Elliott, 4 Year Old Man in Charge

This is Elliott. James Elliott Notrica, to be exact.

Here are some facts about Elliott:

He is 4.

He is brilliant.

He never stops talking.
I'm not kidding.

He lives at GTE with his mom, Laura, who works in the kitchen with us, which means Elliott is in the kitchen, too.

He is a riot of gargantuan proportion.

He makes me laugh daily.

He is obsessed with Chef Boy and thinks he is "the Man". It's sickening.

Often, in the heat of dinner prep, Elliott collects kitchen things and creates elaborate events. Sometimes it's a cooking show, sometimes a magic show, sometimes it's packing for a trip. Last night he asked me if he could get back to camp from the place he was going. I told him I would need to know where he was going. He said he was packing up for Mexico, India, Kansas, and Italy. I told him if he had snow shoes, a gondola, and a hot air balloon he could probably make it back to camp from those places he was going. He assured me he would add those items to his baggie full of water he already had packed.

Elliott refers to Chef Boy by his first and last names all the time. It is hilarious. He also jokingly calls Curly Locks Man Child, then laughs hysterically. He says I'm a good cook, but I'm also a bad guy that he has to stop with his super powers, wielding a slotted spoon.

Most mornings, his mom shows up in the kitchen and he stays asleep for a while longer. When he shows up, it is in various states of dress. My favorite is the dinosaur pajamas with cowboy boots. One that gives Chef Boy a chuckle is the classic shorts and cowboy boots.

One day, Laura was telling me how she needed to shop for Elliott because he had grown out of a lot of his clothes, especially pants. Elliott chimed in that he was really growing- his arms were growing... Laura explained that usually pants are determined by your legs and waist. Elliott assured her that also, his penis was growing really big, too.

Another day, although I missed it, he held up his shirt declaring, "Here are my boobies."

He is so intelligent, it is amazing. You can almost see all the thoughts and ideas converging in his brain. He is learning Spanish, and told me I was a Madre.
Saying goodnight takes about 40 minutes, as he just has A LOT to say!

It's been so fun having him here.

They stayed with us on their way out to CO for one night. Elliott had apparently heard about Chef Boy from his Uncle, who is the director of GTE. Well, the love affair started then. Many of you may remember him as he tagged along to the Smiths for the Memorial Day party.

Tomorrow will surely bring another humorous and lovely Elliott moment. I'll be sure to share.

Kitchen Duty

I thought for today's entry I would describe to you a typical day as Chef Boy's Chicken Assistant. So far, things are going well and I think in all the days we've been here, only 2 were spent not speaking to each other. Overall, an extreme success and a great test to see how we could potentially work together.

A look at my typical day:

6:15- alarm blares; I wake up (for those of you who know me, you can feel how torturous this is for me)
6:30- up at the kitchen, making juice and getting things ready- like putting hot bleach water in the tub of rags used for table wiping; making coffee (that I don't even drink); getting butter plates for each table and brown sugar for oatmeal; etc.

6:45- ring first bell to wake up campers/counselors (this is a large old fashioned dinner type bell that you wear ear protection to ring cause it is wicked loud!)

- Continue getting breakfast items as needed; grunt at Chef Boy

7:00- ring bell again

7:15- ring bell... again

7:30- ring last morning bell which means "come on in and eat"

(at every meal, the campers come in and stand by a chair at a table. Each table has a counselor at the head of the table. Each table also has special positions called "jumpers" and "scrapers". The jumpers are the only people who are allowed to get up and they go get the food. They walk up, get a tray, and we give them serving bowls. The scraper is the person who gets all the dishes passed to them and they scrape them onto one plate. Then the jumper takes the dirty dishes to the kitchen to scrape the food into the food trash bin, the burnables into the burnable trash bin, etc. We always have a counselor assigned to the kitchen for dish duty. )

After all the campers are at tables, there is pledge of allegiance in the morning, and songs before lunch and dinner. It's fun.

