Parkinson Family: Camping in Mantua

Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Camping in Mantua

With such a busy summer, we managed to take our trailer out on ONE camping trip just a couple weeks before school would start. Where did the summer go??

The kids showing off the "fort" they made in the trees.

It it always a fun adventure for us to explore a new place. I like to travel. I was blessed with a wonderful childhood and the opportunity to travel to many places with my family. I have fond memories of road trips across the country both ways, and lots of camping. I look forward to many vacations with my own family- road trips and also a lot of camping!
And, I guess now that we are "trailer people" and own a camping trailer, we probably will never go back to tent camping if we don't have to. I have to admit, it really is nicer! And, I guess some would call it "not TRUE camping" in a trailer, but, hey- it's still out of your element with 5 kids. So, anything that will make it a little easier for me and more comfortable, I'M IN! The only disadvantage to going with a trailer is that depending on the size of your trailer there are some sites you can't fit into. But, you still get to pack up everyone and go somewhere new together, make new memories and get out into nature.

So, August 14th we decided to try a new campground and went to a place in Mantua. (Strangely enough, it is pronounced "Mannoway", and I don't know why...) Mantua is just up the canyon from Brigham City, so it is actually pretty close to home. We headed up on a Wednesday so there weren't many people there that first night and we got to pick a nice spot. One fun thing about the campground is the little stream running through, in-between the campsites. We picked a spot by the stream and the kids had a great time exploring it. The kids also like to make "forts" in the trees where they each have their own pretend "bedroom" and they can do this for hours!

Jared helping hold the frog that Kyle caught. We took
him home and he put him in an aquarium in his room.

I had a hard time keeping this kiddo out of the water.
He just loves it!

About 5 min. from the campground is the reservoir in Mantua. I'm pretty sure it is man-made and there aren't a lot of beaches. The one spot we found was pretty barren with coarse sand, but it was still fun. The kids swam in the lake and we had a picnic lunch there. Then, they relaxed in the sun for a little while.

We brought our bikes camping and had a lot of fun riding them around. I pulled the two little ones in the bike trailer around the loop over and over. We got Heidi a tricycle for her birthday in hopes that it would be easier for her to learn the pedals. One of my happiest moments of the trip was watching her finally figure out how to pedal a bike!! We have been trying and trying all summer to help her learn. Aaron even put a bike in the garage up on planks so she could just practice moving the pedals around. For some reason it just wasn't making sense for her. She has struggled her whole life with coordination and motor skills so it wasn't a surprise this would be a challenge. So, for us this was a very exciting milestone!! Once she figured it out, she LOVED it and wanted to ride and ride. One fun thing was that the loop by our trailer kind of sloped down so she would ride the tricycle down and then I would hook her on to the back of my bike at the bottom and "pull" her up the uphill side.

I know there is not much to see in this picture, but that is ME back there. Aaron had challenged me to swim to that buoy and I DID IT!! Amazing what you'll do for a swedish fish, huh? (It felt like it was in the middle of the lake but I know it wasn't) I was pretty proud of myself. It was harder than it looks because there was some pretty creepy seaweed all over that really grossed me out so I basically just got to the buoy and then swam back as quick as I could!

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Parkinson funnies

Nov 2012- Aaron was watching football on TV and Jared came out saying, "I want to go watch grass!"

Dec 2011- Heidi said one morning, "Mom, there's frosting on the house!" (on a cold day when frost was on the house).

June 2, 2011- Driving in the car Kyle said to his sister, "If you don't learn to talk, Jesus will make you talk Spanish." (He explained later that he actually meant sign language. That's how he thought it worked.)

Feb 28, 2011- Kyle said, "I don't like to have babysitters because they are only supposed to take care of babies!" Then we explained that they can take care of bigger kids too.

Dec 15, 2010- Kyle said, "I know how they make egg nog. First they dump in the eggs and mix them around. Then they put in the nog..."

Oct 20, 2010- Kyle said, "Mom, is some cheese blue?" I said it is called blue cheese but isn't really that blue. He said, "Well, then does it taste like blueberries?" I love all the questions he asks about how the world works- He's really trying to figure things out.

Oct 7, 2010- We were driving by Arctic Circle and Kyle said, "Is that the hamburger hut? I like that hut." I am wondering if he was remembering a time when we went to "Pizza Hut".

Aug 12, 2010- We were driving by a farm where there was a big fire burning up the field and Kyle said, "Dad, is that where the indians live?"

Aug 8, 2010- We were driving in the car and Kyle said, "Dad, I think I 'm truck-sick." "You mean car sick?" "No, truck sick- when you're sick in the truck."

Aug 2, 2010- We were headed off to a doctor's appointment for the baby and he was crying. Kyle said, "Mom, I think he's crying because you said he is going to get a shot."

June 28, 2010- The other day at dinner it was Heidi's turn to pray and daddy was helping her. She was just repeating everything word for word when he got to "Please bless it.." and said it 3 times. Finally I had to open my eyes to see what the hold up was. Well, little Heidi was just stuffing spaghetti in her mouth as fast as she could and it was hanging out all over. We all just bust up laughing. I guess she just couldn't wait any longer!

May 19, 2010- On the way home from the hospital after seeing their new baby brother, Erika said, "When I was born mom and dad said that I looked blue." Kyle said, "And when I was born I was pink and red. "

Dec 9,2009- The other day we were eating dinner and Kyle didn't want to eat. He said, "I don't like to eat aliens!" We told him there were no aliens in his dinner. Then, realizing what he was talking about, I said, "You mean onions?" He kept calling onions "aliens" and we got a kick out of it.

Nov 20, 2009- Erika lost another tooth at school today. Kyle said to her, "Erika, when my tooth gets loose and comes out, I'll give mine to you."

Oct 10, 2009- Today Erika said, "Mom, someday when I'm older, I want to get that recipe from you!"

Sept 9, 2009- We couldn't find our puppy anywhere and had driven all over the neighborhood to find him. Finally about 2 hours later Kyle showed up holding him and I said, "Where did you find him?" He said, "In the killer-box". "The what?" "The cooler-box". He had stuck him in a cooler in our backyard and forgotten about it. We were glad he was okay!! I felt terrible and gave him some extra TLC for a little while.

Sept 4, 2009- Erika said tonight, "You know what my favorite thing is about school? It's lunch... and learning... and break!" We said, "Isn't that the whole thing?"

Aug 17,2009- We were camping and had brought all our bikes. As we were leaving camp for a little while, Aaron commented that it might have been wise to bring a chain to lock up our bikes so they wouldn't get stolen. Erika said, "Or, we could have just brought a sign that said, 'DON'T STEAL!'".

July 12, 2009- Today at church Kyle looked at my Young Women's Medallion and said, "Mom, is that you on the necklace?"

July 3, 2009- Kyle had been sleeping down in Erika's room with some friends and came upstairs before we went to bed. He said, "Mom, there was some noise down there. I think it was the tooth fairy, coming to get the loose tooth."