4th of July at Fransted Campground

We celebrated the land of the free and the home of the brave by heading north to the mountains. This was a bit of a bizarre trip for us.  We went up on Friday and hit NO TRAFFIC – so the trip that generally takes 3.5-4 hours took a little over 2. We started the night off with the neighbors fireworks. They were amazing. Spotty was a bit bummed that he didn’t meet any friends, but we told him “dude, we have only been up here for 3 hours and we set up camp and now its dark and are watching fireworks, don’t worry about it – you will find friends to hang out with tomorrow. 

I love seeing Spotty Chop first thing in the morning. I think he is adorkable!

Saturday was the Franconia parade and it did not disappoint (short, sweet and no traffic). 

these guys loved boy toy and spotty chop's decorating so much they gave us all leis 

boy toy likes to photobomb

When we got back to camp Boy Toy asked if he was going to head down to the fields to see if anyone was hanging out. Spotty said no, that he didn’t want to anymore. We convinced him to go down and just see what was up, he could always hang with us. Well he went off and found some folks to hang with, and we never really saw him again.  They were from Ohio, 3 kids 15, 12, 9. The 12 year old is reading the same series Spotty is (it’s the BEST), the 15 year old just got super smash brothers for the DS3 and hadn’t played with anyone before (Spotty is a pro) and the 9 year old loved river tubing.  

Spotty had a blast. He did come up to eat on occasion and we had to hit Chutters so he agreed to do that and that was kinda it.  Boy Toy and I hung out with our friends parents. I read, Boy Toy helped plant some plants. It was a very relaxing trip, even if we didn’t get to spend any time with our boy (who then felt guilty that he didn’t spend any time with us – don’t feel guilty – you make friends, it’s what you do.)

A present for Moo!

Let the Camping begin!

We spent Memorial Day in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. It was bitterly cold Friday night and Saturday wasn’t much better. That didn’t mean the weekend was a loss, on the contrary we had a splendid time! I packed the car whilst Boy Toy was at work and Spotty was at school. It went really well, really fast. I should have known that something was wrong. Somehow the heater, stove and we thought Boy Toy’s clothes didn’t make the trip with us. 

The heater would have been nice as it was below freezing, but we survived. The stove would have been even better, but Boy Toy managed to have a fire burning and water boiling so there was tea, coffee and hot coco. Saturday morning Boy Toy decided that he wanted breakfast and he wanted breakfast at the Littleton Diner. We have been coming to Littleton for…27 years or so and we have NEVER eaten here. We always say that we should and we finally did. The food was great, the service was fantastic, we will be back. We did our typical Chutters run. We told Spotty Chop to come up with the 5 things he really wanted because we have a bag (or 3) from Chutters that he did not finish. There is SO MUCH candy that he just can’t seem to say no to anything, and a lot of things that seem like a good idea at the time turns out to be stuff that he only wanted a piece of. We reminded him that we would be back in July (twice!!! Moo and Family are coming with us later in July!!!!!!) So Spotty got a lot less candy, but got the things he really wanted (plus a few…cauz it’s the first trip to Chutters for the year).  Spotty wanted pork chops for dinner and luckily the cooking grate came with us. Boy Toy cooked us up some incredibly tasty chops and baked potatoes. Is there anything that tinfoil can’t do? There was an ice cream social that we of course attended because ICE CREAM IS A GOD GIVEN RIGHT, not a privilege. Even if it is below freezing.

Sunday was gorgeous. Boy Toy and I wanted to take a hike, but Spotty really just wanted to hang out at the campground, so we hung out. Cribbage and board games were played, 

reading was read, knitting was knit and Spotty was having a great time with a bungee cord. I honestly have no idea what he was doing, but he was entertaining himself (something that he says he can NOT DO without VIDEO GAMES – big bone of contention lately and we are like “no dude, you can, you just gotta try” – later Sunday night I said “you were having fun with the bungee cord?” and he is all “I had a blast” so I said “that’s what we are talking about when we say “entertain yourself” – it was a light bulb moment…I hope). 

