Indian Caves...bummer trip

Our 1st Camping Experience here in Nebraska:
Was at Indian Caves for Labor Day. We had planned for a 3 night, fun, family getaway together. Something we have not done since we have moved here over a year ago. And camping was one of our most favorite things to do together back in Oregon. So we decided to give Nebraska camping a try. And last year we noticed that you can pretty much only go camping in the Fall. It's too cold in the winter; spring is the Tornado season..best to stay near home, summer way too humid...and well that leaves, Fall being just right!

Cooking and Roasting:

Here was our fabulous cook, getting breakfast ready for us all. The children’s' favorite part of the whole camping experience was our evenings by the campfire roasting smores. They looked forward to it every day we were there.

Hiking and Biking:

We went on family hikes, brought our bikes and had family bike rides, at and around the campground. We also viewed a special firework display for Labor Day, put on by the campground, which was a huge hit for the kids, but they were super tired from the days activities that halfway through it they wanted to go back to our camp site and go to bed. And the terrible parents that we are made them stay up to watch it; (the whole thing was only 45mins long.)

Playing at the Missoura Riva:

From the distance it is a very pretty River, but up close it is a rather gross view, very mudding and kind of smelly. I was worried that one of the kids would fall in, so I told Eric if that happened he would be the one that would have to jump in, not me...yuck!

The Indian Caves:

We sadly discovered that it is not like the caves in the NW that you can actually walk through, but it is more like an over hang of a side of a small mountain, yet the biggest one you'll see in Nebraska.
Summing up:

So, pretty much it was kind-of fun, we had to leave a whole day and a half early do to unfun visitors that we were all exposed too....TICKS!! Yup, you know it, those terrible Nebraska buggies. I have grown up camping all my life on the West coast and never did I ever see or know about ticks, other than they were on dogs. It was just not a worry. I suppose you can call me the Queen of all tick knowledge now...I know just about everything and anything there is to know about them...so if you have a question about them feel free to ask me. We left with an average all together of about 200 ticks all over us. And they weren't the big ones that we have gotten here and there earlier when we first moved here, those are Wood Ticks. We got the incredibly small ticks that look like little brown freckles; those are the Deer Ticks that just so happen to carry Lime Disease. So I get to take all my kids in now to get check for Lime Disease...so much fun! Yippy, I can't wait. Some how the kids have forgotten all about these terrible buggies, as they watched the family video that I taped of them camping. Because they all said that they wanted to go back, and how much they miss that camp site. I guess what it all comes down too, is that I was the only one that was greatly disturbed by this "FUN" camping trip. Most likely we won't be going camping again here in Nebraska; we will probably have to save those kinds of things for the West Coast when we move back in less than 2 years.

Our Homeschool Blog

<------------------- Link is under My Blog List, it's: mathisonfamilyfun.blogspot.com
See the fun things and exciting ways, we have been learning for the month of August.

'2008' Nebraska State Fair

The Petting Zoo:
Caleb finally got the nerve to pet the camel after Eric kept showing him that nothing bad would happen if he did. The girls loved holding the baby chicks. Caleb wanted to go last, probably just to make sure that it was really safe. (If you haven't noticed he is our extra cautious kid of the fam.) Usually, he will do things after one of his sisters goes first. But he is starting to do more daring things on his own, like for instance, going on a rollercoaster...look at the pictures below...

Riding the Rides:
Liahona and Tamara enjoying the merry-go-around. Ever since I had Tamara, I cannot go on any spinning rides anymore, even the simple merry-go-around, so Eric had to go with Tamara and help her. Caleb was brave and went on a rollercoaster all by himself. He is getting SO big, we were all so proud of him!!

The Pirate Diving Show:

This was quite the hit with our kids. It was pretty enjoyable for us adults as well. They put on a rather well done performance. The kids wanted to get their pitcure taken with the pirates after the show... or maybe it was me placing the idea in their heads..i don't know...anyhow the pirate standing behind Caleb in the picture was named "Oscar" who atcually is a professional stunt man. The kids really liked his high diving jumps into the 8feet deep pool.....crazy, but neat!

More of Montey

S.U.M.M.E.R

S= Sucking Thumbs
Montey has become quite the thumb sucker. We have never had a thumb sucker before and it is kind of cute. We are still pushing the binky on him though, hoping that by some chance we can break the thumb sucking habit. He had his 1st tooth already pop through, which is the earliest yet with all our kids. Feedings will soon be a pain I am sure, but hopefully he won't get anymore until later

U= Unusually Visitors
So we have been finding gardner snakes for the first time in our front yard this year. I am not a big fan of snakes yet the kids were more brave them me and actually were picking them up and playing with them. I wanted to just scream and run away, however I am trying not to push my fears on them so I just bit my tongue and let them have fun.

M= Montey 3 Months
This was our Home Photoshoot for Montey, even though he will be 4months at the end of this month. He was a pretty good sport. He is too cute...we sure love him.

M= Missing Teeth & Manicures

Liahona lost her 1st tooth. We were all so excited. She was even brave enough to pull it out all by herself too! So I went and had my first pedicure and manicure done this month and they turned out ok but I did not find it all that wonderful. I could have saved money and just did it all myself. I did a home manicure for my girls, Here is the manicure that I did for Liahona. Her's turned out better because she sat more still than Tamara.

E= Eel Lessons

I finally decided that it was time to put the kids in swim lessons, so both them and I could be more comfortable around water. Seeing that I am hydrophobic and all..... I wouldn't let Tamara take lessons yet. I told her that she has to wait until she is five before she can take any type of swim lessons. So she got to help me take care of Montey while we waited and watched Caleb and Liahona for 8 days, Monday through Thursday for 2 weeks swim away. She was a pretty good sport. They made an amazing transformation within these 8 days, starting at not even being able to put their faces into the water, too jumping into the water all by themselves and swimming back to the edge of the pool.....they blew me away!!!

R= Rolling and Reeling

There was free bowling for kids 5-12 at our local bowling alley throughout the summer. We went a couple of times. Caleb liked it more than Liahona, and Tamara was just bored because she didn't make the cut seeing that she is only 4 yrs old. But it was fun for us all to go out and do something different every once in awhile.We also went fishing at a local pond this summer. The kids were catching the fish so fast that we could hardly keep up with getting them soon enough. We had a good time fishing with some friends from Eric's school.