I would think you’d be subsisting on two bites of a burger and a half a biscuit each day – the way you say you eat. :-D

Yeah, I know! But it’s not just me. The kids eat twice as much as I do. And the guys…gotta have their MEATS. That I can live with out.
So, cut me out of the equation. I’ll just eat taxes and leftovers. (That’s what I did when the kids were growing up, anyway.)

I already have a regular list, standard stuff I take, but I want to hear other ideas, something I haven’t thought of….

Hmmm… here’s a few ideas.

Baked beans ( canned or home made ) served with a nice, BBQ’d/grilled smoked sausage, and sauerkraut. Or smokey links on buns with the same. Mmmmm! Easy to pack and cook.

PB&J sandwiches for the kiddies for lunch with apple slices.

Gotta bring a cut up watermelon maybe mixed with cantaloupe.

Campfire stew for dinner.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=_aO2cKWGSnk

Don’t forget the S’Mores fixin’s and marshmallows for roasting and adult beverages. LOL

Oh…bring raisin bread for the PB&J could be breakfast or lunch for the kiddies. Yummy!

Precook ten pounds of chicken, can be used as is or mixed with mayo & celery for chicken salad sammwiches.

I like @Coloma idea of campfire stew, I’d do it in a dutch oven (GET IT) !

Bacon, eggs, couple of cans of tuna (eat out of the can) pork n beans, refried beans, more bacon, more eggs, Lunchables for the kiddos. Oh, and chili. Plenty of coffee. Got your grubsteak, head on down the highway.

Military field rations.

Got bacon. Got eggs. Got ham. Got hamburger. Got breakfast sausages. Got hotdogs. Added cantaloupe to the list (thanks @Coloma.) Got bagels (2 kinds of cream cheese, strawberry and blue berry.) Got home made baked beans (one batch for the kids and one for the grown ups. The difference is the grown ups have onions. bell peppers and bacon. Kid’s don’t. They just have brown sugar, ketchup, mustard…maybe bacon.) Got buns. Got ketchup, mustard, mayo. Got OJ and milk. Also got home made Popsicle made from real juices, like apple and pineapple, OJ, etc. Got bananas. Got butter.

LOL! Yes, I get it @Tropical_Willie! I tried jury rigging a Dutch oven primitive camping once. It was a LOT of work. But I was able to bake up some orange cinnamon rolls. They were good.

The tricky part is getting foods that everyone will most likely enjoy, and that they’ll develop memories from. We’ve had maple sugar sausage and bagels with breakfast almost every camping morning since we started camping 15 years ago. I can only eat it camping now! It just isn’t right without the sun and the bugs and the heat and the dirt.

Got string cheese sticks. Oh! Grapes.

Keep ‘em coming! Don’t forget the kids!

“Got home made baked beans (one batch for the kids and one for the grown ups. The difference is the grown ups have onions, bell peppers and bacon”...
Dammit, my mouth is watering. And it’s hot, I don’t need to dehydrate.

Ha ha! Here it is! Van Camps Pork and Beans. Add ketchup, mustard smoke sauce, brown sugar, onions, bell peppers and cut up raw bacon. Bake forever in a slow stove or slow campfire (a little trickier.) Every thing just rends down and becomes one with the universe. The bacon rends down and makes it uber rich. (And fattening, in case you were wondering. ;) ) Super good.

Might just head on up that Chisholm Trail and mosey into your camp, with some hungry cow punchers. Heard you Kansas Jayhawkers are mighty hospitable. : )

Well, Chisholm Trail is a nature preserve in Wichita. I used to take the kids there, hiking. Don’t got cows there. They’re preserved all over the rest of the state. I suppose we could go wrangle one….
And I HATE the Jayhawks. Go Cats!
But, we will be at a lake. As always, the guys are telling me they’re going to bring in a stringer of fish for dinner. Uh huh. I think we’ll go with burgers, baked beans and deviled eggs because the fish never show up! I probably wouldn’t want them if they actually did show up.