There was also start of the season cake! We do love us some cake. So we hung out down by the big tent, Spotty painted a dragon, we played ladder ball and some board games. Boy Toy cooked us some steak and more taters. It was a perfectly relaxing day. We had a fire Monday morning (tea and coffee were needed) and packed up so that we could go to Polly’s Pancakes. They remodeled over the winter. The building was starting to collapse. So they tore down the 100+ year building and put a new one up in its place.  It is now heated and air conditioned and fully handicap accessible and the best part? It really looks the same. It is bigger, but they didn’t try and cram more tables in (well, maybe a couple). It has the exact same look and feel. We were so happy! The old building was so perfectly charming that we were afraid that it would be lost. But they did an exceptional job. We were well fed for our 3-4 hour trip home.

We stopped in at Boy Toy’s oldest brother’s as they were having a cookout. Spotty and his cousin Terminator had a water fight, they ended up getting so wet they jumped into the pool (one of those quick to set up jobs you can get at Walmart/Target) it was perfect for splashing around. I think we finally got home around 7 or 8 pm. EVERYONE took a shower and then off to bed.

I didn’t mention video games, not because they didn’t happen, but because I am a bit grumpy about it. Spotty Chop is having an incredibly difficult time unplugging. We are trying really hard to help him unplug, but not make it seem like a punishment. Spotty has a 3DS that he really hasn’t been playing at all since he got his tablet (Simpsons Tapped Out rulz!!!!) so I purchased a Harvest Moon game for me and some monster hunter 4 game for Boy Toy. As we are all WELL aware Boy Toy and I are huge gamers and I thought it might be fun to have our own games to play when Spotty was busy with his tablet. 

How much gaming time do you think I got? And Boy Toy? Did you guess 0? Yea – so lesson learned do NOT buy a new game(s) before a trip unless all you want to see is the top of Spotty’s head hovered over the 3DS. I should have realized that a) internet is rare in the mountains,  b) new games are new games, and I happen to be a great game picker outer and c) unplugging is impossible when the lure of a new game is at hand. 

Summer Camping at Sweetwater Forest campground

We went camping down the Cape this past weekend with Moo, Freak Show, Cheese Please and Cheez-It Hippy Chick (CIHC).  On the ride down there was…traffic, and I realized that the only time we have been to Sweetwater was during Columbus Day, when most people have stopped camping. I was hoping I didn’t make a grave error in judgment as I had no idea what the campground would be like with lots of people in it. Luckily the camping gods were with us  and we had a great time. It wasn’t Fransted great, but being closer means we may get to go camping with certain people more often. Moo & family recently got a new dog and it was Puppy’s  first time camping. We think she may have had a bit of fun.

Spotty Chop is still very skittish as he is afraid that when she jumps her claws and teeth are going to  hurt, but the more he is around her the more comfortable he is getting. Boy toy and I love her claw and teeth marks  and see them as a badge of honor. Puppy has been going to training classes and we got to watch some of the training up close. Puppy is a wicked SMAHT dog, and it was a lot of fun seeing what goes into training one.

We rented canoes and splashed our way around the pond

(Moo loves having her picture taken )

Spotty decided to sleep in the car BY HIMSELF this weekend. I can’t Frelling believe that I did not snap A SINGLE PHOTO OF HIM IN HIS COZY NEST. He is thinking that he should have his own tent for Labor Day camping…. The first night he woke up after 1am, wandered around the campsites realized we were all asleep and got back into the car and went back to sleep.

ME: “You could have come into the tent with us”

Spotty: laughing “I didn’t want to”

Who the hell is this child and what has he done with Spotty?!

Cheese Please was on a mission to enjoy camping with her Cheez-It sister. I didn’t get a lot of shots with the two of them, but she made sure that CIS was very active during the camping trip. 

Hippy Chick  tried to bring Potato Chip Cheese Please (PCCP) to the beach with her, but the level of effort on her part was disappointing.

We also had a terror alert. Spotty asked if he could run up to the camp store and buy something, we said sure and off he went.

Boy toy comments “it’s not like him to be this long – do you want me to check?”

