Girls Camp!

At the beginning of August I spent a week at Camp Zarahemla, a Church-owned property a few hours northeast of White Salmon, with about 65 teenage girls and 30 other adult women leaders. It was my first time at Girls Camp since I was 17, and I had a great time, despite missing my children and husband who were at home with Damon's parents.

The camp was on the shores of a small lake where we could swim and canoe. It was a gorgeous setting. Here's the view from the hill just a few yards away from our campsite.

The theme for our Girls Camp this year was "Light of the World: Unity, Belief, Example." Each cabin (tent, really) took a country as its own theme. Mine was the United Kingdom, of course. My fellow cabin mom, Kathy, and I decorated our campsite with a Union Jack and some iconic British images.

Our tent became the Zarahemla stop on the London Underground or "Tube" (London's subway system). The tents were quite nice, since they were set up on wooden platforms--no sleeping on top of rocks or tree roots--and you could stand up in them. However, the canvas "walls" were not attached to the platforms at the bottom. This created gaps where the very brave camp chipmunks could enter the tent. Those little guys were seriously bold, illiciting cameos in the camps skits as "Killer Ninja Chipmunks" and as targets for Harry Potter's spells. We had to keep all food out of the tents since the chipmunks would chew through bags to get at campers' unguarded snacks. Some people even had chipmunks jump onto picnic tables and grab cookies right from under their noses!

Here's Kathy with the phone box that she painted for our campsite:

We also created a list of American & British English equivalents so that our girls could see that we don't totally speak the same language as our cousins across the pond.

We had a fun week eating international dishes cooked in the lodge by our camp chef, creating skits (I got to play Queen Elizabeth as we saw "what would happen if the UK visited Camp Zarahemla), canoeing, playing games, and certifying survival skills amidst a mock pandemic (we told the girls that swine flu had mutated while we were at camp and we had to stay there until the quarantine was lifted; their nervous faces made the camp director reveal the mock part of the dramatization right away).

There were also many spiritual classes and evening firesides that taught the young women campers and us leaders more about being "examples of the believers." (The 2009 theme for the Church's Young Men and Young Women is 1 Timothy 4:12 "Be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.")

We stayed up too late and got up too early and were very ready to go home Saturday morning. Unfortunately, the car that came up from White Salmon to take home some of the young women BROKE DOWN. A bolt had fallen out of the brakes. Fortunately the camp caretaker had a large set of socket wrenches, one of the men who had come up to camp knew how to fix cars, and we were able to have another driver stop and buy a new bolt.

Kathy and I caravanned home with the fixed car and finally made it home around 5:00 Saturday evening. What a week!

Anyone have the number for Simon Cowell?

The Super Laundress. Hamper Swap. Win, Spin or Dry.
I'm not sure yet what the title will be, but I think I've come up with the next great idea in reality television.

So many women I know have trouble with laundry. They complain about it. They feel like they're always doing it. They're never on top of it. They hate it.

I'm just the opposite. Well, I guess I don't love it, but I don't feel like it runs (or ruins) my life. I've got a plan and I stick with it. I only do laundry once a week, and then it's done.

Last week I was saying to Damon that I ought to teach a class on laundry. I could teach a class where I could share my systems and my expertise, my positive mental attitude about handling the dirty clothes we accumulate each week. I could teach a class at church, or--heck!--the local community college.

So, I was on this wave of laundress largesse the other day when I had an extended conversation with a friend who was, of course, feeling overwhelmed by her laundry. "I can help!" I declared. I told her how I just do my laundry once a week and that she, too, could be liberated from her piles of dirty clothes if she could just adopt a plan and stay dedicated to it. She has twice the number of children as me and scoffed at the notion that anyone with a family of 8 could possibly keep up on their laundry. I persisted. "After school starts, we'll pick a day and get you all caught up on your laundry. We'll bring some of it to my house. We'll wash. We'll spin. We'll dry. And then from there, you'll be set! You can do this!" I crowed. (I later learned she hung up with me and told her teenage daughter that I'm crazy.)

