Buckeye Bark

I lived in Ohio for 10 years.  My favorite Buckeye is the one you eat at Christmastime.  Except rolling the peanut butter ball and dipping and all that, it's kind of a pain and time involved.  Enter Buckeye Bark, it's so much easier.

I got this recipe from another blog a few years ago.  I'd happily give credit where credit is due, but the recipe has been removed and the focus of the blog is completely different.  Thankfully, I'd saved the recipe and not relied on the blogger for future use.

What does this recipe have to do with camping?  Yeah, not a whole lot.  But it's yummy.  And a family favorite.

Ingredients:

• 2.5 lbs of chocolate candy coating, white, dark, or milk
• 1 lbs all natural creamy peanut butter
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 stick of butter, melted
• 1 tsp vanilla

What to do:

Melt 1.25 lbs of chocolate according to the directions on the package, spread over parchment paper or a silpat lined cookie sheet.  Spread to a large rectangle but not too thin, preferably a 1/4 inch thick.  Place in freezer.  In a large bowl, mix together the peanut butter, sugar, butter, and vanilla until creamy and smooth.  Spread over first chocolate layer.  Return to freezer.  Melt the remaining chocolate and spread over peanut butter layer.  Freeze until set.  Break into small pieces using a butcher knife - get out that frustration with your hacking!  Store in the fridge or freezer until ready to serve.

Rhubarb Custard Pie

Prepping for Thanksgiving tomorrow, I just pulled my pie out of the oven.  Kids are loving the smell of the house.  A while back, I said I'd have to share my recipe for Rhubarb Custard Pie (here's my recipe for Rhubarb Cake).  It's a favorite in this family.  We have abundant rhubarb that grows in the garden every summer.  So abundant that I'll happily give it away to those that ask.  Or don't ask, I'll push it on people.  I'm a rhubarb pusher.  Or something.

Anyway...

The sugar in the custard filling cuts the bitterness of the rhubarb.  I am not a fan of straight rhubarb, but love this pie.  I freeze rhubarb in the warmer months in quantities for making pies.  I have definitely taken pie on camping trips, too.  My MIL gave me her recipe and now I share it with you.

What you need:

Pie Filling:

• 4 cups chopped rhubarb
• 3 eggs
• 3 Tbsp milk
• 2 cups sugar
• 1/4 cup flour
• 3/4 tsp nutmeg

Pie Crust:

• Haha!!  I just use the refrigerated Pillsbury crust!  I used to make my own with Crisco, but I'm good with the stuff from the store.

What to do:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  In a mixing bowl, stir together the eggs, milk, sugar, flour, and nutmeg.  Add the rhubarb and mix together.  Take a refrigerated pie crust and line your pie pan.  Pour rhubarb filling into the lined pie pan.  Take 2nd pie crust and cut into 3/4" strips.  Lay strips similarly spaced on your filled pie crust in one direction, then lay the remaining strips in a perpendicular direction.  Fold lower crust over the pastry strips and press firmly to seal.  You will want to put some foil over the edge of your crust to prevent burning.  Bake pie at 425 degrees for 20 minutes, then lower the oven temp to 375 degrees and bake for an additional 40 minutes.

Time to think about Memorial weekend!

The brown November that I wrote about turned into a white November.  It's been cold and snowy here in Michigan.  Winter came early.  Oldest kid has suggested that we get the Christmas decorations out and put away the Thanksgiving and fall decor.  I'm not quite ready to throw in the towel yet. I'll wait a few more days, until after we eat our turkey and mashed potatoes.

What better way is there to spend a snowy Saturday morning than by planning a camping trip?

This year, I promised myself to remember to book Memorial weekend 6 months out.  Usually, I don't think about it until sometime in January and I'm left searching for the best of the left over sites across multiple campgrounds.  I smartened up this year, I put a reminder on my calendar on the date 6 months before Memorial weekend starts, which is today!  Husband and I discussed where we wanted to go beforehand and we had 98% of the campground to choose from when I booked at 7 am this morning (my kids' early-bird tendencies do have some benefits).

So, be a cool camper like me, and book your Memorial trip.

Is it camping season yet?

Day trip to Bronners

Only 49 days until Christmas!! (Ok, I only know because of that sign in Bronners, I don't actually keep count)

Considering my love of lists, surely you know I'm already preparing for Christmas right?  Yes, it's November 6.  I know that.

My kids had school off today for Parent Teacher Conferences.  I work as a substitute teacher at their school, which means we had a free day today.  It occurred to me that we hadn't been to Bronners Christmas Wonderland in a couple years.  I suggested it to the kids this morning and off we went.

Bronners is located in Frankenmuth, Michigan.  It takes a bit over an hour to get there from our house.  A nice day trip ensuring we could get back in time for dinner and Oldest Kid's gymnastics class.  Frankenmuth is a fun town, well known for it's chicken dinners, shopping, and Bronners.  Today, we just stuck to Bronners for time consideration.

You're wondering where the connection to camping is.  I get it.  It's coming.