Like with everything else, I tend to pack too damn much. Going to try to avoid that, if I can. And make sure that most of what we don’t eat can be frozen and used later at home, so light on the fruits (Except bananas, which can be frozen after they’re ripe and used weeks and weeks later for the most yummy banana bread ever!)

A lake?
Bring some dynamite so you can go fishing.

Tried that. Too expensive.

Banana bread? Oh my God (speaking rhetorically) you’re killing me! It’s the Stomach Growl Heard Round the World.

Well, if they happen to catch a salmon in an Oklahoma lake, then I can make a delicious salmon dip! Want that recipe?

Bring some swords and hunt wolves. They are delicious.

Uh huh. That’s what little red riding hood said.

Corn on the cob in the fire pit or grill and…you could make Shish kebabs too! Get some skewers, onions, squash, red, yellow peppers, shrooms, chicken or beef cubes. Mmmm!

Jut shoot me, I can’t take it any more.

Oh shit! Corn on the cob! Thank you.

I figured it out now, Coloma and Dutchess III are foodies, in league against me to drive me insane. They succeeded. Tain’t right, tain’t right hat hall.

OK, @NomoreY_A. Buy a can of sock eye salmon. Drain Get rid of the skins and bones. Mix in 8 oz of cream cheese. Add a bunch of green onions. 1 tablespoon of smoke sauce, 1 table spoon of lemon juice. Mash together, and done! I get Ritz crackers to go with them. Everybody loves it.

Your turn @Coloma. Muhahahahaha!

Thanks! I will try that for sure. Later. Right now, I’m curled up in a fetal position, trying to devour my thumb.

That thumb would taste better with some cinnamon sugar, @NomoreY_A.
When I make corn on the cob I shuck it and add some REAL butter, some salt and onions. Wrap it up in foil. Rick cooks it on the grill / campfire. The onions caramelize and the butter picks it up and smears it all over the corn as it cooks.

I think I’m gonna go die now. Or, go camping in the bushes in my back yard. Start a fire and cook some Wolf Brand chili. How long’s it been since you had a hot, steaming bowl of Wolf Brand chili? Well pardner, that’s too long.

How ‘bout this easy and yummy little recipe. Kids would love it!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0f2phMiPmA

Hmm. I bet they would, too @Coloma! Except not the tomatoes. You could even throw a cooked hot dog in! I’ll keep that in mind for sure.

Hell, I would love it. The kids would draw a stump of they reach for that on my plate. O/r I’d draw two stumps if I reach for it on theirs, lol.

Don’t forget snacks, too. Whatever you are into for snacks (veggies, chips, dip, crackers, cheese, whatever). Also don’t forget the condiments – ketchup, mayo, mustard, pancake syrup.

Well with all that grub, they’re gonna need an army to haul it to camp. Whatever happened to coffee and beans? Guess that went out with Botch Cassidy and the Some Dunce Kid.

One of my fattening favorites, fried potatoes with onions and Ortega green chilis, to die for. haven’t had it in years but I remember how good it was camping.

OMG@Coloma! I love fried potatoes with onions!

I’ll have fruits and cheese sticks. No chips, @jca.

OK, here is my list. It has been modified from the original since I asked this question.

link maple sausage
hamburger tubes (If you get tube hamburger and slice it up, then freeze it, they make the most awesome, perfect hamburger patties when they thaw out. You just have to press them down. Big tubes for the adults, small tubes for me and the kids. Perfect sizes for me and them.)
ham
bacon (2)
brats Blech!
hot dogs

hot dog buns
burger buns
bagels
breads

green pepper
onions
apples
bananas
oranges
cantaloupe
Corn on the cob
potatoes

strawberry cream cheese
blueberry cream cheese
cheese sticks
eggs
Butter

orange juice
milk

sugar
brown sugar
smoke sauce
mustard
catchup
mayo

Van Camps Pork n Beans.

I already have seasonings in the hamper I keep in the house until we go.

