Mud and Pumpkins

 
We waited too long to make our annual pilgrimage to the pumpkin patch . . . by the end of the first week of October it was raining heavily, and it hasn't stopped yet!  But, tradition is tradition, so on Friday, October 27th (which was a no school day) we spent a few fun and muddy hours at Bi-Zi Farms. 

 

 

 Bailey and this goat had quite a conversation.

We were lucky that rain didn't fall on our heads while we were there, but the ground was exceedingly muddy.
 
After six years of living in muddy, rainy Washington, I finally broke down and bought myself a pair of rain boots.  Aren't they cute? Now I need to break down and buy pairs for the rest of the family,so they can wear they that one day a year that we go to the pumpkin patch. No one actually wears rain boots just in the rain around here.
 
The traditional pumpkin launch.  Just like every year, we ALMOST got the pumpkin launched into the bucket. If only we had succeeded - we could won a very awesomely tacky scarecrow from the dollar store.

 

 

 

 Learning how to lasso.

 Aubrey caught the steer!  Or cow or whatever it is . .

Dan and I really hate the corn maze. How is it fun to get lost intentionally and then spend up to an hour trying to find our way out?  The experience feels like a recurrent nightmare I have.  Our kids, on the other hand, love the corn maze.  So we dutiful parents traversed the muddy paths and found our way out, thanks to the map Dan and Aubrey carefully  followed.

 

 We made it!

 And now . . .  to find the perfect pumpkin.

 Bailey was dancing through the pumpkin fields. She really, really loves everything about autumn.

 

 

 Washing the pumpkins off and heading home.

Til next year!

Disgusting Dinner Delight 2012

 
The lights are low, the spooky music is playing, and all the Porter children have willingly agreed to partake in this year's Halloween dinner, where all the food is creepy, disgusting, and downright frightening. 

This was the menu for this year:

Vampire Feast                       Witch’s nose

Scab remover                        Scab Slab

Zombie intestines                   Bones and Blood

Vampire heart lacerator         Zombie eyeballs

Ghoul Drool                                        Crunchy cicadas

 Entrails of Frankenstein        Monster jaws 

Haunted spirits                          Macerated Metatarsal

Flying saucer                                      Otherworldly apparition

The owners of the Disgusting Dinner restaurant created a new rule for 2012.  All dining patrons were required to decide together which menu item they would like to order first, as a group. And then second, and third, and so on until they had received all the creepy food.  This tweak to the rules increased the surprise factor when each new dish was presented. 

And how do you like our abundance of spiderwebs in the picture above?  We don't do much housework around here.

 

Dan and I prepared the plates and then Dan delivered the food in  the most spooky, creepy, and frightening way possible.  Who knew that Dan was such a great actor? Can you see him off to the left of this picture?

 

 
Dan and I looked through cookbooks and ideas on Bailey's Pinterest boards for some new "spooky" foods.  Dan found this idea (and he put it together).

The strawberries are supposed to have white chocolate tails that make them into ghosts.  I didn't quite manage that, and I have to say that the version on Pinterest looked cuter than mine, but oh well!

 And, courtesy of Martha Stewart online, mashed potato ghosts.

 This is one of Dan's favorite ideas . . . Ghoul Drool - made of lime sherbet blended with Sprite. He created this one all on his own, and it was a hit.  Joseph wasn't so sure at first, and had to give it the sniff test

 but soon realized that it was delish, and Ghoul Drool was very much in demand.

Another of Dan's ideas and creations:  flying saucers made out of peanut butter and bananas.  

 Dan was exceedingly helpful with the dinner this year - I couldn't have pulled it off without him!  The morning after our Halloween dinner I was hosting a luncheon at our house for 8+ women. The morning of the luncheon I was only going to be home for a short time, as I needed to run Bailey to the orthodontist to get her braces off!  So, on Monday I prepared food for our Halloween dinner but also prepared as much as possible for the luncheon.  When Dan came home we used teamwork to pull it all together.  It was a really good time - these kinds of family memories are more valuable than any material possession!

Looking backward . . . starting with Girls Camp

Okay, so I missed blogging about some big events in our lives over the past six months.  Not that anyone out there cares or is anxiously awaiting the rundown or pictures, but I care. Because one of these days I will print out this year into a blogbook, and that will be our family history.  So, when I get a chance to blog over the next few weeks,  I'm going to look backward a bit.  Now that we are all firmly entrenched in autumn leaves and crisp air, feel free to skip over these blog posts if the glimpses of spring and summer are too jarring.

First up,  Girls Camp - July 2012.  I talked quite a bit about my thoughts about camp in this post last year.  I still feel the same. If anything, I enjoyed this year's camp even more, which is really ironic, if you know how much I like camping. 

But, there's something special that happens at these Girls Camps. This year was especially great for me, because I was able to attend camp with TWO of my girls.  It was Aubrey's first year and Bailey's fourth year!  I was especially lucky to attend because, as of May 2012, I was released from serving with the young women at church. Now I serve with the old(er) women, but our ward was short on leaders so I was able to come to help.  I stayed in a tent with four other women. I think it was technically a six or seven "man" tent, but we all know that means it barely fits four people comfortably. So, we were up close and personal and had a great time visiting.