The world's largest Christmas store is, well, enormous.  According to the trivia card in the Season's Eatings snack shop, the store area for customers is 1.7 acres (7 acres total).  Ornaments are grouped by color, type of food, activity, occupation, animal type, character type, vacation location, life stage, hobby, sport, religion.  You name it, they've got it.  Then there's the area dedicated to trees, nativities, candy, lights, outdoor displays, kids, breakables (well, more breakable than normal ornaments).

They even have a section for camping!  (See, I told you it was coming!).  Santa in a camper.  A 5th wheel, a travel trailer, a pop-up, a tent.  S'mores.  S'mores doing things.  Actually, there were lots of s'mores ornaments all over the store to coincide with the theme of the display was.  I quite liked the marshmallow guy fishing in a graham cracker boat, sitting on chocolate.  Anyway, camping.  We already have several camping ornaments.  We found a marshmallow on a stick early in our shopping excursion, so we picked that up.

More info for camping, there is a private campground only a couple of miles from Bronners.  My parents have stayed there, but I don't know enough information to speak about it.

Depending on your proximity, Bronners and Frankenmuth is a good day trip or weekend trip any time of the year.  And you'll see a McDonalds made to look like an old German building.

Some of the ornaments we came home with

It's November

It's November.  I've been pretty quiet on the blog lately.  This thing called work kept me pretty busy.  Funny how that is.

The camping season is done.  Halloween has passed.  We're hitting the dreary days of brown November.  The colorful leaves are past their peak, what is on the ground are brown leaves.  What are in the trees are brown leaves.  Brown.

Halloween in our area brought snow.  Too early in my opinion.  Of course, I don't get a say.  My kids had winter coats on over their costumes.  I had my winter coat, gloves and my hood on.  I was thankful that my church had an indoor Trunk-or-Treat for the latter part of our evening.  And judging from the record breaking attendance, so were others.

I enjoy fall, I love the colorful leaves.  Halloween is fun for me, even as an adult.  I love apple cider and carving pumpkins.  I don't enjoy the dreaded winter to come, and fall means that to me.

The camper is winterized.  A depressing day, to say the least.  My lists are made for the day I get back into the camper in the spring to restock for Camping Season 2015.  They are sitting on the counter in the camper, waiting for their shining moment, unable to be lost in the months before then (let's face it, they'd get lost in the house).

While the weather is still mostly ok, I've been trying to get my running groove back, extending my distance back to where it was.  At least on my days off.  And maybe clean my house.  Maybe.

I'll share a picture a took from the park down the street that I took last week.  The brilliant yellow of the leaves on the trail made the forest look as if it was glowing.  Running in the glow, how can you not feel rejuvenated in life?

Card Games & Such

I posted about the Board Games in our camper the other day, and our Outdoor Games a while back.  Clearly, I love games.

We have a regular deck of cards in the camper, but I don't think the cellophane is off of it yet.  We could easily play Crazy 8s or Go Fish or whatever.  But Uno, it's a favorite for our family.  Simple, fun.  A way to play and connect with each other.  When we went camping with my in-laws this year, my father-in-law shared that he'd never played the game.  #1 - I was shocked, who hasn't played Uno?  #2 - They went and bought a deck shortly after the trip to play with my nieces visiting from Florida.

Youngest Kid isn't quite there with Phase 10, though she wants to be.  You try to beat your competitors through 10 different phases of card combinations.  It's a longer game, we've been known to pause a game on our score sheet and finish on another day.

Spot It was a gift from those nieces in Florida.  It's a faster paced game, everyone tries to find a match on the same card.  Fun.

I saw the Little Hands Card Holder at Walmart a while back.  Genius.  Little hands need to hold a lot of cards, this helps them out.  Certainly the 10-11 cards in Phase 10 fit in this nicely.  Also if someone gets zinged a lot in Uno.  These were such a hit that we have 2 in the camper and 2 in the house.

I have some more games that I'll post about another day, good travel sized games. Maybe later on, I'll share games that didn't make it into the camper this year (mental note...).  If I remember.

Board Games

I love to play games, always have.  I have fond memories of playing Risk in our pop-up as a kid with my family.  My kids enjoy games, too, and I love that my kids are old enough to play games beyond Candyland.  I certainly enjoyed Candyland when they were 3, but I'm glad to have moved it to the basement.

As I have started clearing things out of the camper for the winter, the games come into the house and join our other games.  Inevitably, we'll want to play them some time during our snowy months.

Cribbage is mostly for Husband and I to play on rainy nights after the kids are in bed.  We have played it with the kids, but they still need lots of help.  It's a card game with a board for keeping score.

Pentago was a new addition to our collection this year.  It's a 2 player game where you try to get 5 marbles in a row.  Think of Connect 4 or Tic Tac Toe with a literal twist in the game, as you twist a quadrant of the board at the end of your turn.  It's simple and fun, deserving the awards it's received in my opinion.

