the fourth day of camp

Some days, you just have to do an about-face and pivot. If you planned on one kid sleeping at your place and three show up, night after night, well then so be it! If you thought you'd be walking your campers through the local Olbrich Gardens and suddenly there's a tornado warning, you spend time in the gift shop instead. And spend much more than you intended. 

We have done a lot of pivoting this week. And it's been just fine.

It really is because of the little brother's illness -- it foreclosed the possibility of mixing up the households. The big two have been with me all these days just to keep them away from the sick little guy. And of course, their cousin, Primrose, is just delighted.

How's the dynamic between the three, you ask? Remarkably great. I've had to intervene and steer now and then, but mostly they resolve different needs and preferences on their own. These cousins are bonded and the time spent together, even at night, in a tiny and a little too warm room, only reinforces that.

 

This morning, they stayed in bed until the new rainbow clock (thanks Amazon!) showed that it was 7:15. By then I had had a chance to get ready for the day.

As before, they began their play with their video filming. I really haven't paid attention to what the subject of all this writing and recording is, but it does involve a lot of strange sounds and movements. When Ed comes down for a few minutes (he's been mostly hiding in the bedroom!), they rope him into filming all three.

Breakfast. We have our routine now!

Afterwards, we all get in the car to drop the big two at their Shakespeare camp. It's only three hours long and I pack pack in all that I need to do in the garden in that time slot. But before I get to that, I take Primrose to the downtown Wednesday market. For the flowers.

As we pass a stall with beets, I ask her if we should get some for dinner. I'm so wrapped up in the kids these days that I pay little attention to everything else. Only when I hear my name, do I see that we're buying from Natalie, our farmer and friend from the Thursday market.

It's a beautiful day in downtown Madison! Well, at least in the morning hours.

 

Back at the farmette, I do snip lilies. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have a few that I should plant, but there isn't time. 776 lilies in the bucket and now it's almost noon -- time to pick up the big two from their program.

I know we are to have wet weather. Looking up at the sky, I'm thinking it will be very wet and it will come very soon. I hurry them through lunch. Dessert first, to get it done!

We rush then to our first stop: Olbrich Gardens. The clouds burst with pounding rain the minute we enter the informational building. The kids dont care. There's a butterfly exhibit inside. They're happy wandering around the tropical plants, ignoring the few butterflies that pass our way (we see more in the flower fields than we do at the exhibit).

(yesterday they wore lavender, today, coincidentally, green)

As we are about to leave, the tornado watch switches to a warning. Not on my weather app, but the Olbrich people insist that they have an inside track to the emergency broadcast system. So we linger inside. In the gift shop. Where we shop. The kids are delighted.

Our next stop is Clare's at the mall. On the last cousin visit, they all had earned some money -- a grand total of $21.75. They planned to split it three ways at Clare's.  Okay, you try to buy something sensible there for $7.25. The first item is easy -- cousin friendship bracelets.

From then on it's one big chore to find something. In an effort to move things along I add to their budget. This is getting to be a very gifty day!

Home at last. I let them finally get to their last project -- one that I know they'll like best -- building a fairy garden.

A sensible person would have them collect stuff outside -- twigs, pine cones, etc., and allow their creativity to take them places. I am long past being sensible. I didn't even have time to bake the clay pieces they made the other day in anticipation of this project. Amazon has more tiny things for fairy gardens than you could possibly imagine. Thank goodness for no tariffs on these goods (yet), because I purchased a lot of tiny things for them to share. (I even had to buy the dirt, because farmette dirt is... too dirty! think: chicken poop.)

Supper? I asked if they wanted pasta or pizza. They wanted both. So they got both. And roasted beets.

I could say that the day ends there, but you know how it is with three kids and a sleepover, all under the indulgent and a tad tired grandma's eye. By the time we finish with a show, a game, and three showers, by the time I wipe up the wet floor and give them snack number 895, well, it gets to be a bit late. Still, they'd obediently stayed in their room this morning until the permitted release time of 7:15. Let's hope they have another restful night! 

with so much love... 

 

the third day of camp

Well, we got through the night alright! The freaked out cats (they are not keen on house guests), the three kids keeping each other up, a very calm and unruffled Ed, and me.

I didn't have a portable clock to give them so I brought over the big wall kitchen clock, leaned it against their wall and told them that no one is to come into my bedroom before 7:15 the next day.

