August 22, 2011

Bodie & Santiam

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Another fun day at the park with the kid and grand kids, Blaize would be up to the compound where the kitties are all day if she could. I had a load of laundry to do, so i took my book up there and after I threw my load of laundry in, I sat and read my book while the kids played with the kitties. It was so nice and warm outside, I really enjoyed watching the kids chasing the kittens and I took some pictures of them holding them. The little kitty named Babs is so loving and she loves to be held and snuggled. She sleeps a lot of the time, especially when you hold her. Bodie likes the Kitty named Santiam who was abandoned at the park and Kathy one of the hosts found him and gave him a home; she named him after the Santiam river that runs through our park.
After I got the laundry done, we had lunch and the guys took all the kids fishing up at Elk Horn Camp ground, one of our sister parks. They spent the afternoon there and really had fun swimming in the cold water. It was very hot in the park today, us girls played cards, read our books and painted some rocks. The swimmers were very tired and hungry when they returned to camp.

August 22 and 23, 2011

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Monday 22~~~~Today is Kim and Mikes anniversary! Tuesday 23~~~~Another beautiful day in the park. Kent and I were enjoying our morning coffee and one by one we were joined by the gang waking up and stopping in to say good morning. I built a small fire in the fire pit and we all gathered around it with our coffee, hot chocolate and zucchini bread. Everyone is trying to figure out what they want to do for the day, some want to go fishing, (Bodie and Blaize) some want to ride into Salem (Kent) and a lot of us want to read, relax and play cards or paint. Kent and Mike went into Salem and Kent went to Costco and picked up a few groceries. I decided to make a German salad that is made from, what else could a German salad be, but sour kraut!!!!! It was real good and we ate most of it. Kimmy made a hot dish and Tress made a noodle dish. The dinner was very good but we decided to not do German food again. While we were cooking dinner, some of us played a game of scrabble and that was a lot of fun. I won that game. We had just finished eating when my grandson William and his new bride Savannah stopped in to say hello on their way home from spending the day at Detroit dam. They have a new baby Beagle puppy that is soooooooo cute!! After William and Savannah left, we played a card game of hand and foot, Kent and Mike beat Pamela and I. Kent and I went to bed about 10:30 and the some of them stayed up until 3 AM. I remember when I was the last one to go to bed, I guess getting older makes you tire more easily. LOL I have a lot of pictures, but I am having trouble loading them. I will add them later after Kent figures out what is wrong with the computer.

August 21, 2011

The Norwoods folding up camp to go home!

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Sunday 21~~~~Today is a busy day, Kent and I have a lot of sites to clean and we have a lot of my kids who are on vacation, staying at the park this week. Pammy and Jeff are leaving today and Cory and Tress are taking their camping spot which is right next to ours. Kim and Mike are camping in a space a little further away. The girls have planned a lot of the meals and we all bring different things and we eat together at one site. Tuesday is German night and we all have to bring a German dish. Every year on vacation camping together, they pick a different nationality to fix that kind of food. Last year was????????? I will have to get on the computer to find a German salad that I am in charge of making. We play a lot of cards and we have several bikes for those who want to explore on a bike. Pam and Jeff like to go for walks, and a lot of us spend time relaxing reading our books. Of course I have my paints all set up at our camp with my large pile of rocks and a lot of rocks are being painted by the girls and grand kids. I am painting a rock for another one of the Rangers who will be leaving for home in Virginia next week. She really liked the one I did for Kaly, the ranger from Iowa, so I am making her one like that only larger. We have Monday and Tuesday off, so that will be fun to not have to go to work tomorrow, and to be able to drink morning coffee over the fire and visit.

August 20, 2011

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Saturday 20~~~~~The weather today is very warm, I am teaching my rock painting class today with the help of my co-workers Pat and Khrystyl. I have so many rocks gathered and washed for the kids to paint. The biggest job will be hauling them over to the Educational Center and covering the tables with newspaper to make clean up easier from the painters. Tress and Cory and the kids pulled into the park about noon, while I was setting up for the rock painting class. The paint class was very successful, we had almost more kids than we had room to paint. A lot of the parents like to bring the little ones who are way too young to be in the class and they take up space holding them, trying to help them. We try to discourage them, but some mothers are very determined that their little one should make something. LOL All of the rocks were good and some of the rocks that were painted were very good, some kids are just a natural at painting. One boy painted and self portrait of himself and it was very good. The only thing that was different was his weight, he was a rather heavy set boy and his portrait was a skinny boy, I guess that is what he sees in himself. LOL I sprayed all the rocks for the kids with acrylic paint and I took their pictures of them holding their rock. They had so much fun and some of them painted 3 rocks. After the class was over and everything cleaned up and hauled home, we went over to the West's campsite and visited. We went to Mass and picked up broasted chicken after Mass for our dinner, as we didn't feel like cooking after such a busy day. Then we went over to the West campsite and sat around the camp fire until bedtime. The Maddens will be here tomorrow morning, so we will be busy with so much company and work. It will be lots of fun.