We have the kids version of Sequence, but it's nice to have moved up to the full version of Sequence.  You use playing cards to attempt to get 5 in a row on the board or to block other players.

My kids love Clue.  We just happen to have The Simpsons version.  Youngest Kid still needs a bit of help, but we have fun playing it.  And when the game is done, the kids will just play with the figurines and make whole story lines.

Sorry, a classic.  Always fun to bump another player back to their Start.

We also have Monopoly in the camper.  I got two games of Monopoly when my uncle died, not sure why.  One board just stays in the camper.  I've thought about getting a new one that has electronic banking so that money can't fly away in the breeze while on a camping trip.  But when we already have two boards, it's hard to justify paying for a 3rd.

The games have moved inside.  Come spring, I'll have the kids help pick out the board games for Camping Season 2015.  I'm always a bit surprised by what they pick.

Here are my posts about Card Games and Outdoor Games

My dog loves camping, too!

Oscar the dog, he knows when we're getting ready for a camping trip.  He's been known to take a quick, unexpected jump into the truck an hour before we roll out and refuse to get out.

Why are you taking my picture??

I have a few friends that don't take their dog camping, mostly because the dog barks too much.  Oscar rarely barks.  Oh, he makes noises to let you know his feelings about things, but he rarely barks.  He also makes a fun old-man coughing noise that's just delightful at 5 am in the camper - old dogs are fun!

Of course, we keep him comfortable while we camp.  He's got a bed in the camper, just like he does at home.  Oscar, he's funny, he loves to be covered up with a blanket.  He'll bring you his blanket so you can cover him up.  Then, I'll hold the blanket up over his bed, he'll walk around on his bed in circles to find just the right way to lay down, and drags his head under the blanket as I start to cover him.  Dog likes to be cozy.  So, he's got a blanket in the camper, too.  He sleeps on the floor on Husband's side of the bed.

For outside, we have a corkscrew tie-out.  We used to have a fancy self-retracting tie out, but it died last winter and we haven't found a replacement in our price range.

Our main leash (we have a back up in the camper, just in case) is a 4 foot long leash.  I like the 4' length, it's easy to get him immediately right next to me for any reason.  Attached to the leash is a container holding poo bags.  Whenever takes a dump, the bags are right there for easy clean-up.  There may have been some teasing about the pink and purple poo bags for our male dog, but, hey, they were cheaper than all blue.

Manly dogs use pink poo bags

For food, I keep it in a Rubbermaid container.  There was this one trip a couple years ago where Oscar's food was left outside right next to his food dish.  And, the food had all sorts of mold by Sunday morning because of the sun and lack of ventilation.  That mistake has not been repeated.

While we're on our camping trip, Oscar stays outside.  He goes on walks with us, hikes with us.  He's on his tie-out while we're playing outside games and games on the picnic table.  He's right there at the campfire when we're talking at night.  He still goes with me on my runs like he does when we're at home.  When we get home, he's exhausted from the extra activity and sleeps more than normal the next day.

Oscar is just like the rest of my family, he loves camping.

Halloween Camping

The Last Hurrah!

Halloween Camping, a tradition our family has come to love greatly, look forward to all year long.  It is also a bittersweet trip because it's almost always our last trip of the camping season living this far north.

We've done big Halloween Campouts at a couple of different state parks (my post for this year's location).  We've also done this trip at Maumee Bay State Park (no post to share about that one, you just get the link to the park).

East Harbor has 2 weekends to choose from for Halloween Camping.  This lessens the immediacy of booking and booking for extra nights that we won't be there due to work and school (cough: Maumee Bay).  Our group booked sites as soon as we possibly could, when reservations opened 6 months before our first night there.  I think we tried to start booking at 6 am and were able to book at 7 am.  Not only were there a plethora of sites to choose from, we got our coveted cul-de-sac sites (ok, so we had to fudge our camper length a little and hope for the best - it worked thankfully!).

Weekend events start on Friday.  Some events repeat both nights.  My kids enjoyed the Haunted Hayride and the Haunted Tunnel.  Nothing too scary for my kids not into scary things.

Hayride stuff during the day time

There was a pet costume contest.  Oscar the dog was dressed at Yoda-wg.  It matched the family Star Wars Theme quite nicely.  Oldest Kid was Princess Leia, Youngest Kid was Darth Vader.  I was Padme.  Husband was Han Solo.  I'd share a picture of us all, but I'm not going to share pics of my kids.  Here's Oscar:

We decorate our campsite with fun Halloween decor.  Except, I'm cheap.  All of our decor comes from the Target clearance sales.  Some people get really into it.  I mean REALLY into it.  My favorite campsite was this Lego campsite solely dedicated to decor.  It was cool - a life size version of an actual Lego set, complete with characters from The Lego Movie.

My kids' favorite part of this trip is trick-or-treating from campsite to campsite.  The loot they bring home is impressive.  I had purchased almost 200 bottles of bubbles, plus had a bit of candy.  Husband was out of stuff to give away well before the kids and I got back from begging trick-or-treating.