My sleeping situation was actually the most comfortable that I have ever experienced while camping. I think  I've finally figured out the right combination of sleeping bag, cot, super thick pad, and extra blankets.  I was downright cozy and slept great every night. My girls were equally cozy in their tents - the Porters know how to camp comfortably!  And. . . for the first time that I ever remember, the girls didn't keep the leaders up all night, so we actually got sleep. That made for much nicer leaders, let me tell you!

The girls rode buses up - 3 1/2 hours to the camp near Mount Rainer.  I happily drove my car (like every year). No bus for me, thank you.  Plus, I like to have my car as my "home base," with a stash of chocolate and treats to keep me sane and a book to read when I need a few minutes to myself.

The day we arrived was "color war."  Aubrey was decked out in purple and Bailey was in red.  Below, Bailey and her friend model not only their color war outfits, but also the shower cap and goggles they wore for the ward skit that night.  Sooo attractive!

The skit involved some improved "synchronized swimming" moves, inspired by the summer Olympics.
 
In addition to ward camping responsibilities, each ward leader was assigned to help in different places throughout the camp. I was assigned to help with the outdoor cooking certification classes. Sigh.  I couldn't have been assigned to anything more challenging for me.  Let's just review the reasons I'm not technically a fan of camping.  #1 - the bathroom facilities, #2 - the sleeping situation (although I have that one figured out now),  and #3 - the fact that cooking outdoors is a pain in the neck.

At this stake girls camp we have a marvelous set of cooks who prepare and serve amazing meals in the lodge.  However, each of the levels have to take a day to demonstrate their outdoor cooking skills. There was a leader called to direct the girls in this certification, and I was assigned to help her. She was a very nice woman, and she did her best with a very difficult assignment, but some of the meals were embarrassing.  For instance, the level 4 girls (including Bailey) had to cook a pizza in an outdoor oven for lunch.  But they were allowed one pizza - and the pizza was the size of a refrigerator biscuit.  Needless to say, the pizzas took forever to cook and  one bite-size pizza wasn't nearly enough to satisfy the girl's appetites.  So, I had to pretend like I wasn't telling everyone to secretly run to the lodge afterward to find some scraps of leftovers. 

   

I'm also not sure how this cooking exercise was very effective, because we "cooking certification" leaders prepared these masterpieces of outdoor foil ovens out of cardboard boxes, foil, and wire hangers.  It took all of one evening and was quite an arduous task.  The girls did nothing to prepare the ovens - they just showed up and assembled their pizzas, and then the leaders actually cooked them since the coals were super hot.
 
The ovens did work eventually, but I'm not sure how the girls left the certification with any greater ability to survive on their own without electricity.  And, while I technically now know how to prepare a foil oven, I would only do so again if my life depended on it.

So, instead of eating lunch at the lodge every day I was laboring over hot coals in the unusually hot weather, helping the girls prepare pathetic meals which took an inordinate amount of preparation. Can I just say that I'm so glad I am not a pioneer.  Preparing three meals a day the pioneer way would make me give up and lay down to die on the side of the trail.  Okay, I'm done with my complaining. The problem is that I don't have an automatic way to be invited to go back to camp next year, as I'm not a leader anymore.  I'm pretty sure that if I volunteered for cooking certification duty again I would be able to go. So, I have to decide if it's worth it!

But, I'd have to say that these girls make it all worth it.

 

Cute 1st year girls showing off their tent,which they kept scrupulously clean (Aubrey is on the left).  They also held their own scripture study sessions every night. And then they woke up so early and got ready before the rest of the camp, so sometimes they held another scripture study in the morning!  They were amazing 1st years.
 

McKay gave me a nickname:

 

Sharing dinner with the newly called Bishop (who is our good friend), who came up for the testimony meeting on the last night of camp.

If you look closely, you can see both of my girls here. Bailey at the top (in a blue headband and white shirt) and Aubrey in the middle (in a blue headband).  Also pictured are many of the other girls in our ward. This picture was taken during one of evening flag/program times in the amphitheater.

Okay, this is the worst picture in history, but I included it to document a fun moment.  Every night the whole camp gathers for a program.  On the last night Bailey received a special "F.B.I. Award" for being funny, beautiful, and intelligent - the only award of this type that was awarded during the entire camp.  Go Bailey!  I was so surprised when they called her name that I jumped up to take a quick picture, and obviously didn't take time to focus.  

Bailey is such a Girls Camp fan - she loves everything about it. And this year she finished certifying, and next year she will be one of the YCLs - Youth Camp Leaders. She'll do a great job of that.  But wait - that means that she is really growing up and only has two years of camp left. That means she doesn't have much time left at home . . . . I refuse to think about this right now!
 
One of the group hugs after a fantastic testimony meeting. Not sure why half the girls are giving me an angry look.  I think maybe they thought I was asking for a silly face picture?  It was a great testimony meeting, and afterward the love was just flowing as we lingered and shared treats for an hour before heading back to camp.

 This year camp was one day shorter than normal.  I thought it was perfect.  Tuesday through Friday.  Anyone can survive three nights of camping!

I loved this year's camp even though I was certainly glad to get home to my clean house and soft bed.  But, I do hope to somehow find my way back next year. . .