We Just Got Back (again) ...

... this time from a 10-night camping trip in the big square state of Colorado with just the littles (and Molly, too it seems!). First, we drove to Mesa Verde and spent 4 nights, 5 days. We climbeD ladders, hiked cliffs and generally scared the bewees out of me as we went back 700 years to explore the lives of the Ancient Peubloans (also known as the Anazasi). We camped out in the Mesa Verde park -- at Morehouse Campground -- and had a blast; definitely something for the kids to remember (and dh and me too!).

We visited Spruce Tree House; this is a self-guided (that is, free) tour of a cliff dwelling.

We then did the Petroglyph hike -- which is only 2.8 miles but is LOTS of ups and downs and in the sun and seems MUCH LONGER! We were able to get views of other cliff dwellings: The next day, we went to Cliff Palace, the largest of all the dwellings so far. This was an amazing hike down and then a fairly scary scaling of ladders back up. The picture of the ladder wedged between rocks is the LAST ladder back up .... for someone not keen on heights (that's ME!), this was pretty intense but still do-able!

What a TRIP! We went to Long House (the second largest dwelling in the park) but I forgot the camera. This too was exceptional -- including the 3-15ft ladders involved in the overall trek.

What a historic gem! We got lots of details and will add this to our ancient cultures history unit this next Fall ... definitely a bonus for us homeschoolers....

After Mesa Verde, we drove north to the YMCA of the Rockies at Snow Mountain -- Winter Park. Now this is FAMILY-ORIENTED. We spent 4 nights (5 days) here doing archery, crafts, rollerskating, putt-putt golf and just generally having a blast as a family. Tons of great family fun and nice cool (if rainy) nights that cooled the 80+ days down to the 30s -- what a country!

If you've ever been to Mesa Verde or to the Y-camp, please let me know your experiences ...

Blessings and prayers,

Summer Road Trip Books

So, I'm trying to get ready for summer road trips -- trips where we're in the car "forever" as well as trips where we're camping or staying overnight places. I immediately try to come up with books/activities that will keep the kiddoes busy when it's raining or on the long hauls between Mickey-D's....

Here's our wishlist of great summer books for my 4-8 year olds:

• Klutz Books: First, let me say I'm a BIG fan of Klutz (and their other books under the name of "Chicken Socks") books -- they have lots of great, fun, kid-friendly (and parent-friendly) activities that are all contained within their spiral bound publications. Here are some of the best: Paper Fashions for my 7 yod (her friend has this and she really enjoyed playing with it the other day; it's a great way to get your kids thinking not just about fashion design, but also coordination of colors and modesty in fashion); The Fabulous Book of Paper Dolls is a great one to go with Paper Fashions -- both are excellent girl-pleasers; Lego Crazy Action Contraptions for all three (we have this, and I need to remember to pack it; everything's contained in a little ziploc pocket attached to the book and you can make some of the coolest little machines!); Super Scissors Book looks like so much fun for my 4 yos -- but he might have to fight with his siblings over it a bit!; The Only Coloring, Puzzle, Game, Dot-To-Dot Activity Book: You'll Ever Need! is perfect for my older two -- it comes with twistable crayons and has tons of activities to keep them busy; Draw the Marvel Comic Super Heroes is one of Lego Maniac's favorite books -- clear, easy to draw steps make the heroes come to life and the markers let you add just a bit of color; Crayon Rubbings sounds absolutely perfect for road trips; Building Cards: How to Build Castles will be perfect for tent-nights ... LegoManiac loves these cards and they're very easy to use; String Games should keep all three of them busy in the car and in the tent; Totally Tape sounds totally perfect for my 4 yo who loves to play with tape anyway. Now, I'm not going to necessarily get ALL of these right away (at least that's what I'll tell dh) and we do have a couple of them already. My plan is to spread them out over our summer so they can have different, constructive things to do "just in case" it rains the whole camping trip or the road-trip takes a bit longer than we expect.....
• Boy activity books that I'm really interested in getting for the guys (and String Bean too!) include: The Little Book of Whittling and Whittling Twigs and Branches which are both by Chris Lubkemann and look fantastic (and easy for the boys to do); American Boy's Handy Book and the Field and Forest Handy Book are both by D.C. Beard and are excellent old-fashioned books about boylore -- hunting, kite flying, tent-making, and other important boy stuff; and finally, the really cool-looking, awesome-sounding book by two brothers (and not even out in the States yet - but will be by the end of the week), The Dangerous Book for Boys.
• For String Bean and me to have some fun in camp and in car, I've found the following: Girls' Best Book for Knitting, Sewing and Embroidery which should keep us fairly busy (especially if I remember to pack fabric and yarn scraps!), and the American Girl's Handy Book written by the sisters of D.C. Beard.

Now, although if you're looking at these books and thinking -- wow, is she sexist! -- don't because I think that as the boys delve into their books and get all excited and as String Bean delves into hers and gets all excited -- all three of them will learn what the others are doing. That's the great thing about family -- the societal borders are broken down on long road-trips or long campfires by sheer boredom!

Another pre-Camping Book

Last week, I wrote a post about the camping books we've been reading to get all psyched up to go camping this summer. Theresa at Lapazfarm recommended that we check out her son's favorite book -- Cooking on a Stick: Campfire Recipes for Kids.

Being nothing if not obedient, I immediately requested the book from the Library. Today we read this book -- cover to cover -- and now I'll need to immediately purchase this book. The recipes are wonderful. Linda White, the author, covers three types of campfire cooking: recipes for cooking on a stick, recipes for cooking in foil packets, and recipes for cooking on a grill/rack. And these are VERY kid-friendly recipes -- the sweets sound SWEET and the savories sound delicious.

The book contains 24 recipes (with suggestions for altering the recipes with other ingredients) and includes entrees, desserts and snacks. These would be fun recipes to make at home too (altho needing a bit of tweaking).

I'm so glad I'm obedient and listened to Theresa!

Pre-camping pleasures

Now that we're out in the Rockies, we figure we'll take the kiddos camping quite a bit this summer; I mean, the scenery is AWESOME (in the true definition of the word!).

But we're also trying to get the little ones all excited while also helping us learn about camping skills before we head out. So where do we turn? The library of course!

Here are some of the books that have really gone over well with our kids:

• Follow the Trail: A Young Person's Guide to the Great Outdoors by Jessica Loy
• The Kids' Campfire Book by Jane Drake and Ann Love
• Kids Camp! Activities for the Backyard or Wilderness by Laurie Winn Carlson

Not to forget the older folks, here are some GREAT books on camping and hiking in Colorado:

• Colorado Camping: The Complete Guide to Tent and RV Camping by Sarah Ryan
• Best Hikes with Children: Colorado by Maureen Keilty
• Family Guide to Colorado's National Parks and Monuments by Carolyn Sutton