Sunday morning, it was time to pack up.  Admittedly, the process of packing up the final trip is a bit emotional to me.  We're not the only only ones to linger a bit longer than normal, taking extra care to pack things up, spend a bit more time talking with friends than getting on the road quickly.  I see other campers doing it, too.

We've had a great camping season.  Halloween Camping is our capstone experience.  Now it's ended and I am sad.  Seven whole months until Camping Season 2015.

Is it camping season yet?

East Harbor State Park

Site C-58

We spent this past weekend at East Harbor State Park in Ohio.  We were there for our annual Halloween camping trip and I'll make another post about that later.

East Harbor is on the shores of Lake Erie, about halfway between Toledo and Sandusky.  I went to high school not too far away from there.  My best friend lives in the Cleveland area.  This is a great meeting point because it's somewhere in the middle.

We've been to East Harbor several times before.  When searching for sites, I HIGHLY recommend paying attention to the sites that state, "This can be a wet site as it is prone to flooding after heavy rains."  That is no joke.  Our first time there?  Our reserved campsite was under several inches of water.  Thankfully it was super early in the camping season and we could easily select a drier campsite.  Still muddy, but not flooded.  When we were there for the 4th of July weekend in 2013, there was rain off and on all weekend.  We couldn't escape the mud and our feet were just filthy.

East Harbor is part of the reason I own rainboots now.

Wet and muck is really the negative side of East Harbor.  There are great things about it, too.  Things that outweigh the muck.

We made a three-night camping trip for this weekend.  We got there shortly before dark, enough time to unhitch and get set up.  Not enough time to do anything much besides that, eat dinner and put our school-tired kids to bed.  We are clearly on the downside of the equinox.

Friday morning, I went for a run first thing.  I was greeted by the sunrise over the bay.  Not a bad way to start the day.  I wound my way through different sections of the park.  We like electricity and we like our dog, so we always end up in Section C.  You can end up in different sections based on your pet and electricity choices.

Once I got back and cleaned up for the day, the kids wanted to ride their bikes over to the Glacial Grooves.  I've been to the Glacial Grooves on Kelleys Island, those are impressive to look at.  The ones at East Harbor State Park?  Not-so-much.  My oldest kid certainly thinks they're cool.  I think I might think more highly of them if I'd not seen the other ones.  A short bike ride later, we were at the grooves.

The sign explaining the history of the grooves.

I'd guess the length is about 1/2 a football field, so a longer distance shot.

A closer shot with the toe of my rain boot to give some size perspective.  You can definitely see the direction that the glacier moved however many years ago that happened.

We did not make a trip to go fishing on this trip, but we've done it from the pier and from a boat.  We've had good luck with catching.

The camp store is nice.  There was a 1/2 off sale on ice cream treats because it's October.  Somehow, the kids wanted ice cream on a 55 degree day.  The grown-ups opted to skip that particular treat ;)

The majority of our remaining time at East Harbor was spent participating in Halloween activities.  Look for that post to come.

Just me, being silly

For my Halloween costume, do I go with silly pumpkins?

Or a not-so-scary witch?

Or a blue sparkly cowgirl?

Maybe a devil?

Probably not Uncle Sam (Aunt Sam?)

I think the winner is Pink Princess

Do you dress up for Halloween, what are you going to be?

Bob's Crab Puffs

For our upcoming Halloween camping trip, our group decided to do an appetizer lunch on Saturday before trick-or-treating.  One of my contributions is this recipe.  I love that I can premake it and freeze it.  I'll heat them up in the oven in the camper and serve.  I've made it countless times and it's always a big hit.

Sidenote: I don't know the Bob that created this recipe.  This is a distinction to be made for those that know me IRL.

Ready to freeze

What you need:

• 1 package English Muffins
• 1 can (4.25 oz) crab meat, drained
• 1 small jar Kraft Old English Cheese Spread
• 1 stick butter, softened
• 2 T. mayonnaise
• 2 drops Tabasco Sauce

What to do:

Slice each English Muffin in half (or just separate, depends on which brand you buy).  Cut each half into quarters.  Mix remaining ingredients.  Spread mixture on the cut English Muffins.  Freeze.  Once thoroughly frozen, put in a large plastic bag until ready to serve.  Thaw, place in oven at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.  

Of course, you can skip the freezing step if you prefer to have them sooner.

Another sidenote: I've been questioned on the Old English Cheese Spread.  When I shopped at Kroger years ago, I'd find it in the non-refrigerated cheese section, by the Velveeta.  I now shop at Meijer and I find it in the refrigerated cheese section, near the Cracker Barrel cheese spreads.  To help you out, you can have a picture to help in visual recognition.

Trick-or-Treat Giveaways

Candy, candy, and more candy.  That's what trick-or-treating is all about, right?

My kids get inundated with candy.  They cannot possibly eat all that Halloween candy before we get inundated with Christmas candy.  And we still have Easter candy in the candy jar.  It's October 5th.  The only reason there isn't Valentine candy in there still is because I weeded some out just before the Easter candy came in.