8:00- campers are eating and I'm usually grabbing something for breakfast, too.
8:30-9:00- breakfast is over. I'm cleaning up, putting things away, and almost talking in complete sentences by now.

After breakfast Chef Boy and I usually go and play ping pong. We have a summer long competition going on. I was ahead in games total until today, when he beat me 3 in a row! I told him his success will be short lived.

We have down time until around 10:30/11:00 when we go back to the kitchen to start lunch. Campers are doing program all day, and many are usually out of camp hiking, rafting, backpacking, horse riding, etc. So, some days we have very few people to feed, which is fun because we can be creative and do interesting things. This week, the 3rd week of camp already, there are 3 clear camp days for lunch, meaning 0 kids to feed at lunch. This means prime nap time.

Lunch is served at noon, and over by 1:30. I wipe counters, do some dishes, put leftovers away... do you see the trend here? I'm Chef Boys bitch. I follow him around cleaning up.

Chef Boy does put me in charge of dessert for dinner most days. So I get to make cakes, cookies, cheesecake, etc. It's so fun to bake in a huge kitchen with everything you need. I love the ginourmous mixer! I made a TX sheet cake the other day and it was a big hit.

This baking happens in the afternoons. Chef Boy Baker Man has been turning out some amazing breads.

4:00- In the kitchen, prepping for dinner at 6:00.
Making salads, dressing, helping with the cooking, getting serving bowls and utensils ready, etc.

5:30- ring the bell; write the menu on the window of the lodge where the campers line up. I've started doing this and they seem to like knowing what's for dinner. We have these awesome window markers that wipe right off- I totally recommend them.

6:00- crunch time- serve the campers the food; refill dishes as needed

Oh, I eat something in here as well. We have a cute little yellow 50's table in the kitchen where we sit and eat. There is always a number of counselors who are off that night, have kitchen duty, or just want to hang out. The director, David, eats here typically, too. The kitchen is the hanging out place. It's because I'm so cool, I'm pretty sure. :) We have great conversations. Especially with our nurse, Sue Sue. She is from LA, and is a total blast. I'll write more about her later.

7:00- clean up- I sweep, Chef Boy mops. I hate sweeping.

After dinner we are, for all accounts, off. We can go out if we want, participate in campfire, hang out in the squawk(staff lounge- full of 6 totally gross couches on which I'm SURE sex has occurred!), or go down to the Heinz House for reading and other things.

Although there is down time, we are usually pretty tired from the early wake up. There is a lot of reading going on. I've already read 4 books and just started another.

Well, that is a typical day. Don't forget, of course, we are surrounded by mountains and joy all day long. We might be surrounded by mountain lions, but as I don't see them, I don't care.

Pictures

This is our little cabin. It's called the "Heinz House". I think it was called that because the Heinz family owned it before Cheley bought it to be part of Girl's Trail's End. It is down the road a bit from the camp, so we feel like it is our very own vacation cabin. It has a fireplace, 3 bedrooms, a screened in porch, and a woodburning cook stove. It reminds me of my grandma's stove which I watched her, amazed, cooking on, expertly adjusting the wood and lifting the heavy cast iron top with a metal stick. For obvious reasons, we don't cook much in the cabin. Plus, John just informed me a couple of days ago that the old ladies who used to cook at GTE, Delta and Dee, had a bear climb in the window after smelling something yummy in the cabin.



This is a shot of the dining hall where all the campers eat. You can't see the interesting light fixtures that are made of wagon wheels and horse shoes. There is seating for 90.








This is the office of GTE.



Last night was All Camp Campfire where all of the units come together for dinner outside, skits, and fun. We got to see Princess and Man Child. It was great. They are doing SO well. Here is Curly Locks amidst the crowd during the "danced party". Here is Man Child, dressed for his role in the Village People skit for his camp unit. He's pigging out, of course, with Princess next to him. You would not believe the pants this child was wearing! At one point Princess knocked the bun off his plate and he said, "God, pick it up, will you, I can't b end over in these pants!" He danced, in front of hundreds of people. Not to mention wore this get up for the better part of 3 hours!