August 14, 15 16, 2011

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Sunday 14~~~~~~I drove into town tonight about dusk and I stopped at the West's house to find them in their back yard cooking dinner over their new fire pit in their back yard. Cory was cooking pork shops over the open fire and Tress made the rest of the dinner inside. They had their chairs all around the fire and it was just like camping. Monday 15~~~~~Kent came into town this morning, and we went to Apple Bee's for dinner tonight. On our way home Tress and Bodie drove up beside us on River Road, they had gone out for dinner too, they followed us home and we had dessert at our house and visited. Tuesday 16~~~~We both had errands to run today, after I finished mine, I baked a carrot cake for one of the young rangers at the park who has a birthday today and she will be heading back to Iowa on Friday. Everyone loves my carrot cake and they always ask me if I will make one, so this is a request from Kaly for her birthday. We called three of the other host couples to come over and eat cake with Kaly and the Rangers, it was about 8:00PM when they came over, as they were working late. The cake and ice cream was really appreciated by the Rangers, as they had a 12 hour day and they were really hungry. We sure will miss these young rangers, they really are a lot of help in the operation of the park.

August 13, 2011

Saturday 13~~~~~Today at the education center, I helped Khrystyl with the children's program that we have for the children in the park every Saturday. Today's class was teaching them how to make their own journal and what to put in a daily journal. Each child was given a spiral note book and we had lots of pictures we had removed from magazines of animals, flowers sporting things, famous places and a lot more of just anything. The kids trimmed the pictures and they glued them with glue sticks all over the covers of their note books. Some of them really made fantastic journals with their creative minds. Khrystyl showed them her daily journal and explained the different types of journals they could make. I brought home two notebooks and a lot of clippings so we can make journals when Bodie and Blaize come up here on vacation next week. I have been gathering rock of all sizes in the park for the rock painting class I will be teaching next Saturday. All the rocks have to be washed, so I have been busy with that job also. LOL I have enjoyed painting some of them to have some for the kids to look at. I painted a flower rock for Kaly the Ranger from Iowa who is leaving to go home next week. It was my best rock I have painted and I really didn't want to give it up. My sister and brother were so good at art and I never colored as a child, so this has been a whole new challenge for me to accomplish. I think Jan would be proud of my artwork!!!!

August 8, 9,10, 11, 2011

Monday 8~~~~Today is my day off from the park and I am home cleaning the basement and rearranging my furniture down there. I also pruned and weeded my roses, there is so much to do with a home when you have so little time there to get it done. I do have a lawn man which really is a life saver. Tuesday 9~~~~~ I am taking Mz. Blaize to the park with me today to stay a few days. Bodie is at a YMCA survival summer camp, he is having a ball, learning how to build campfires three different ways, kayaking, swimming and fishing. They also tie dyed T shirts, but Bodie did a pillow case, as his mom knew he would never be caught dead in a tie dyed shirt, but he would love to make one and he would like it on his bed. Blaize is so lonesome for her brother, so staying with Nonnie will be good for her. Wednesday10~~~~~Blaize is having a ball with the baby kittens at the park, she plays with them while I work and we go for long walks to the water and look for baby fish. Thursday 11~~~~I have been having trouble with one of my teeth for over a week now and today it is really giving me fits. I called the dentist yesterday and he called in an antibiotic prescription for me which Blaize and I picked yesterday afternoon and he said to come in and have it checked today. I had to take Blaize with me to his office and she had a great time sitting on a stool coloring in the exam room with me while they worked on my tooth while she waited for her mommy to get off work to pick her up and take her home. This ended our fun stay in the park.The dentist said I had to have a root canal and that tooth was part of a 5 tooth bridge, so 5 hours later and a bill of $6800, I went home feeling more pain in my wallet than the tooth had. I will get the new crowns done on the 29th. Dentists here wonder why people go to Mexico to have our teeth done. I think this explains it. I had too much pain to wait for us to go South again, so it is done and I am glad I have a charge card with nothing on it previously. LOL