I'm not anti-candy.  I love me some Reese Peanut Butter Cups and Kit Kats.  I've been known to steal those from the candy stash.  And chocolate.  Maybe Nestle Crackles will get stolen not be eaten by my kids.  I may have been distracted by my favorite candy, back on track now.  My kids often get 1 treat a day, either a piece of candy or something else, depends on the day and what's going on.  Some days we have "Candy Free Days."

We've established that there's lots of candy.  With trick-or-treating coming up, I've noticed that my kids enjoy seeing the stuff in their trick-or-treat collection that ISN'T candy.  As a kid, I liked getting pennies in my bag (except we used a pillow case because it was huge and carried everything, unlike those plastic pumpkins).  I did not like getting toothbrushes (how many dentists could have lived in my neighborhood?).  My kids have gotten juice boxes, stuffed animals, rubber snakes, bags of popcorn, glow sticks (except they're always already snapped by the time we get home and therefore useless), plastic jewelry, bouncy balls.

Seeing my kids' enjoyment, I've started in on the "non-candy treats" to give out to trick-or-treaters.

Enter Oriental Trading.  There is tons of stuff that works great for this purpose and the prices are great.  This year, we're giving out little bottles of bubbles.

Some people may say that not every kid enjoys non-candy treats.  I'm ok with that.  Because not every kid like Smarties.  Or Laffy Taffy.  Or other flavored Tootsie Rolls.  Or chocolate (gasp!!).  You can't please everyone.  I don't pretend to do so.

Knowing my kids cannot possibly eat all the Halloween candy that they'll get in the next few weeks, I've got a couple ways to move it along.

1. Our church does a Trunk-or-Treat for the community.  The candy I know that won't get eaten from our Halloween Camping trip gets donated to the first car there when we take our kids to the event.
2. Halloween candy still hanging around when we decorate ginger bread house(s) is free game for decorations.  I always buy gingerbread house kits because I'm kinda lazy about something that will just end up trashed anyway.  Halloween candy adds a way to individualize the houses we've made without buying more candy.

Candy is great and all, we certainly enjoy it.  But there are other ideas, other ways for trick-or-treating and what to do with the candy.

Pumpkin Hunt

On our first Halloween camping trip (was that 4 years ago now?), my BFF had a fun activity for the kids the first night of our trip.

She found a bunch of these ------------------------------>
little pumpkin cups.  I've seen them at numerous stores.  I've also seen them as cauldrons as well.  They're like miniature trick-or-treat containers.  She filled each one with a little fun goodie, like bubbles and stickers and small toys and trinkets.  Nothing expensive.  The goodies were age appropriate for the kids in our group.

While the kids were on one campsite playing with the dads, the moms hid the little pumpkins around another campsite.  The kids loved finding the pumpkins and then showing their friends and siblings what all they got.

Just like an Easter Egg Hunt, the kids went on a Pumpkin Hunt.

Halloween Clearance Shopping

Halloween Camping is our last hurrah of the season.  We go out with a bang, this is one our favorite trips of the year.

Part of the prep for this trip is shopping the clearance sales on November 1.  As I started getting out our Halloween decorations yesterday, it involved a few forgotten surprises.  Halloween earrings.  Pumpkin headbands.  Accessories to make a real pumpkin into Darth Vader Mr. Potato Head.

The kids loved the surprises.

I also have some new outdoor decorations.  We don't decorate outside of our house.  They are solely for our campsite for our Halloween Camping trip.  We can skip the decorations bought in the past that don't work so well, add to what does work well.

As with the stuff I found yesterday, I don't exactly remember what I got at Target last year for the campsite decor.  I'll find out soon enough, right?

I'm also a big dork super cool, I put Halloween Clearance Shopping on my calendar for 8 am on November 1.

Apple Squares

Apple season is upon us.  I currently have a batch of Applesauce in the crock pot.  I'll be getting more apples to make more apple-y things.  The kids do make it hard, they see fresh picked apples and suddenly they're eating 2 and 3 apples each a day.

This time of year doesn't just mean apples, it also means Halloween camping is approaching.  Our Halloween camping trips are always really big group affairs.  I took these Apple Squares one year and got tons of compliments.  I made them at home and served them cold.  A reheat in the oven would work well, but it was cool that trip and the dish would not have stayed warm long.

Ingredients
1 cup sifted all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup chopped apple
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts (optional)
2 tablespoons white sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

What to do

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease 9x9 inch pan.  Sift together flour, baking powder, salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon.  Set aside.
• In a large bowl, mix together melted butter, brown sugar, and 1/2 cup of white sugar with a wooden spoon until smooth.  Stir in the egg and vanilla.  Blend in the flour mixture until just combined, then stir in the apples and walnuts.  Spread the mixture evenly into the prepared pan.  In a cup or small bowl, stir together then remaining cinnamon and sugar; sprinkle over the top of the bars.
• Bake for 25-30 minutes in preheated oven; finished bars should spring back when lightly touched.  Cool in the pan and cut into squares.

