A Memorable Memorial Day

We unearthed the camping boxes out of storage on our apartment deck, finally found the sleeping bags, baked cookies, and packed everything we own (at least it felt like it) in the car. We were going camping at Aunt Julie and Uncle Ryan's new property in Brown County, Indiana! Since Skye didn't remember camping last year, it was as if it was her first time, and she was ecstatic.

Julie and Ryan have brought 5 acres with a straw bale house, sauna/kitchen, shed, well, and outhouse (the most beautiful one I've ever seen, I might add). Their property is called Wolf Pen's Shady Grove, and it is a dream come true for them (and those of us living vicariously through them.) They plan to get electricity and running water this year and to build a 24' geodesic dome house next year. You can check out their U-tube log at: www.youtube.com/user/WolfpensShadyGrove Make sure to check out the Sauna Tour video to see the beautiful design made by the light shining through the colored glass. The place has great energy and I'm so happy they are there to grow it.

On Saturday night, I watched as one of her friends backpacked in and put up his tent in the woods somewhere in about 5 minutes flat. This would have been me 15 years ago. Now, I am a mama, and car camping is the way to go, with all that you do and don't need packed close-by for comfort and convenience. Since we had trouble finding a flat spot to camp out on, we decided to "camp-in," that is, we set up the tent on the nice flat surface of Julie's shed/studio. Since we were close to the outhouse and I was able to usurp Julie's sprawling air mattress all to myself, complete with room for all my pillows, it felt like super-cushy camping for preggo Mama. Dada and Skye cuddled up on the other 1/3 of the tent and had good bonding time. Once Skye got used to the sleeping bag, she did just fine.

It was family fun-time with Grammi and Grandpa, aunts, uncles, cousins, and even Mo, Great Grandma made the trek. We ate summer food, went fishing at their fishing hole (a first for Skye-bug), played music and danced around the campfire, and even cooked up the obligatory Jiffy-pop (complete with the obligatory burnt popcorn). Gary got the prize for embracing homesteading because he chopped wood for about and hour and then doused himself in very cold well water in the makeshift shower. Skye was fascinated with scooping the ash and woodchips into the hole after every potty.

Julie seemed to always be either heating up water to wash dishes or actually washing dishes, and Ryan was always chopping or gathering wood. Those kids are some hard workers and my hats off to what they hope to accomplish.