Does a bear shit?

Boy toy went off and a little later he comes back saying “he wasn’t at the store, he wasn’t at the video arcade”. I start to panic. Is he lost and crying (the campground is huge, there are some sections we have never been in, it always takes me till the day we leave before I know where I am going.)  Moo tells me to breathe. Boy Toy and I head out again to see if we can find him. Long story short he was fine. He didn’t get lost. On his way to the store he had to go to the bathroom and then he went to the store. Freak Show found him. As I was wandering around trying to find/hear him and slowly going crazy with the thoughts that some serial rapist/killer had dragged him into one of the unknown sections of the campground I saw Freak Show walking quickly in the distance. Seeing him reminded me that we weren’t alone, Moo/Freak Show/Cheese Please/Puppy were with us, and would help us until we got Spotty Chop back.   I am usually a great person to be around in a crisis. I am able to hold it together until the crisis passes (and then I meltdown), but I have a feeling I will not be so good when it involves Spotty. I have never been so scared. And as a parent you are going to have several of these “never been so scared” moments, but Christ on a Cracker. I NEVER want to be in that position again.

Spotty Chop was pretty sad that we had to go home so soon. Cheese Please  distracted him by letting him assist her in making a pancake breakfast for all of us. Tasty cakecakes (again with no photos, I am not sure what was up with my brain this weekend)!

Memorial Day Camping – Good golly Miz Fransted, we have missed you

We had a glorious long weekend up in the White Mountains. Did it rain? Of course! But luckily we can handle a little rain. We played a lot of ping pong, and Foosball. 

We sat around the fire and snacked like  mad men. Our new ride (Hyundai Santa Fe) was excellent for the trip. We actually have a bit more room than the Jeep Liberty so Spotty Chop wasn’t crushed into a tiny warren.  Since it was the first trip of the season we of course forgot a few things (nothing that a quick “grab a new poppy at Walmart” couldn’t fix) a tarp for the wood (did I mention it rained? ). This one crawled up our ass a bit as we purchased….4-6 new tarps in the fall to cover the two cords of wood we used. No walkie talkies, no glow sticks. Could have been worse, once Boy Toys clothes never made it up.  

We also went to Six Gun City (oh they renamed it since Mem Day - Fort Jefferson Fun Park). I will admit I was a bit disappointed in how…old the place looked, but I know they have been struggling. You can buy all day passes, or tickets (I think the go carts were 5 tickets). I figured out that if Boy Toy and Spotty Chop did either the laser tag or go carts 4 times the all day tickets would pay for themselves. I grabbed a few tickets so I could do something with them. Boy Toy would have stayed on the go carts all day (hell  he would probably still be there if I hadn’t dragged him away. Spotty Chop LOVED laser tag, in fact he met a friend there and they ran around for the rest of the day.

So a good time was had by all. 

Maybe it won’t take a month + to write about camping 4^th of July...who am I kidding? I will be lucky to have something up by Christmas.

Something new at Fransted

That’s right. SNOW 2-3 inches of it. What a wacky time we had (25 years camping here and this is the first time we saw this!)

We spent a lot of time at Chutters (it was snowing after all)

Luckily we know what to do when its snowing

it did stop snowing on Sunday so we were able to take a quick hike

and on Monday? Sunny and warm. Karen & Greg told us not to rush home, so we didn't. 

Is it too late to post summer camping?

Of course not! It is cold in the North East and who doesn't want to be reminded of the scorching hot days?
Guess where we went? 

Ya, Fransted. 

We spent some time at Whale's Tale

 we watched a parade

 and spent even more time in the water

I can't remember the last time we went to Whale's Tale, Spotty had a blast...as long as he didn't need to climb any stairs. So that pretty much cut all the water slides out. He did love the wave pool, and truth be told I am perfectly content here as well. The lazy river was ok, not fab, but worth a trip around.

The parade is a low key affair, we get candy tossed at us and we get to clap and cheer, I'm good with that. 

Then there is the water. I think a trip to big rock is going to be one of our "must dos" for the next few  years.