Wash Me!

Last night at eight, my boys announced that they had earned a picnic at school and would be needing a lunch in the morning. They really really wanted lunchables so off we went to walmart....After we were done shopping, we went out to the car to load our groceries and Sam (he is 10) wrote on the back window WASH ME, immediately Isaac (he is 6) writes WASH SAM! I couldn't help myself, I was laughing so hard! He is a very quick witted little boy....So, after a few minutes Sam writes WASH NOAH AND ISAAC.....Well, he tries!!!

Camp Dubois

Camp Dubois is a replica of the fort that Lewis and Clark used to winter over before they set out on their exploration of America with the corps of discovery. We were invited to participate in a reenactment over the weekend so, we went! It was amazing. We had a great time. The fort is located on the Illinois side of the Mississippi river (across from St. Louis). When we first pullled up and got out of the van there were tornado sirens going so that was a little scary. It was eerily calm. It had rained the whole week before we got there so mud was everywhere. Hannah said she loved it because I let her "get all muddied up"! I thought that was cute. Jenna would walk until she came to the mud and then say "eeew, its yucky mud" then she would raise her arms so I would carry her. (My arms, back, and feet were killing me by the end of each day!) Erinn got to become a 1st Royal grenadier. They are an elite group that fights for the King of England during the 1760's. He loved it. They got to reenact a battle, (They won!) Then they went down the hill and shot some live rounds in a target practice. I think that was his favorite. The kids got to go fishing in Lake James, where Sam caught a fish with just a stick, a worm, some string, and a small hook. Crazy!! The hook went in through its mouth and came out right under its eye...eeewww! I had to borrow wire cutters from the bead lady and cut the hook to get it out! It was so gross! Noah spent most of his time stoking a fire out in the common area of the fort. He is a major firebug! Isaac spent his time playing games with some of the other children that were there. He and Hannah played a great game of monkey in the middle, and a lot of tag! They all spent some time watching the blacksmith work. He was really good with the kids and showed them how to turn hooks, make hatchets, and other types of tools. Hannah and Isaac were enthralled with the indians and begged me to go inside a teepee. So, we did and it was interesting. They are bigger than they look and filled with smoke(big surprise!). The kids also enjoyed shopping the vendors that were there. We gave them each five dollars to spend and boy were they creative. Sam got a rabbit skin and some arrow heads, Noah got a fox tail and a snake necklace, Isaac got a rabbits foot, a flute, a sword and a piece of rock candy, Hannah got a flute, a snake and a piece of rock candy, and Jenna got a flute (she was sleeping when we shopped!) So everybody enjoyed that part! We slept in bunks and cooked over a fire. We got up early and stayed up late. We got extremely dirty and tired but, we all had a good time. We are looking forward to going again in October to Fort Massack. So, we'll see.