Poor @NomoreY_A. I kind of feel bad. Not

Hey…you guys want pictures??!! :D

How about flour?

I don’t think any of my plans call for flour. Do you have something in mind?

Oooh…if you’re up to the effort you could make pancakes for the kidlets too and save the leftovers to warm up the next morning.

Yeah…I’d take Bisquick for that. We do have a griddle.
We’ve thought of waffles, too. I think no….just really trying to pack what I’m going to cook and try not to do more. It’s only 4 days, after all. And the kids will only be there two days and one night…from Friday night to Saturday night.
Man, when I had the day care I’d cook pancakes once a week for breakfast. And at lunch we’d have left over pancakes with PB & J! All within the allowable FDA guidelines for daycares! Except the menu I sent off to the FDA once a month called for bread, not left over pancakes. ;)

RIP NoMoreY_A

@Dutchess_III: You were mentioning banana bread, that’s why I was thinking of flour.

Found dead from hunger at his PC screen. Aug. 2017

Marshmallows.

Get some of those “break n shake” lights,or glow sticks…

Kids love them, and it helps you see the kids from afar. They are cheap, lightweight, and don’t require batteries. I tie them to my dog’s collar too. Then I don’t lose her at night. You can hang them along a trail to the bathroom, or in tents. They aren’t a fire hazard, like candles, or powerful flashlights…

Some water proof matches, and/or a couple of Bic lighters wouldn’t be a waste of space.

Almonds are great snacks, and small.

Insect repellent.

Toilet paper.

@MrGrimm888 The glow stick on the dog is angreat idea, maybe tie them to the kids too. LOL

Because we want an early start, we usually go granola and yogurt for breakfast, If you want you can add a breakfast bar/granola bar when you are on the trail if they are still hungry.

Lunch is either summer sausage, cheese and crackers or, if you are ahead of the game, some form of prepared sandwich (lunch meat, cheese and mustard) plus and apple or peach.

Supper is a meal prepared ahead of time and frozen. You put it out in the morning and by the time it is ready to prepare it has thawed out.. Some examples: Chili, goulash, beef stew,.... Pretty much anything you can prepare and put in a big ziplock for later use.
.

Guess I’ll just stop on the side of the trail and eat grass.

^ Don’t forget, many parts of a pine cone are edible too. haha

@ Coloma – Sounds like a major case of hemorrhoids. But, thanks for the tip. I can walk to the outhouse and whistle a few bars of “Bristling Pines”. Uh, I meant Whistling Pines.

LOL! You gonna settle us in for a siege!

Adding glow sticks to the list tho.

Don’t forget the whistles. Everyone should wear a whistle in case they get lost. OMG..I was forced to wear a whistle as a kid when we went to the family cabin. So stupid, drove me insane. Great, I will blow my whistle just before the bear attacks me. LOL

You ain’t just whistling Dixie.

We aren’t going into the High Sierras!

^LOL

Bring omelette fixings, small zip lock bags, some tin foil, and a pot.

Boil water. Put your eggs and omelette ingredients into a zip lock back, shake well, wrap the bag in tin foil like a potato, and drop in the boiling water for a few minutes. Cleanest, easiest, quickest way to make some good omelettes.

Stick it between some bread for a good egg sandwich.

Camping food to make memories? That’s simple.

Bread-on-a-stick.

Oh, they would really like that @longgone ! I would like that!

@NomoreY_A Well, I’m done with my shopping. In addition to the list I shared with you guys, I threw in a KC strip for me, and one for Rick. We have burgers and hotdogs when the kids are there. When everyone is gone we go Big Time!
I will send you a picture when they’re done cooking over the grill, all juicy and brown. That’s how much I like you.

@Dutchess_III Ummm, yeah. Mighty white of you to do that. Don’t want to put you to any undue trouble, of course. ; ) On edit: are photos digestible?

Well, you’d have to print them. Just put some salad dressing on it and call it a salad!