Tailgating: Time to raid the camper

The season of fall is the season of football.  This family cheers for the MSU Spartans (but really, we'll cheer for UofM, too, as long as they're not playing MSU).  And, being really honest, if my kids get into UofM and decide to go there down the road, I'd be a proud Wolverine Mom.

We went to the EMU vs. MSU football game today.  We signed the kids up for the Junior Spartan program.  For a little bit of money, they get tickets to a football game for the family, t-shirts, free admittance to most MSU sports, and more.  It's really a nice program.  This is our 2nd year doing it and I think it's worthwhile.

ANYWAY...  What does this football nonsense have to do with camping?

The perfect stuff for a tailgate lives in the camper.  Paper plates, napkins, individual chip bags, plasticware, Solo cups (ok, not really, mine are Meijer brand), water bottles, juice pouches, condiments, cooler.  All of it lives in the camper.  All of it is perfect for a tailgate.

I spent my morning raiding the camper for the tailgate items.

The game started at 12 pm.  We got to our parking spot around 10 am.  Discussing adult beverages with my friend Jenn, we weren't feeling the desire to drink beer at that time.  She mentioned bringing apple cider.  I mentioned adding a little bit of vanilla vodka.  Jenn gave it a positive review and I think it was a nice little something for a morning tailgate.

In case you're wondering, the Spartans won 76-14.

N. Higgins Lake State Park

A canceled trip.  Not the first time we've had to scrap a trip because of illness.  I do hope it is the last time, but I'm also realistic.  I'm sure we'll have others.

We sad campers had to make due.  The trip was planned with my parents.  They still went to N. Higgins Lake State Park for the weekend.  I took the kids up for the day on Saturday while Husband stayed home and rested while watching bad TV on the couch.

When we booked our campsites, I purposefully picked campsites right by the playground, hopeful that the kids could just run over and play while the adults stayed at the campsite.  We had sites 66 & 64, and that certainly would have happened if we'd spent the weekend.  But the playground was nothing to write home about (but apparently worthy of writing about in a blog?).  It was an old swing set and an old, tall slide.  And that's it.

We walked down to the beach and the kids enjoyed searching for snail shells & clam/muscle shells.  Grandpa tried to teach Oldest Kid how to skip rocks on the lake.

Right across the street from the state park is the Civilian Conservation Corp Museum.  It was every bit as exciting as it sounds.  Worthy of the free price tag.  It was interesting, I learned new information.  Kids enjoyed spending time with Grandma & Grandpa, which was really the most important thing to me.

All things considered, I think we made best out of the situation.  Oldest Kid has asked that we go back and experience North Higgins Lake State Park on a real camping trip.

Not exactly the day I planned

I said yesterday that I was packing for a camping trip this weekend.  And now that trip is canceled.

Husband has been fighting a bug for a few days.  Last night, he was feverish.  By morning, we were both aware that the camping trip was a bad idea.  I told the kids when they were up for the day.  Needless to say, we were not happy campers.  We were a family of sad campers.

This trip was planned with my parents.  More sad campers.

Whomp whomp.  Sad campers all around.  I need some sort of image for a sad camper for this post.

The camper has been unpacked.  The food is back in the house.  Clothes are back where they back belong.  I realized that unpacking from an uncamped trip is almost as sad as the end of season clean out.

My parents are still going and the plan is for me to take the kids up for the day tomorrow.  Husband can rest.  Hopefully no one else gets this bug.

Camping after a cold snap

A storm blew through yesterday. Temps are noticeably cooler today, we barely got to 60 degrees. Of course, we're camping this weekend. And this means a change in how we pack for the weekend. Sigh.

Gone are the swimming in the lake days. Gone are the tank top days. Shorts are only packed in hopes that the weather people are wrong.

Fall is here.

There have been enough camping trips where I regret not packing enough layers for the cold mornings and cool nights by the camp fire. The winter coats are packed.

The morning dew can make for some wet toesies. The rain boots are packed.

The makings for hot apple cider and hot chocolate are packed. Might as well make sure that our insides are warm, too.

My camping list sure changes this time of year.  The bright side is that we ARE still camping, and I'll take all the camping I can get.

Fall is in the air

The nights are getting cooler.  It was about 55 degrees when I went for my run this morning.  I see the very beginnings of trees starting to change.  There is a nip in the air when I take the kids to school.

I quite enjoy fall.  I enjoy the nip in the mornings with the warm afternoons.  I love watching the leaves change color, it's really showing us the world is God's canvas for beauty.  I enjoy hot apple cider on cool evenings with friends around a campfire.

The biggest downfall, to me, about fall is that it means winter is coming.  Winter is my least favorite season.  Like I said, I enjoy fall, but I hate that it means winter will be here soon.

And if winter is coming, that means camping season will soon be ending.

For now, I will look forward to the two trips we have planned left for the season.

