Dave and Brandon left on Friday to go camping, while Peyton and I met up with Kao’s at 9 am to head out ourselves. I’d packed all that Dave had requested from the first day, and luckily, he didn’t leave much behind. He’d asked me to get more citronella, since the mosquitos were out more than last year. We headed out right after 9 am, and it took us about an hour to get there. I was ready with a plastic bag in case Peyton lost her breakfast, but luckily, it was a smooth ride. We arrived and unpacked our gear. The kids got to play while we waited for Theresa and Martin were on a hike. The Brown’s arrived, just as The Vu’s had returned, and everyone was ready for lunch! Sausages, Hawaiian bread, Spam musubi, green beans and fruit all what was for lunch. It was all delicious! The kids got to play some more; before it got too crowded, Dave had the batting net out, and both kids took batting practice. A few rounds of Twister was played; I’d never opened it yet, so I didn’t realize it was a plastic board. It was perfect to plan on! After Kathy’s family arrived, there were arts and crafts! She had brought paints along with canvases to decorate. Peyton just wanted to “watch” but I knew she was interested. Finally, she came around, and she did her own “masterpiece” to join along with Marcus, Connor, Mckayla, Kira, and Ian. The Brown’s brought Uno, and the kids were finally able to play it by themselves. Last year, it was a little rough, as they had a harder time grasping the concept, but this year, it was great! They are more and more able to play with themselves. Walkie-talkies were a hit, but the Tsao kids were commandeering them, all to talk to each other! They have to opportunity to talk to each other all the time, but something about using the walkie-talkie. Peyton didn’t understand the concept, however, yelling into it instead of speaking quietly. Peyton was in need of a nap, but she refused. Marcus was summoned to nap, so I took the opportunity. She resisted, so I grabbed her to take her before her moodiness got the best of her. She whined and cried, and put up a fight, but with the threat of no s’mores or staying up later, she did lie down. I patted her to sleep, and that lasted about 15 minutes before she was woken up. It sounded like her brother, and she opened her eyes, which were still showing signs of sleep deprivation. I tried to get her to go down again, but it wasn’t going to happen. I “released” her after about 45 minutes of being in isolation, and she rejoined the group. Chicken skewers had been cooked, so I got an appetizer. Then, Dave was trying to drum up business for his gourmet burgers that he’d hand-pressed himself. There was asparagus and raw veggies to go with the burgers. He was very proud of them, and he got lots of compliments! He’d had so many garnishes, he’d forgotten to put them out – caramelized onions, arugula, pickles, as well as the standard condiments. We had many left over! He’d over-estimated how much he thought everyone could eat! After we had full bellies, the kids ran around again together, playing with foam airplanes. Soon, it was after 7 pm, and it was time for s’mores. Martin and Kathy used the s’more contraption I’d gotten Kathy (and Theresa) for their birthdays last year. After at least 8 were done, we had the kids clean up again, and sit in a seat, waiting for their treat. Michelle was able to get a picture of each kid in action. I’ll have to link it to their blogs eventually, since my phone was inoperable or inaccessible much of the time. cipla tadalafil But what makes these tablets so effective? Well first things first, the secret behind Tadalafil’s success is the main ingredient. She had drains coming out of her skin and the large scar that went across her chest weren’t really what she was expecting. tadalafil online no prescription Even though cheapest viagra price through surfing the internet kids can potentially get a lot of information about this very important component which is sildenafil citrate. price of viagra tablet There is no harm in buying generic drugs. Peyton couldn’t get through her whole s’more, I think she didn’t like the marshmallows as much, but she managed just fine, with just one bite left. I never saw Brandon’s, so that meant he enjoyed his. We got the kids washed up and changed for bed. Dave was going to lie with them to get them to sleep first. After we’d gotten them changed, we realized we didn’t say goodnight. But they’d already taken their shoes off, so we didn’t want to have to stall and go back out. By that time, glow sticks had come out! Dave had one kid on either side of him in the big tent. But it was taking forever, as Peyton was wired. Brandon was tired. So, finally, we kicked Peyton out and into the smaller tent. Brandon freaked out being in the tent alone the night before. He needed Dave to hold his hand to sleep (figuratively, I think). Peyton had no problem going to the small tent, saying, “Good night, Mommy, see you tomorrow!” I went to the fire circle, to wait for more adults. One by one, adults came back after putting kids down. In years past, we’d only had one out of two in a couple, but this year, we had the highest number to date – 9 adults! Wine, desserts – ice cream, s’mores, and snacks – chips, leftover Spam were on tap! We had a great time until 1130 pm, when I announced the time, and everyone realized how late it was. There was a group up even later than us, and making even more noise! After saying goodnight to all and brushing teeth, I went back to my little tent with Peyton. I had a fear that maybe she wouldn’t be there, but when I unzipped the tent, phew, there she was, having slipped down to the bottom of the tent. But, to my surprise, she had taken her pants off! Yikes! She woke up briefly to tell me, “I accidentally took my pants off.” It was still pretty warm, so I didn’t worry too much about it, other than hoping we didn’t have an mosquitos inside the tent. I was able to finally go to sleep, and I woke up to a bird squawking above us. Dave had warned me about it, and how he’d wanted to shoot it the night before. It really did wake us up, as Peyton started to move after hearing it a few times. I tried to ignore them both, but unfortunately, it was too late. Good news was that it was just after 7 am. Brandon had woken up by 5 something the morning before, so I’ll take it! We started re-packing the gear from the inside out. I changed my clothes, into the clothes the girls had conspired to wear, and then helped Dave with the tents. Peyton had to serve her “sentence” and sit on the log for taking so long to go to sleep. Brandon was hungry, and kept asking for food. Finally, after everything was put away, “real” breakfast was started. Eggs, left over hamburger, bacon, breakfast burrito fixings, hash browns, sausage, mini muffins, croissants, more fruit, and coffee were served! We were continuing to stuff ourselves. The kids kept playing Uno, with the planes, and walkie talkies as the cleaning up of gear continued. Finally, as more and more people were coming out, Dave and Ted realized, “What’s with the orange? And Giants gear?” Dave asked, “It’s like you guys coordinated this or something.” Hahaha…he figured it out! Funny thing is Ted was wearing blue, and Dave a shade of blue. I couldn’t get Brandon to change, and I had to be careful, since my kids would rat me out. Peyton had an orange shirt, and that’s the best I was going to get. We took our annual photo, with Bonnie even changing into a borrowed shirt! Stuart remained neutral in grey. Looking forward to see all the pictures, but here’s what I have…
