Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Random Wednesday: Camping is 'Da Bomb!

The camping part is further down for your enjoyment. Anyway, sorry if this image is blurry, but what do you see when you look at it? Apparently a four-year-old sees a bomb. 

Not to keep you in suspense, it's the sticker on our water heater in the garage. I pass by this thing every day without the slightest thought. In fact, I don't think I could have said for sure whether there even was a sticker on our water heater before yesterday. 


But my son has been telling me about the bomb in our house for weeks. It would come up randomly, like on our way to preschool he'd say, "Mom, a bad guy snuck into our house and gave us a bomb," and I didn't know WHAT to make of this puzzling bit of information. 


Or in the middle of brushing his teeth at bedtime he'd stop and say, "But we don't have to have a bomb in our house. Let's take it outside." Okayyy, I'd think, and I'd say, "Sure buddy, we'll take it outside first thing tomorrow." 


This kind of comment happened all the time, but never exactly when I had a second to get to the bottom of it, and honestly, my kids talk about such random things that I figured he'd seen something on T.V. and become fixated. Then yesterday (realizing it was like the monster-in-the-closet), I asked him to show me exactly where this bomb was. Mommy would get rid of it! Mommy was here to save the day!!! So he took me to the garage and showed me the water heater. Nice. I explained, and Dad showed him pipes, but I believe he remains unconvinced. 

The Camping Part:

Since it's Random Wednesday, and in case anyone wants cutesy camping stories from last weekend's beach camping adventure, here's an excerpt from the family website so I don't have to reinvent the wheel (my comments are in bold):

[Begins with thanking the other family for inviting us, and how inept I expect us to be at camping]. The kids LOVE the ocean, so their fun was guaranteed. Of course, I naturally forgot something kind of crucial: the kids' beach stuff. On a BEACH campout. And in hundred-degree weather. No worries, they jumped into the sea in their clothes! [Our friends had extra towels and sand toys, organized family that they are].

The beach was both sandy and rocky, and the kids had fun gathering and building weird things with the rocks. We roasted hot dogs over the campfire for lunch, then the kids went on playing. The baby did his usual sand-eating ritual [And rolled around in the dirt. You can check out his filthy feet HERE].

For dinner we had take-out Chinese from down the street, [we are not hardcore campers, peeps] then the kids played with their glow necklaces and flashlights, made S'mores and got ready for bed. It felt great sitting by the warm fire, all cozy with friends as the waves pounded a few feet away and the kids slept in tents nearby. I stayed up really late reading a great book, all snuggled in a blanket with a headstrap flashlight (anyone surprised?). [This was actually The Maze Runner and I finished it in one sitting. Riveting, I loved it].

The next day the kids had fruit, coffee cake, potato chips and whatever else they could scavenge for breakfast, then they played with bubble wands while the grown-ups packed up camp. The baby kept asking everyone if he could "splash", and eventually he decided to run into the ocean without us. Thankfully big sister grabbed him, and I carried off his writhing, ferocious body back to camp. He tried again, and by that time he had given everyone the lovely souvenir of bursted eardrums. No one could stop his screeching screams except good ol' Nino, who put him up on his shoulders. They had a nice time exploring trees, much to everyone's relief. [Then we finished packing up and went home. Good times!]

9 comments:

  1. That's da bomb Diana! Seriously that is hilarious. Poor thing was terrified of a bomb in his house. That's something my five year old would come up with too.

    Your camping trip sounds really fun!

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  2. That is a pretty scary looking picture on the water heater. It's funny what kids come up with. I liked your description of camping on the beach. I've never tried that personally. We're too far away from any beaches.

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  3. I want to go beach camping!!! I could handle beach camping! The sand gets in the cracks, but really it's not dirt and, in theory, it seems like there should be fewer bugs.

    That is a terrifying picture. What kind of crazy monkey water heater do you have? The exploding kind? Besides, usually the goal of pictures is to make explanations possible for the illiterate. I see that picture and can't quite figure out why the guy decided to douse himself in gasoline before swimming in fire.

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  4. Are you absolutely, positively sure that it's not a bomb disguised as a water heater?

    Beach camping sounds fun. We went to the beach this summer but we rented a beach house from a friend so we weren't exactly roughing it.

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  5. I wrote a big ol' comment and the internet ate it. Boo. Here's another attempt:

    Hi Mary, you're right. That four-five year old range have great imaginations. I laughed and laughed and called my mom, it was great. Poor kid. Thanks, and beach camping is definitely more up my alley than the woods :)

    Angie, it's scary I know! I can't believe the way they engulfed that poor guy in flames!! About the beach, it would probably be an inexpensive vacation if you could ever get out to the coast. Plus, if a city girl like me liked it, a camping vet like yourself would have a blast.

    Wendy, now I can't stop looking at that picture! Every time I pass by it, or do a load of laundry, or pull the car out or in I stop and look and you're completely right! What in the world is that picture trying to communicate?? As for beach camping, it's a lot of fun, and our friends were kind and chose a campground with hot water showers. No sandy buns!

    MM (Sesquipedalian)- You know, I'm NOT absolutely positively sure it's not a bomb. I mean, I didn't know the previous owners personally or anything... and I always felt our hot water output was suspect. Anyway, a beach house sounds so lovely. I would definitely go for that!

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  6. Sounds like a lot of fun-- except for the screeching at the end of course, LOL!

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  7. Ha ha so true Natalie... I don't remember my other two kids being screechers. I hope he grows out of it soon!!

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  8. Oh how I love camping! My kids and I just got back from 4 days in Goblin Valley. The good news is, as time passes the screechy parts of camping recede in memory while the good times stay vibrant!

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  9. Hi Suzette, thanks for stopping by :)
    Oh wow, four days! Maybe that'll be us someday... mayyybe! Goblin Valley sounds like an awesome place, though.

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