License Plate Game: US & Canada

A while back, I shared my check off list for playing the License Plate game for our trip to Tennessee.  We saw all but 5 states.  I knew Hawaii was the most unlikely, which proved true.  We did see Alaska, which surprised me.  We also missed Idaho, New Hampshire, North Dakota, and Wyoming.  The kids have had fun continuing to watch license plates since then and we've seen 3 of those elusive 5.  Still no Hawaii or North Dakota.

My mom suggested (yeah, that's her in the comments.  She has a quilting blog if you want to check it out) adding the Canadian plates to the list.  Since we live in Michigan, we frequently see Ontario plates.  The others are much less common.

Now we have a new goal for our next big trip: 50 States & 10 Provinces.  Click HERE for a printable version.

Labor Day & School Starting

Well, I've had to take a bit of time off from blogging from a very nasty cold.  Thankfully, we don't typically go camping for Labor Day weekend because I'm not sure how I would have done that.

Now, of course, you're wondering why we don't go camping Labor Day weekend.  The kids start school tomorrow.  Since they always come home from a camping trip exhausted, I'm not a fan of mixing that with the excitement of the first day of school.  With school always starting the day after Labor Day, we don't go camping Labor Day weekend.

Maybe when the kids are older, I'll reconsider my ban on no camping Labor Day weekend.  I enjoyed seeing friends pictures of camping this weekend on Facebook.  Our family did enjoy our time together at home.  Husband got some yard work done, I got my first batch of salsa made for the season.  We played games and went to the movies.  And, I continued to recover from this terrible, horrible, no good, very bad cold.

Right now, the kids are getting themselves sparkly clean.  Their outfits are picked out.  Backpacks ready to go (with their Junior Ranger keychains, no less!).  Lunch boxes are ready for food.  I just set my alarm for the first time since June.  This family is ready to go.

Outdoor Games

I have a love of big campsites.  We use the whole space of our site, we go camping to spend time outside.  To spend time together with minimal distraction.

We have the cheap-o version of Corn Hole.  Ladder ball, a washer ring toss game.

The kids have a bin of outdoor toys with bases and a bouncy ball for kick ball.  Bubbles.  Scoop ball.  Rackets and a birdie.  Soccer ball.  Bocce ball.  Stuff has been thrown in over the years.

What are you favorite outdoor games for camping?  Anything you've been eyeing and want to get?

My posts about Board Games & Card Games

Colorful fire

As I was looking for lighter fluid the other day, the kids spotted Colorful Fire and begged me to get it.  I wasn't too sure how it would go, but sure, let's try it.  It also got me out of buying the other 12 things they begged for before we got out of Meijer because they already had something fun in the cart.

I was pleasantly surprised at how colorful the 1 packet was and I'd get it again if the kids ask.  The fire danced away every time my camera got a picture, so this was really the most colorful of 10 pictures I got before I just gave up.

Sleepy Hollow State Park

Site 173

Sleepy Hollow State Park, it's one of the closest state parks to the Lansing area.  We usually have at least 1 trip there a year, this year we had two.

For our first trip to Sleepy Hollow this year, there was a college-aged employee who came around and invited all the families to join him on a walk for Big Foot.  The kids were all about this, it was the first time we'd seen programming like this at Sleepy Hollow.  We joined Ranger Tim (ok, probably not a real ranger, but a fun nickname nonetheless).  He made it fun for the kids as we slogged our way through the mosquito infested woods to a swamp area filled with even more mosquitoes.  Smoky the Bear was spotted on our trek to find Big Foot.  Ranger Tim also had more programming for the kids on Saturday, Youngest Kid really enjoyed the Weasel Games with Dad while I stayed back at the campsite with Oldest Kid, who wanted to craft.  I appreciate that Sleepy Hollow has added programming for the kids and a bit disappointed that he'd gone back to college for our return trip.

If the weather works, we like to spend some time at the Lake Ovid beach.  On one of our first trips to Sleepy Hollow, I'd guess that oldest kid was a toddler, we saw the signs pointing toward the beach at a footpath in the campground.  We had no idea how far away the beach actually was and Husband went back to get the truck for our return trip.  While my kids are older now and could handle the trek, we usually drive the beach now instead.

There is a nice fishing pier along a walking path not far from the campground.  The kids are always excited to catch Blue Gill and Sunfish.  We saw a very large Great Northern Pike swim by as we were packing up the fishing gear on this last trip.

All of the footpaths and nature trails made a great opportunity to go on our Nature Scavenger Hunt, and the kids enjoyed finding the different items.  Well, they enjoyed it until they got too annoyed at the mosquitoes.

Have I mentioned that there are mosquitoes?  Always included on my packing list for Sleepy Hollow is the most powerful bug spray I can find, calamine and what I call the Itch Stick, Sting Eze Insect Bite Relief.

If you decide to make a trip, pay very close attention to the website's information on how much power cord you need.  Our first trip there, probably the same one where we walked to the beach, Husband had to make a run to Walmart in St. Johns to get us more power cord.  The people next to us on our most recent trip had to do the same thing.