From there it was a simple step to realizing that merely teaching a class wouldn't cut it. I would need to be like the Super Nanny or that TLC show Clean Sweep that comes right into someone's home and turns everything around through a multi-day immersion in the dysfunctional home. I think HGTV would be a great market for So You Think You Can Fold.

My mother, of course, would be my co-host, because she taught me everything I know. Like some grade schooler being asked about their academic successes, she always said, "Laundry is my best subject." We would be a formidable, stain-busting team.

So, if anyone can hook me up with a reality TV producer, I would be much obliged. And, if you're having trouble with your laundry, just let me know. You can be on our first episode.

Final Note: My mom and I believe in ironing, too, so the inevitable spin-off: As the Iron Presses.

I'm Still Here

The last few weeks have been quite busy. My parents came for a visit from Salt Lake City and less than a week after they left I headed out for Girls Camp, a week-long event with the Young Women at our church. Many thanks go to Damon's parents, who came to take care of the kids so Damon didn't have to take vacation time.

On top of all this, I recently joined Facebook. I read in Boston College Magazine that if Facebook were a country it would be the 3rd most populous in the world. After being invited to join by half a dozen friends, I guess I no longer wanted to be left out. It's been a cool way to connect with some "long lost" friends, especially from college, but it sure can be a time drainer and I'm figuring out how to balance it with this blog and the rest of my life.

Soon I will post some photos and memories of our visit from my parents and of girls camp. And, as soon as I finished painting the trim I'll post house photos. I know you're all just dying to see what color we picked for the new siding!!

Meanwhile, I'm still here!

Girls and Curls

This weekend I put the girls' hair in sponge curlers for the first time. I don't even remember how it came up, but once Adah and Maggie heard about these they just couldn't wait for me to get some and roll up their hair. I wasn't even sure that they made these curlers anymore until I found them at the store. My mom used to put them in my hair occasionally. I always hated sleeping with them, so I warned the girls that they might not like them. They were so excited and seemed to love every minute of it!

The curly results all ready for church:

Aren't they cute?

Gunnar's New Looks

Gunnar, who has always been attached to his pacifier, has recently started something new with it. He deliberately tucks the handle up under his nose. If you tap it down, he immediately swings it upward and tucks it in place again. So funny!

Gunnar also loves wearing goggles. I put a pair on him while we were watching the girls' swimming lessons, thinking it wouldn't last. He loved it! Here he is sporting them at home, along with his "kilt." (Heck--his sisters dress up. He wants to be included. Give us a break.)

Yurt Camping at the Coast

At the end of June we booked a last-minute trip to Cape Disappointment State Park. The cape was named in 1788 by an English sea captain when he failed to make it into the mouth of the Columbia River which is just south of the cape. In 1792 an American captain successfully crossed the river bar and named the river for his ship. Just over a decade later, Lewis and Clark arrived at Cape Disapointment.

We spent four nights at the state park, sleeping in a yurt. Yurts are circular "tents" made of a wooden frame and sturdy canvas. They have wood floors, an overhead light, a locking door, beds, and a heater. We brought all of our own bedding and the other usual camping gear. After the luxury of the dry, warm yurt on our chilly sometimes-rainy coastal visit, I don't know if I'll be able to go back to tent camping.

Below you can see Damon and Maggie outside our yurt just before we left to come home. There was a nice porch, picnic table, firepit, and neighborly racoon. (He tried to open my covered 9x13 Pyrex dish to get at our pan cookies! After that we put food in the car overnight.)

Here we are walking along the beach, which was just a short walk from our campsite. In the distance is one of two lighthouses at Cape Disappointment. (If you don't want the yurt, you can actually rent the lighthouse keeper's house for a vacation.)