And here is the Princess. Doesn't she look great? And like she is having the time of her life? I think that is because she IS!! She is donning a side pony for her unit's skit which was a re-worded version of "Safety Dance". I was thrilled, of course, since that is a song from MY era!! It was SO cute- all these 9-11 year olds dancing to this song, singing their hearts out about how much they love camp. It was too much. Of course, she seemed to have grown, in size and spirit. It was fabulous to see her running around with her buddies with whom she has bonded so much.

Here are Chef Boy and I in a self portrait. Note the bangs.

Bangs

I cut my bangs. It was last night after about a week long struggle to not cut my bangs. I was... not... strong... enough...

Actually, I'm happy I did it. I feel more comfortable with my bangs back.

Me- "I missed you, bangs!"

Bangs- "We were way too long. Your hair is too fine and limp to not have us be short and spunky. We're all right with your decision to not go baby bangs. You look great and we look great on you!"

I have a long history of hair issues. My hair is red, although not as red as it once was. Damn it.
I have only had long Lucy on Dallas hair at one point in my life and that was when I was pregnant with Man Child. I was still getting perms at that point and my hair was long, curly, and HOT!
I had not had the long luxurious hair I always wanted until then. I spent my entire childhood being called a boy because I wanted a Dorothy Hamill, but my hair is not thick enough to manage the stack, therefore turning into a regular pixie. Boy cut. So many sales clerks called me a boy I thought I might kill them. There were so many days I went to the bus stop in tears after my mother tried to curl my hair with the curling iron, burning me instead. I had perpetual curling iron hickies throughout third grade.

I will admit I even had, at one point in the 80's, a bi-level. It wasn't a mullett, so just shut up. Soon after this I let my friend Dana cut a fool's tail in the back. It was not a good look.This was also the one short period in my life I was a cheerleader, so there are, to my dismay, photos to prove this. They are currently misplaced, so don't get any ideas of rummaging through my house while I'm in CO!!!

Finally, with the help of a wonderful hair stylist, I realized I didn't need to fry my hair with perms any longer, I just needed a good cut and to let go of the dream of long Lucy hair. Ok, I said. Go for it.

Short hair, you say... HMMMM.....
Well, I liked it very much. It actually sort of stacked, was cute, I had bangs, of course, and all was well.

Until the long hair visions started creeping up again. During the pregnancy with Princess, I thought maybe I could pull off long hair again. It go long, but not so luxurious. Soon, I was back to shortish hair. And I discovered baby bangs.
Oh, how I love the baby bangs. So short. So spunky. So Gwen Stefani. It was the look for me.

Fast forward to present. I got a great cut about 8 months before camp. Then I never went back to get it trimmed up to keep the cut. It started to grow! I got excited and drug right back to long hair fantasy. So, I let it keep growing- including my bangs, which were already longer than they usually were in this original cut. It just kept growing. Before I knew it, my bangs could be tucked behind my ear!

Glorious long hair! Bangs tucked in ear!! Hair all on length!!! Joy, joy- Lucy, eat your heart out.

Before camp, I did have concern. Should I get a cut? A trim? I needed to be able to just wake up and pull it back and go. Good friends told me, basically, to shut up and just leave it be. This is what I did.

Until last night. When I could take no more of the large exspanse of forhead exposed by the tucked in bangs. I could no longer pretend my limp hair had life by lifting and spraying. I would no longer stand for greasy looking strands hanging in my face.

I needed a hotline number. I needed direct access to a beauty salon.

What I had was Chef Boy reminding me of the many other times I had cut my own hair and lived to regret it.
Ass hole.

I held off for a week, but last night, after twisting, mangling at least 12 bobby pins, 1/2 a can of hair spray, and a few tears, I got in the shower, washed my hair, got out, brushed it, chose an amount of bang hair that seemed logical, snuck the scissors from the kitchen as Chef Boy shook his head over his book, and I created bangs.

