Happy Fathers Day!

I just wanted to write really quickly, before my computer dies, what we did today. Jason wanted to go for a "walk" and when I saw him getting ready in the kitchen this morning, I saw him packing a few food stuff items that usually require heating up as well as a lighter and a few other "survival" items. He then proceeded to tell me that he wanted to take along a few things in case we decided to have a little camp fire and wanted to cook something up. :) Sounds like fun to me, I am usually up for an adventure! So I mentioned the half pack of Costco Peppered Bacon that we still had in the Fridge from Breakfast yesterday and he said "great!" And then I decided to go a little further by creating an "experiment" of Cornmeal, Whole Wheat Flour, Dry Milk, baking powder, salt and some sugar. I put a few Tbs. of cooking oil in another baggie and we packed plenty of water. We got all the kids ready without telling them of our possible plans and headed off. Now, our property provides plenty of opportunity for hiking, so we didn't have to drive anywhere. There are all sorts of trees, thousands of them; Maples, Douglas Firs, Alders, Cottonwoods, Cedars etc. There is also lots of greenery in the way of ferns, salmon berry bushes, gooseberry bushes, blackberries, ground blackberries, and lots of other misc. shrubs and bushes. The boys and Sarah Rose went through yesterday and re-blazed part of a trail that we have been trying to keep up over the past few years, and today they had the chance to finish it to the creek, in which we found out that we have 2 huge trees that need to be removed and cut up before we can get down to our creek! So, anyways, while they were off trail blazing, Noah, Charity Ann, Sarah Rose and I worked on getting a fir started in the area that we picked out as our "day camp" for today. We went and found rocks of various sizes to put around our little fire once I got it going and then pampered it until we could cook over the open flames and coals. Jason packed a little frying pan that I got out (cast iron, so no wooden or plastic handle to burn or melt off!) And I got out the "Experimental Mix" and my Oil and Water. I then mixed it all together, added a little oil to the pan and made our first "griddle cake" The kids were so excited!! Then I pulled out the bacon and they knew that they were in for a real treat! When Jason and Cayleb got back from their adventure, i had a nice fire going, and had gotten the three kids that were with me a little food to fill their tummies. I then started working on a plate for the "big boys" and got them fed. Jason had to run back home (a 10-15 minute hike each way) for my pocket knife to open our can of Baked Beans. We got that opened and put it can and all in the coals next to the fire. Every one ended up having a great lunch, got all filled up and so I tidied up and we went to see what the boys had been working on up the trail. Along the way we were finding and picking salmon berries for the kids to eat. A real treat to my kiddos!! Sarah Rose was just saying "I found Salmon Berries" over and over, she just couldn't believe her luck! I guess!! After that we went back to camp, and decided that it was time to put the fire out and head back home so that Sarah Rose could get a proper nap.... just couldn't convince her to settle down next to daddy, so reluctantly, we packed everything up into my backpack that I carry her in and 2 other backpacks... and the chainsaw, weed eater and a jug of water. It made for a wonderful day, I hope that Jason had as much fun as I did. I think that he did, he really loves getting to admire the beauty that lies around us. As do the kids and I. I'll put up some pictures later when I get them uploaded onto the computer, K.

I think that I forgot to mention that the griddle cakes and bacon turned out really yummy. I think that this is a day that the kids will remember forever :)