and do dishes in warm water for a change.  But I am also looking forward to our next trip in a few weeks.