After the first cut, I was nervous because these scissors aren't exactly salon quality, but after a blow dry, I was thrilled. I actually did not cut them too short and only a strand or two of long bang keeps hanging over into short bang area.

Chef Boy was smart enough to tell me they framed my beautiful face so nicely and quoting Pedro said, "I like your bangs."

All in all, I know I may have many of you shaking your heads in disgust. Stacey will likely recall the time I compained about getting tired while blow drying my long hair or when I stated she might tell my my baby bangs looked like ass. She never did this, but I'm not sure they are her favorite look, nonetheless.

I still long for the long, flowing, wavy hair that reaches my ass. I feel this would be good. In reality, it probably wouldn't be, but since when am I supposed to live in reality when it comes to dreams?

So, bangs and I are reunited. We like each other. We think we are cute together. It's the beginning of a beautiful reunion...

Links to Kids at Camp

http://photos.cheley.com/gallery/h_2007_06_16/DSC_0007

This is a link to a picture of my wonderful daughter at camp. She is doing crafts- looks like some tie dying. Doesn't she look like she is having fun?

http://photos.cheley.com/gallery/lc_2007_06_19/IMG_0027

This is a picture of my wonderful daughter with some of her camp buddies on a hike. Again, too much fun. Chef Boy just commented both the dog and kids will not want to come home.

http://photos.cheley.com/gallery/h_2007_06_16/DSC_0007


This is a picture of Man Child commanding an audience at a horse ride. Look at that thing on his face: it is a smile. Yes, this from the boy who reluctantly agreed to this thing called "camp".

http://photos.cheley.com/gallery/h_2007_06_16/DSC_0080

This is Man Child on a mountain bike ride. Looks like fun, huh? He wrote to us (the only correspondence thus far) and reported it was hard riding up the hill, but worth it for the ride down the other side.

http://photos.cheley.com/gallery/gte_2007_06_16/IMG_3712

This is Curly Locks on, you guessed it, a horse. She has been on a horse since camp started. She returned today from an overnight horsepack- this is basically camping with horses. She rides to the campsite, takes care of the horses, camps, eats over a campfire, and then rides the horses back. Apparently she had fun because Chef Boy had never seen her so dirty. I didn't see her until after her shower, when I noticed she still had dirt on her neck and elbow. Obviously, camp is not about being clean- which is, I'm sure, another reason Curly Locks loves it so!

Hopefully, tomorrow I can put some photos on this blog that can show you our cabin, the camp at GTE, and other interesting phenomena. NOT the mountain lion, I hope.

Night Off and Child Spotting

Last night Chef Boy and I had the night off. We drove to Ft. Collins (recently voted the #1 city in which to live) to goof around. We planned on eating something spicy and seeing a movie after running a few errands.

It was a great night. We found a local Thai restaurant and shared some yummy pad thai and panang curry. Along with the beer and the lightest crab rangoons I've ever tasted, the meal was supurb. Of course what do I become obsessed with but the families sitting near us. It is just so weird to be living without our children with us. I couldn't help eavesdropping on their conversations about their daily lives- a girl going to Girl Scout camp, the toddler following her dad to the bathroom. Then a family of 6 walked in- 4 boys. I kept feeling like I needed to go around and tell everyone, "I'm a Mom, too. My kids are just at camp right now. Usually we are a family, too, not just a couple." I almost felt like I got different looks without them. It was weird.

On the other hand, it was amazing to be walking around and able to do ANYTHING we wanted!!!!! We could have gone to two movies in a row if we wanted!!!

Speaking of movies... we saw "Knocked Up". OMIGOD!!! It was SO good. Chef Boy and I were both laughing out loud the entire movie. I totally reccommend it.

Overall, a great evening. And, Chef Boy boss man let me sleep in today and skip breakfast. It was joyous sleeping in, snuggled under the covers as the water rushed by... glorious.