The more I reflect on this thread the more I start giggling! You guys are talking about whistles and lights and eating pine cones, and wolves and cowboys and rogue horses, and lions and snowstorms, and my biggest concern is how to cordon off this section of the lake for a swimming area for the kids!

We decided on clothes-line rope and swimming noodles. :) The one end is plenty shallow, the other end gets a bit deeper so we’ll make two of them.

^ Don’t forget the portable lifeguard tower. haha

You might want to swallow a hand cuff key as well. You may need it. I swallow one each week…

I…don’t get it @MrGrimm888. Call me slow or whatever. No, don’t call me slow.

Pretty excited. We’re heading out in about 5 hours. It’s a BEAUTIFUL morning, and I expect the same from now through the weekend. Sry @Coloma!

I’m just fretting over what to cook for dinner each night. With the kids, we have them tomorrow night until Saturday evening. I don’t know whether to make the more important meal tomorrow, after they get here, or on Saturday, after they’ve played hard, but before they leave…..decisions decisions!

I’d make the most important meal the last night you’re there.

and don’t forget the Mini Dickmanns. LOL Look it up.

Well, for the LAST night we’re there it will be just Rick and me. Got KC strip for that! It’s hot dogs and burgers for the minions before that.

I think I agree @jca. Although they’ll be leaving after dinner, I think after a day of running around, swimming, being sun burned, eating pine cones and fighting lions in the dark, because the lions don’t have the decency to wear a glow stick, they’ll be super ready for some “special” food.

Yuppers. they’ll be needing that energy after tangling with lions. I bagged a lion in Africa last year. I bagged it to go away, but it was persistent.

My goodness – I feel like I’ve been on this camping trip and back five times already! Have fun Dutch – and don’t eat too much!

I know! I’ve also been thinking about banana bread. If I were to put that on the menu, I’d have to start a couple of weeks early, to allow bananas to ripen. If I wanted to make it at camp I’d have to pack Crisco, sugar, flour and vanilla, which are things I don’t normally carry. So if I did make it, would it be ok to make the batter up ahead of time and store it in the fridge until I was ready to make it?

Search me, I’m clueless in Seattle about such things. All I know about banana bread, is that I can’t stop eating it once I start, lol. As my old pappy used to say, you cant beat it with a stick.

Banana bread with chopped walnuts mixed in!

Now you’re talkin! As my old pappy used to say, yer darn tootin’, ya love fig Newtons.

Skin the bananas and put them in the freezer overnight.

Brown bananas

Oh you wanted more sugar flavor.

@Dutchess_III: Bananas will be brown within about three days, even if you do nothing to them. ”A few weeks?” They’ll be liquid.

@jca, Sorry. I wasn’t clear. When they ripen you put them in the freezer where they just continue to ripen without spoiling. I usually have enough bananas at any given time to make banana bread when ever I feel like it. They keep for weeks, even months. Of course I bag them up before I put them in there. It really makes the BEST banana bread.

Ew! No “Things” in my banana bread @Coloma! And not in my ice cream or jello salad! Or in my cookies or brownies!!! Down with Things!

Hey @NomoreY_A How about some brown sugar on that fresh, hot banana bread, melting with butter!

Mmmm Mmmm Good! @Dutchess_III

We’re rollin’ Jellies!

thank god, I couldn’t stand the susupense!

Welcome to my world, home of the always late, worlds worst planner.

But we here almost 3 hours later than planned. I’m exhausted. Not sure if I have the energy to set up now!

Dutch. If you get kidnapped, and handcuffed, you’d have a key…. In a disgusting way though…

Smh @MrGrimm888. But Ill keep it in mind.

Ugh. Tornadoes sirens are sounding.

Yo Dutchess, you’re on site now, damn the sirens and full speed ahead. Set up that tent, get the fire going, onward thru the fog. And while you and yours brave the wilds, I’ll jump into my cozy bed, AC unit on full blast, and think about you guys having fun. Heh heh , torment me with talk about delicious grub, will you? As my old pappy used to say, that karma can be a bitch…

All kidding aside, you guys keep an eye on the sky, and take care.