And what did we discover on the beach that first morning? A dead baby gray whale. No joke. It looked as though it had been there awhile, but later that day we met someone at the Columbia River Maritime Museum who patrols the beach looking for just such a find, and he said it hadn't been there during his Sunday patrol. He suspected it had died at sea and then washed ashore. In fact, as we continued to visit the beach during the rest of the week the whale progressively moved further up the shore.

It was seriously gross (but not actually that stinky, surprisingly). Adah was totally fascinated with it and kept telling every person we met about it, especially the part about the scientists cutting it open to find out what killed it, and, as she repeatedly reported, "if they find out a human killed it, they'll find that person and put them in prison."

Astoria, Oregon was nearby, just south over the Columbia River, so we spent some time there at the Maritime Museum, riding the historic trolley (only $1!), swimming in their nice indoor pool, and eating ice cream.

We took a nice morning hike at Cape Disappointment which took us to the Southern Head Lighthouse (not the one pictured above). At the Maritime Museum we learned that the Columbia River Bar is one of the most dangerous waterways in the world. Those lighthouses are seriously needed, along with licensed bar pilots that are required to board and accompany every foreign ship across the bar and into port at Astoria.

We didn't tell the kids we were going on a "hike." We called it a "walk" and they seemed to like it better. I think "hike" must just sound too ominous to their short little legs.

In Long Beach, WA (north of our yurt-home) we flew kites and all the girls went horseback riding! We actually found an outfitter that would take any age rider. Under age five rode with an adult, so Maggie was with me, but Adah had her own horse. Maggie and I rode Becky along the beach . . .

. . . and Adah rode Sweetie.

On our last day, before heading eastward, we visited Ft. Clatsop, the winter headquarters for the Lewis and Clark Corps of Discovery. It's now a National Park with a great visitor center and a replica of the original fort, complete with costumed interpreters.

It was sure a fun trip. We saw beautiful and amazing sights, learned new things about the Columbia River region, enjoyed being together, and roasted lots of marshmallows at our campsite.

McMillan Bed & Breakfast: Now Open for Business

As you know from a previous post, our garage was never really a garage. When we bought our house, the garage was the first room I remodeled . . . on paper. It was going to be my laundry-sewing-scrapbooking-utility-storage-mudroom extraordinaire. Other rooms and projects took precedent, but finally last fall I really began to move towards my dream in earnest. Damon wasn't convinced that we were ready for this home improvement project, but I knew that with some paint, an area rug, and rearranged furniture, I could make a big difference without pulling out a power tool or any dry wall mud. (That can come a little later.)

I painted the walls a cheery yellow and the dull brown cabinets a crisp white. Old plywood cupboards were freecycled and new free-standing ones put up for all the food storage. More and more items have gradually been moved to the shed for storage or sent off to the local thrift store.

The dream room has evolved over time, since originally we intended to build a new garage and make it attach through the existing garage, creating a large mudroom. When we put in a front yard instead of a new garage, we began to look at our "utility room" as a potential guest room. When Damon's parents decided to visit us at the beginning of June I had already been working hard on the room, but suddenly had an imminent deadline that really motivated me.

I've scoured all our photos of the house looking for a "before" shot of the garage, but only found this one. It doesn't really show a view of the part of the garage that has become our "guest room," but it shows you the lovely paneled walls.Here is a photo I took on Friday, June 5--two days before Damon's parents were scheduled to arrive--just after moving all the furniture and other items in preparation for laying carpet. I purchased a large remnant and some padding at the warehouse of a local carpet store on Friday morning and then worked the rest of the day at getting the room ready for our guests.

Have you ever laid carpet before? It is hard work!!

. . . but so satisfying! I'm really proud of my work, and it feels great underfoot.

Here's a view of the "room" when guests are not expected. The table is ideal for crafting and sewing.

The McMillan White Salmon B&B is now ready to accommodate overnight guests in their own private room. Please visit as soon as you can!

Future improvements: drywall to cover the studs in the new wall; a Murphy bed instead of an air mattress (we already have the frame!); a privacy curtain to further divide the "guest room" from the laundry/storage area of the garage.