Today, Chef Boy and I stalked our children at main camp. Yes, we did. We drove over there and slowly scoped out the camp until we layed our eyes on the two red heads. Man Child was on his way to ride horses and Princess was just leaving the climbing gym. They both looked great! We've received mail from both who report to love camp and be having fun. I'm so excited because next Sunday is the All Camp Campfire!!! This is my favorite part of camp because of all the skits AND I get to see my kiddos!!! Ye Ha

Tomorrow I'm going to work on posting pictures. Wish me luck.

Tag I'm It

Ok, a friend tagged my to post 8 random facts about myself. So here goes.

1. I grew up in a small town in Missouri and am by all means a redneck.

2. I've been in the Vagina Monologues 4 times.

4. I have an obsession with even numbers. For instance, I always set my alarm for an even number- right now it is set for 6:14; I never let the microwave reach one, I stop it on 2.

5. Along with my even number obsession, I perform random patterns with my fingers and tongue. For instance, while driving down the road, I will make a mark on the roof of my mouth with my tongue for each mile marker, sign post, etc.

6. Although I consider myself an optimist, I have intense bouts of catastrophic thinking.

7. I am obsessed with older home real estate.

8. I have dreams of winning an acadamy award.


There you have it, RC aka Sarcasm is my First Language.

If anyone reads this, go ahead and share your own 8 random facts.

My Baby is at Camp!

All the kiddos are now safely delivered to their camp units. Man Child and the Princess are at main camp and Curly Locks is still here at GTE with us.

I balled my eyes out all last night.

Why? Because my little baby Princess is away from me! I've been away from her before- when I was away for work; she was on a sleepover... but it is somehow different. Even though I am fairly close to her in proximity, I think her being at camp- being able to do this amazing, big deal thing without me is representative of how she is clearly a baby no longer.

She is growing up and she is the final one. The final one who will be the youngest. I simply won't have a 4 year old ever again asking why? why? why?; will never take another first birthday photo of a baby happily licking frosting off their face; and will never have my baby twirl my hair as they rest their sleeping head on my shoulder. Then again, I won't ever have to potty train anyone EVER again... This is a major milestone for both of us. Not to mention Chef Boy who is already making up reasons to travel to main camp to spy on her.

Dad's suffer this predicament, I know; but it is supremely melancholy for a mother to be forced to realize her brood is continually moving closer and closer to being self sufficient. It's just natural for us to need to have something to protect, love, nag, and keep close to us.

The thing that makes me know we will come out of it all right is that she is growing up into a wonderful person. She has an independence unlike the other two and is head strong- yet caring, loving, inquisitive, daring, and absolutely hilarious. And, this camp experience is making her grow even more into her own person.

As scary as that is for me, I know it is good for her.

It's just a good thing that A. She still let's me hug, kiss, and snuggle her as much as I like. and B. Jennifer will be delivering a bundle in which I can get my baby fix!!

Cheley Basics

I thought I would give a little tutorial on the basics of Cheley.

Main Camp or LOP (Land O' Peaks) is in Estes Park and is home to 3 brother/sister units:
Lower Ski (pronounced sky) Hi and Lower Chipeta
Ski Hi and Chipeta
Haiyaha (HIGH-YA-HA) and Senior Chipeta.

This is where the offices are and where the camp administration exists. There is a boys dining room and a girls dining room. Each above unit has there own lodge, cabins, and camp area.
There is a large pavilion with stadium seating that has a stage. This is where my favorite camp activity happens- All Camp Campfire. This is when all the camp units go to main camp for dinner in Wood's Kitchen (an outdoor area with huge boulders) and each unit does a skit, led by the campfire counselors.