Dude….we have a fully loaded camper! AC, DVD Player, the works.
Beats primitive out of the back of a Suburban but I sorta miss that.
I’m tired of fighting off lions and leeches. I’m ready for a drink and My Cousin Vinney. (Ha ha!)

Well, my karma just ran out the door yelping. Shot down in flames, at the moment of my revenge. So let me rephrase: You guys stay cool and cozy, enjoy the company and vino. But, if there are tornado sirens sounding, I still say keep an eye on the sky. And don’t go chasing them dad gum critters, bad fer what ails ya!

Lol! Rick rattled off a list of the DVDS we hav. Said my choice. I thought of you guys, laughed and said Second Hand Lion!

I’m out y’all.

Later gater, have fun and take care. By the way, that’s a great movie!

Have fun!

I love, love, love Second Hand Lion.

me too. And it’s way better than the first hand lions we’re suppose to run into out here!

OMG I AM SO TIRED! And we’re 3 feet short of reaching the water pumps with the hose so we haven’t had water to the camper. I wanna take a shower!

And we also had some earthquakes last night after the sirens.

So that’s our glitch for this mission.

Keep calm and carry on. Go bathe in the lake, what the hay. And keep us posted, k?

Not bathing in the lake!

My son and wife and the slaves will be here son. He’s bringing extra hose.
It’s not like were not prepared for primitive camping. That’s all we did for years. And there is water close by. Just have to haul it in our 2.5 gallon water carriers.
After hauling 7 today they feel like 90 pounds.

Love you guys! Thanks for asking. Fired up the campfire just now.

Lol saw this question, a simple enough question but with 94 answers I’m like, this turned into a discussion about Donald Trump or some shit. But it didn’t! I’m actually kinda glad to be back here now. I have no answer but it was fun reading. :)

We’ll here’s some excitement for you guys…check the radar for Ponca City OK. We’re battening down the hatched!

All hands on deck, that she blows! I’ll uh, just go below and man the pumps. And the grog barrel.

^ I want to woman the grog barrel, step aside Nomore. LOL

By Gawd Mr., uh Ms. Christian, I’ll have you saluting a Midshipman’s jacket if its only hung on a broomstick to dry! (Always wanted to say that line!) Now, all of you blubbers, away from the grog, er, the medicine chest!

By the way, is this thread Mutiny on the Bounty, or Call of the Wild?

We’ll first I’ve weathered a storm like this in s camper! It’s pretty intense. Dakota is trying place nervously but we think she hurt herself earlier being an unleashed Camper Dog.
In case we have to evacuate we have the Escalade or a deep ravine across the path.
For now it’s rum and Diet Coke and a movie: “Invincible”.
Fun times!

ounds cozy to me, just hunker down and enjoy. “This too, shall pass”.

And the wind began to switch ! This is not a positive….

Damn…...the wind is screaming…...

“We’re not in Kansas any more!”

Nope. Woke up in Oz! But I’m home now. Totally beat. Pictures tomorrow for @NomoreY_A!

Have to find a way to make those pics edible. The outlaw hiding in the bushes is moi. : )

Food P0rn I am waiting !

Where are the pictures ?

OK!! Spent the day unpacking and down loading pictures!

Here is the first one, specially for @NomoreY_A

Big pot of Wolf Brand chili… can’t beat it with a stick, I can smell chili on a fire three states away. I done did knew it.

HA HA! It’s empty. I was just burning it off! I haven’t used it in probably 5 years. I pulled all the primitive stuff out and that pot had some lump of something in the bottom, so I stuck it in the fire for 2 days. It got clean! Then I washed it, put oil on it, and I just put it, and the cast iron fry pan in the oven here at home to finish the seasoning.

Taint right hat all. Where’s that chili smell coming from, then?

I did not get nearly as many cooking pictures as I wanted, mainly because it seems like all I did was cook, non-stop!