What I neglected to say was that it was equally not okay to get up and play vivaciously downstairs at 5:40 a.m.. The three of them are writing a play and when they weren't squealing with laughter over one line or another, they managed to guffaw their way through scenes enacted and taped for posterity on someone's tablet. By 6:15 I gave up hope of sleep. May as well work in the garden. 

(So early that the majestic "trumpet" lilies aren't fully opened yet)

(catching the first rays of sun)

(do I see a child there?)

(and two more?)

 

Breakfast on the porch.

 

 

 

The older two begged to skip Shakespeare today so that they could continue their play. Fine with me, so long as they spend some time looking over their lines. (Parents agreed.) They play, they read, we do crafts. Clay, potholders, bracelets.

 

They laugh over the video clips they had put together.

 

 

 

And Snowdrop writes out a campers' pledge. I'm not sure where she got the idea -- she's never been to sleep away camp. Of loyalty, kindness, respect. They all swear to it. 

 

 

 

And then we set out. 

Our adventure for today is a trip to the New Life Lavender and Cherry Farm. This one is to the northwest of Madison and it's a bit of a haul -- some 50 minutes away. But, well, this is lavender season!  

We stop for a lunch at Culver's.

From there we make the trip to the farm. 

I suppose it is somewhat reassuring that they, too, had a tough winter with their plants -- not enough snow, too warm. Still, their lavender fields are lovely. We take a ride to the further ones and walk through the maze and take in the scent of... lavender!

(I hope you noted that we are in our lavender attire! And that Snowdrop is just about three inches shorter than my 5 ft 5 in!)

A complicated trip back: one girl has to go to a Girl Scout meeting. I need to pick up clothes for the big two. Their mommy joins Primrose, Sparrow and me for a Mexican meal nearby. 

 

 

 

I then pick up the Girl Scout, drop off the mommy, and take the three kids back to the farmhouse. For dessert and a movie. 

 

 

 

But only until 9! I have to be firm with this. We all could use a good night's sleep after an unusually beautiful but packed day! 

with so much love... 

 

the second day of camp

The second day of Grandma Camp starts early, ends late and has a speed of about 1000 orbits per hour running through it. It was not intended this way, but things had to be adjusted to meet the moment. So forgive me if my post is brief and half literate! 

I have an early start to the morning, because daylight comes early to the farmette, waking a little guest, and confusing her about the wake-up hour. Besides, the bug people arrive early to correctly spray some "natural" stuff to deter the newcomers -- mosquitoes who didn't get the message the first time around.

As long as two of us are up (Ed sleeps through it all), we may as well have breakfast. Outside, of course.

Now is the time to clean up the lilies and take stock of the flower beds, in a relatively mosquito free environment.

(two lilies with frogs and one without)

My visitor plays, listening to music.

And quickly enough it is time to pick up the cousins from Shakespeare camp. 

We eat a very quick lunch at Barrique's.

We have a 1 pm appointment at Hinchley Dairy Farm. This is a wonderful place, about 25 minutes east of Madison. They devote time to give tours of the farm to families. There are milking cows. There are pregnant cows. There are calfs. A few months old, and a few days old. And there are pigs, goats, turkeys, ducks and geese. And lots of cats. Lots. 

We take a tractor ride and are given an explanation of the cow feeding process -- the growing, harvest, storage of corn and hay. The digestion. And then the impregnating process. The birthing process. The milking process. Finally we see it all. Well, not the impregnation and birthing!

It's all extremely mechanized... Robot controlled in fact.

But here's the part I looked forward to: we also get to milk a cow. I dont remember ever doing this before. And now I have. All four of us have.

Another new adventure for me -- having two calves suck my fingers. Delightful!

 

(just days old)

Of course, there were, too, the other animals to admire. Including barn cats. Lots and lots of barn cats.

There was a second family along for the demonstration and observation and participation. When it came time to collect eggs though, I held back my threesome: you can do this at the farmette! Let the others get a thrill of reaching for eggs! And indeed, back at the farmette, all three went out with Ed to collect eggs.

(affection)

 

 

And climb trees. 

And prepare for the next art project which we will start tomorrow or the next day.

The plan was for Primrose to visit her cousins in their home tonight and indeed sleep over there. Unfortunately, little Sandpiper came home from school sick and so the only way the big three could have a sleepover was to do it at the farmhouse. My downtime is suddenly switched to a slumber party here. All three, packed in the little room upstairs. 

I had no special foods prepared for them. Time to order a pizza! And watch a movie. And I am so hoping for an early bedtime but that's just not likely given the level of excitement here right now. 

It was a full day!

with so much love...