Boy's Trail's End Ranch and Girl's Trail's End Ranch are about 35 minutes from Estes Park outside a tiny town called Glen Haven. These camp units are literally the end of the trail! Boys and Girls TE's are near each other and have a special bond. At these units, the campers sleep in real covered wagons. John and I were at BTE for all the years until last year, when John cooked at GTE. We always thought we could not love any place at camp better than BTE, but GTE is something special. BTE is so beautiful- it lies down in a valley and has the most rustic lodge, the river running through, and it is so peaceful. It runs entirely on a generator. So, at night, no electricity. GTE is just as beautiful, in a different way. It is like an enchanted forest. The barns are so picturesque and the horses have a huge pasture to run- they have to be called in to feed. It is surrounded by the river and woods. The director, David, is best described as a hippie football coach. He is so laid back and allows this to be a very magical place. He certainly does not micromanage or lose sight of the fact it is summer camp. The attitude and feel of GTE is amazing.
The TE's sort have a special distinction in that they are very different from main camp. Think about over 500 people being at main camp and only 85 at the TE's. It's smaller, more family like, and sort of beats to its' own drum. John and I are cooking for all the campers and staff of GTE. We stay in the Heinz House, the 3 bedroom cabin I've spoken of before. It is a super cute cabin.

Man Child has chosen to go to main camp because he does not want to sleep in a covered wagon. So, it's not that main camp is worse, it is just different and the right place for many campers. A camper has to be at least 12 to go to a TE.

Princess will be in Lower Chipeta; Curly Locks will be at GTE first term and Chipeta 2nd term. Man Child will be in Haiyaha.

Cheley began in 1921 with the Grandfather of the current Ex. Director. The great grandson is starting to take over as operations director- a phase in, I guess. The camp began only for boys and took place in what is now part of the Rocky Mountain National Park. The Cheley's actually owned Bear Lake. There are awesome pictures of boys taking morning plunges in the shivering lake in those wool bathing outfits. The place has amazing history, tradition, and programs.
We are so lucky to have our kids be able to access this opportunity.

Amazingly, Man Child, who practically came kicking and screaming, has already shown positive changes and attitude since being here; and camp hasn't even started. He has met some of his counselors and seems to really be looking forward to camp. Chef Boy is worried he will want to go 2 terms!!!!

The programs that campers go out on are: hiking, mountain biking, backpacking, outcamping, crafts, horse riding, sports, rock climbing (gym and real rocks). Campers get to sign up each Sunday for the activities they will do all week. Outcampers go out to a spot and basically camp out. Backpackers hike in, camp out, and hike out. Hikers hike all day to reach a summit or other location. Crafts happens in camp. Riders do day rides and overnight rides where they ride in, camp, and ride out. Mountain bikers do the same- some day rides and some overnights. They cook out on overnights. They are all awesome experiences. I will never forget visiting Lincoln on one of his first outcamps when he was 9 in Lower Ski Hi. It was like coming upon Lord of the Flies. He was so dirty- dirtier than I had ever seen him, which is saying something, and it was all I could do not to lick my thumb and wipe his face! He was busy making a damn with all the other kids!
Curly Locks loves the horses. She rides almost daily. It is her dream come true!
It will be curious to see what the Princess participates in most. She claims she will ride, but I see her doing some hiking.

That is a short tutorial of the basics on Cheley. This will help when I am speaking of places, programs, and things.

The best thing about Cheley is being surrounded by the mountains. There is Long's Peak, Twin Sisters, CCY, Twin Owls... It is amazingn to see these sights each and every day.

Family Togetherness

I love my family. I do. Many of you have witnessed acts that support this. However...

An entire week of being together 24 hours a day has reached an interesting point. A critical point. A radical point. A very sharp point.

Is it time for camp yet?

We have had so many amazing times this week. Because the rest of the staff has been in training at main camp, we have basically had the camp to ourselves. We sleep in late, we make wonderful breakfasts, we play ping pong and shuffle board, cards and foose ball, knock out and HORSE. The girls play in the water; we take mini hikes around camp and take gorgeous naps midday. (Yes, we will work a lot harder when the campers arrive!)

The parts of the week not spent doing the above activities have been spent screaming, yelling, attempting to murder one another, taking each other's stuff to be annoying, whining about being cold and being obnoxiously fearful of mountain lions.

What I've rationally been able to surmise is that really the percentage of murdering one another is not any higher than usual, it's just that we are not normally together so much.

Did I mention I love my family?