So, here is morning breakfast for the hoards. I put it out, said, “Breakfast!” went to grab my phone for a picture…an this was all that was left by the time I came back into the kitchen about 60 seconds later!
I had bagel quarters: strawberry cream cheese, blueberry cream cheese, regular cream cheese, cinnamon sugar and just plain butter bagels. The plan was for it to be a controlled experiment so I could see which bagels were the most popular! They all went too fast for this experiment.
Bacon, maple sausage, and in the center Coloma’s cantaloupe and apple slices.

@NomoreY_A That’s probably the cast iron baking in the oven that you smell.

Here is an old one, more like what I’m sure you were hoping for! That was my Dutch oven experiment, for the orange cinnamon rolls. I taped a digging spade onto a longer stick to use to control the coals.

Sounds like yall just went and ate in the woods…:)

Here was the view out of our back picture window. Kaw is set up really neat. Notice all the stuff everywhere? Later that evening it all got packed away in a hurry, when the storms were getting ready to hit! Tied stuff down that we couldn’t put in the truck or camper.

You covered your grub with ashes? That oughta be against the law!

@MrGrimm888 Oh that one shot is from about 9 years ago! Yeah. Then we just set up where ever. Primitive. No hook ups.

@NomoreY_A no dummy! It’s got a cast iron lid on it! And those were not ashes. They were coals! It worked, too.

Oh, uh… yea, I knew that. Cough

Reminds me of when I used to go camping with my family, when I was a boy…...

A mixed bad of nostalgia, and misery.

I remember watching some movie, Grizzly maybe, about a big Bear that went on a killing rampage. The bear even tore through a house to kill a woman, terribly. I was like 10. That night every sound in the woods startled me. I eventually slept in the car, instead of my tent. I didn’t sleep much that whole trip…

We used to eat fresh caught bream. We’d (the men/guys) clean the fish, and the gals would cut up potatoes,peppers,onions, and make hush puppies. After, we would chew the crunchy fish tails, and do puzzles, or talk around the fire. There were lots of fireflies then too…. It was magical….

Now that breakfast pic is what I’m talkin’ about. Much yummier than a damn German oven covered in charcoal ashes. Cool pic from the back window, by the way. Puts me in mind of that old song, “Lookin out my Back Door”

Camping is awesome. We only camped one time when I was little. I think we went to North Dakota. They had a pool and the water was COLD! Colder than shit! It was a challenge to jump in, so I did it, 4 times just to say I did it. That’s all I really remember. Never really camped until I met Rick.

God there is no pleasing some people! It’s not GERMAN! It’s DUTCH! And the cinnamon rolls were GOOD!

For lunch we headed over to the Marina where we had pizza on the dock.

Pizza

Excellent little swimming spot for the kids.

Well of course they were, cinnamon rolls are always good. I was only kidding about that Italian oven. Geessh.. Pretty area by the way, was that Ok. or Kansas?

And a sand beach? Pretty cool, is that a natural lake, or one of the man made ones?

I give up!!

Well, the old pictures are in Kansas, not far from the house. This past weekend we were in the Ponca City, OK, area.

Yeah. The sand just floored me! It’s natural sand, too. In Kansas we have a beach area but they have to truck sand in.
It’s man made. They dammed up a river valley. The Arkansas river feeds the lake.

Now you and your hubby have to make do with the comforts of home again. Sounds like all the hurricanes, winds, and waves would have added to the cozy ambience of the camper. Just snuggle up with a good movies, and send the brood out in the weather, to main the topsail and repel the boarders, arrrg. (Pirate talk, matey).

Great pics, enjoyed. Thanks for posting. Still cant get over the ashes in that Polish oven, though.

Je bent een dummy.

I AM DUTCH YOU KNOW!!!

Didn’t know that. Dutch oven it is then. Who is this clown making all those comments, anyway? Oh, yeah. I’m fluent in Dutch too. So, the dummy has just been in, what? Just now getting the hang of it. Still working on my Doctoral Dissertation in lingo, er, linga, ummm… in foreign talk.