You're probably not going to head to Sleepy Hollow and see the sights in the area, since Ovid is just a small town, but it makes for great weekend camping.

Water Jugs

Sometimes the water at a campground is questionable in how it tastes compared to how it tastes at home.  At the beginning of the camping season, I buy 2 gallons of water.  That water then fills the coffee pot for the duration of our trip.  Then, before our next trip, I just fill the jugs with water from the home tap.  This works great for 2-3 night trips.

Fresh Rhubarb Cake

Just like zucchini, we get a TON of rhubarb every year.  We have 2 very large rhubarb plants in the backyard.  So big that I'm always happy to give it away.  To mix up the routine of all that Zucchini Bread that I make and freeze and take on camping trips, my SIL shared this Rhubarb Cake recipe with me.

Cake ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups brown sugar, firmly packed
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 Tbs lemon juice
• 1 cup milk
• 2 cups coarsely chopped fresh rhubarb

Topping ingredients

• 1/2 cup pecans
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon

What to do:

• To prepare cake, preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and flour a 9 x 13 inch pan.  Cream butter until light.  Add brown sugar; continue to cream until mixture is well blended and fluffy.  Beat egg and vanilla into the creamed mixture until blended.  In a separate bowl sift the flour, salt, and soda.  In another bowl combine the lemon juice and milk; add it alternately with the flour mixture to the creamed mixture, beginning and ending with the flour.  Gently fold the chopped rhubarb into the batter, stirring just enough to distribute evenly.  Pour batter into prepared pan, spreading evenly.
• To prepare topping, mix topping ingredients and sprinkle evenly over the batter.  Bake cake for 45 to 50 minutes.  Cool the cake in the pan for at least 30 minutes.  Cut into squares to serve.  Serves 12.

 Now that I'm thinking about it, I'll have to share my recipe for rhubarb custard pie soon, too [adds to mental list of future posts].

Nature Scavenger Hunt

Sometimes we need a project, or a way to spend time together on a camping trip.  We have a camping trip coming up and Husband has to go to a meeting for a while.  I thought that the kids and I could go on a scavenger hunt together and find different things in nature.

A Google search found lists that were too easy or not long enough or not printable.  Here is the list I came up with, click HERE for a printable version.

Hoffmaster State Park

Site 160

Hoffmaster State Park, it's extremely popular.  We got in there for the first time in September 2013 and loved it.

For our trip to Hoffmaster in August 2014, we planned our trip with friends 5.5 months in advance.  There was only one group of 3 campsites together left when I looked.  We snatched them up as quickly as we could.

The campsites are dirt and grass cover, tons of tree cover.  The sites are usually quite big, but there are some smaller sites.  The lack of an asphalt pad allowed our 3 sites to have the campers in a U shape.  By manipulating the smaller campers, the pop-ups, the kids had 3 sites worth of space to run and play.  After bedtime, the adults were right there and no one felt uncomfortable not being able to see their camper and kids while we chatted around the fire.

After dinner the first night, we headed to the beach.  Kids played in the sand and in the water.  We watched a spectacular Lake Michigan sunset.  It was the stuff the Pure Michigan ads are made of.

Our 2nd day, we and another family headed over the Michigan's Adventure for the day.  You'd think that I'd know better than to go to an amusement park on a Saturday in August since I worked at Cedar Point (owned by the same parent company) for 3 summers in my late teenage years.  However, the big crowds headed back toward the water park by mid afternoon and we had minimal waits for the amusement park rides.

The other family that didn't go to Michigan's Adventure spent more time on the beach, went to the Hoffmaster Nature Center, climbed a sand dune.

A word to the wise, if you want to head to the Nature Center, which is quite nice, don't do what we did last year.  We thought, "Oh, it's only 1/4 mile up the road, let's ride our bikes!"  Yeah, the ROAD to the nature center is 1/4 mile away from the campground.  I'm not sure how far the nature center is into the park on that road, but it's all uphill and felt like forever as an adult, my kids were great and hung in there with the uphill biking for a long time, but... yeah, don't do that.

The playground is quite large and serves the whole campground, my kids enjoy it.

Also, last year, we camped near the Campground Host site.  I've interacted with a lot of campground hosts over the years.  These hosts were extremely friendly, their programming was better than any other host, they were very knowledgeable.  I was so impressed with them, I wrote to the head of the campground to say how great I thought they were.  While this trip didn't bring much interaction with the hosts, I saw them keeping traffic flowing at the waste water station on Sunday morning, helping people with put their garbage in the dumpsters, having friendly conversations.  The head of the campground does a phenomenal job getting campground hosts.

I know Hoffmaster has a Halloween camping weekend.  I saw on the campground map that there is a vintage camper weekend in June, which sounds neat.

If you can plan ahead enough during high camping season, it's worth the trip.  If you can't plan ahead, it's pretty easy to get in during September and early May.

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