Did I mention I do indeed miss my friends? You all better start responding so I can feel I am having some sort of conversation with someone other than my husband.

There isn't a mountain lion scare this year, by the way. And we've seen no bears as of yet. There is, however, a fat raccoon that has made his way into the kitchen several times to get into the food trash. Here at Cheley they seperate trash into Food- Burnable- Non-Burnable. We've been met with little raccoon tracks in the kitchen several mornings and one night when I went into the kitchen at night to get supplies for Smores, I saw him waddling away. Princess has named him Quincy. Curly Locks named a large elk Alfred, and Man Child has named all mule deer we see Peter. It's just easier that way, since we see so many.

3 days until camp. Which means only 3 more days until my babies are gone from my side for 4 weeks. I know I will miss them and be worried they are falling off mountains. So, I guess a little murder until Wednesday is bearable. Just think how it will be once the kids are gone, the campers arrive, and it's only Chef Boy and I...

10 to None

Well, obviously I had no chance to have a countdown!!!

WE ARE HERE!!!! It is wonderful, beautiful, scenic, and peace.

I can't believe we made it.

Here's how the trip went.

Final decision- take both cars. This way no one murders anyone on the 10 hour trip and when we get there we park the van and drive the Honda. Also, in case I need to bring Man Child back after his term is over, I'll have a car to do so. And in case I get a job and need to come home early, I'll have a car. Makes sense.

We were all really happy when a tire blew out on the Honda at 1:00 in the morning on I-70. We had decided to leave around 8:00 pm to drive through the night. We dropped Lucky off at Farm Camp (Grandma's), which is about 3 hours into the trip. We said our goodbyes and were off. Right after passing the Adult Book and Movie superstore, I thought I heard a weird noise over my John Cougar Mellancamp. It was the tire- blown and completly flat.

About 2 months ago, we had a flat on a different tire and somehow bent the frame on the donut spare. This meant getting a whole new tire. After midnight. With the closest town being Abilene, KS- not so much a 24 hour town.

We called Grandma, took the kids back there to sleep, and set out to Salina to get a new tire at the 24 hour Wal Mart and have it put on at the 24 hour truck stop. Just so you know, truck stops are very interesting at around 12:30 am. And, they have a great selection of those bull balls you can hang from your vehicle OR to have as a stylish key chain. I could hardly keep Chef Boy from buying them out.

Anyhoo, about 75 miles later, we went back to Grandma's to sleep 2 hours before getting back on the road.

I feel almost caught up on sleep, but at one point I had been awake for 45 out of 48 hours. That's not so fun. Some of you know how I get with no sleep, and it isn't pretty. Man Child usually accuses me of being on drugs.

I only cried a little as we made our way up the mountain road to Estes Park. And then only a little more as we wound down the glorious road to GTE. As soon as I find our camera wire thingy, I'll get some photos on here for you. I don't want you all to miss this.

Our little cabin is so quaint. We have 3 bedrooms, a bathroom, a sunporch, and a living room/kitchen combo. It is a little walk down from the main camp area, so we are really secluded. The mountain stream, full this year due to lots of snow in the winter, rushes by our window. I've piled about 6 blankets on the bed since Chef Boy insists on listening to the water to sleep- and I must admit, it is worth being in a cacoon of blankets to hear that sound.

The only issue really, is that the water in the cabin, the Heinz House, is rusty. It's brown, actually, with rust. And only today did the water heater get turned on. I showered today for the first time since Saturday. It was warm... for the first 4 minutes, but I persevered and made it through- washing my hair and all! My feet were covered in rusty brown water up to my mid calf and the three streams of water harshly shooting out of the shower head made it interesting... but, who cares!

Well, we are off to GTE (we are at Main Camp right now) where we will be the only ones there since the other staff members are staying here for training. I may take van training tomorrow. Stop laughing! I'm sure I can drive a large van with 10 children in in on mountain roads... I have no doubt I can do it as long as I can blast my John Cougar Mellencamp!!!

I miss you all!