The kids only stayed the one night, and man, the sleeping arrangement was a trip! The kids were down. 5 year old Adrionna and 3 year old Zoey got the couch. Adrionna got upset about something, so Dad took the couch back cushions and made her a bed by the couch.

About 10, 15 minutes after they went to bed, I crawled in bed in the bedroom. It wasn’t 60 seconds before I felt somebody jump on the bed and scramble over me and tucked themselves in bed beside me.
I looked over and there were two, precious faces grinning at me! And no room left for Rick. That wasn’t going to fly, so we all transferred to the living room.
Zoey got to sleep on the couch with me, and Onna on her floor bed. Boy, Onna cried and whined over that! She wanted to sleep with me! I told them in the beginning that they would have to take turns, and next time would be her turn, but it didn’t help.
So, I tried to sleep. Uh uh. First she pushed up the blinds above the couch and the bright moon flooded in. I said, “That’s the moon.” Then we decided people and dogs and cats a bugs lived on the moon. Then she slammed the blinds shut, saying she didn’t want to look at the moon any more.
Then she shoved them up to look at the moon again.
Then she slammed them down.

Finally everyone settled down and I tried to sleep….with one arm around Zoey, and my other hand hanging down to hold Adrionna’s had.
HOW CAN ONE, SMALL, COMPACT 3 YEAR OLD BODY TAKE UP SO MUCH ROOM??? I was tossing and turning, and then I was afraid I’d accidentally smother her so…I didn’t sleep much at all.
About 3 hours later I looked at Onna and her leg was sticking up in the air. I pushed it down and said, “Are you OK?”
In her sleep she said, “I wanted to sleep with you!”
About 4 a.m. I felt Zoey move and sit up. I looked behind me, and she was smiling down in me in the dark. It was like, “It wasn’t a dream! I’m really sleeping with Gramma!!”

Well, I was up with the birds the next morning!

Here is a picture. The frog is me. All the things sticking out are random 3 year old body parts, kicking me.

@NomoreY_A My grammpa used to tell his 9 kids, in a mix of Dutch and broken English, “I’m gonna lop ya on your dunden hoden!” That is what I should do to you.

All the joys of being a grandparent, I know them well. And who would trade that for anything in the world, right?

I should probably be frightened, but I ain’t sure what a dunden hoden is!

Yer HAID! Lop you on the head!

Yeah, I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I had a blanket and it was chilly, but I had this damn space heater at my back so I was too hot on one side, and freezing on the other!

Shoulda just wrapped up in blankets, with those kids all around you should have been snug and cozy.

We did. We all had blankets. It was a space issue. We’ll nail it next time!

Oh, and the good part is I had virtually no food left over to be thrown out after each meal. Just enough to keep the dogs happy. That’s the main part. Except for…cantaloupe. I foolishly bought a whole cantaloupe! I still have most of it left.

I got so mad at Rick, though. We went to the Marina for lunch and got pizza. Rick and I went in to order. I was going to order one 12” pizza, half cheese and half supreme. They were $19 freaking dollars.
Rick insisted on getting one whole pizza of each kind! Shit.
After we were done eating I tallied up all the left overs and guess what. We ate a total of one whole pizza between us. A LOT of leftovers.
Later Rick said, “Well, it didn’t seem like one pizza was enough for 7 people.”
I said, “Of those 7, 4 don’t eat much at all! They’re little kids! And they aren’t fat kids, either! You know, people don’t have to be over fed to be fed, Rick.”

The more I think about that, the more profound it seems. I guess he came from a world where they were given a whole lot more than they could eat, unless they forced themselves too, and where a meal was only a success if there were a ton of left overs.

Half cheese and half supreme sounds ddddeeeelicious. Have to agree though, seems like one would have been enough, seven adults might have been different. Oh well, chalk I up to a fun experience.

Expensive experience, one I’d chalked up time and time again in my life. Rick never seems to get it.

Can’t say much, I tend to be a spendthrift myself. I turn over money matters to my Mamma Bear, she always managed money better than I do. Works out well on both ends.