Today is Mother's Day and as is tradition (not one that I am particularly found of but that is a discussion for another time) the boys went away this weekend for the Father's and Son's camp out. Per tradition Jeremy will write a little bit about that trip. Jeremy here, this year was another fun camp out at Father's and Son's. We went to the Boy Scout property Camp Meriweather again. It is one of my favorite places in Oregon. The forest grows right up to the beach. It has always amazed me that I can be at a lake in the middle of the picturesque Pacific Northwest forest and then, after a five minute walk down a steep hill, I am at the beach.
In our ward there is a long standing tradition of the older boy playing a game of capture the flag on the beach well into the night. This year was the first year that I thought Merrick was able to play. He went down to the beach with his friends and the older boys and I went down a little later to check out the game. As you can see, or rather cannot see, in the picture below, the boys play capture the flag by the light of the moon and glow sticks. Merrick's team wore glow sticks around their necks, like large necklaces, and the other team wore the glow sticks around their wrists. That was the only way the boys could tell who was on which team. I made Merrick come in at 11pm, and I heard the older boys played until 11:30pm, which is early for them. I am told they typically play until midnight or later.
The following morning, despite going to bed way past his bed time, Merrick woke me up at 6am so that we could fulfill our annual tradition of sneaking onto the lake. I was able to convince him that I was tired and needed another 15 minutes of sleep, but he started to hear people gather around the fire and got anxious that we would run out of time before breakfast. I finally got out of bed and, lucky for us, there was a row boat on the shore and we headed out on the lake. This tradition is my favorite. We paddle out to the middle of the lake, stop paddling, and just listen. We listen to the birds chirping and the small splashes of the rainbow trout that inhabit the lake jumping up to snatch an early morning breakfast of insects that fly to close to the surface of the lake. Early morning on Lake Chamberlin in Camp Meriwather is one of my most favorite places on earth.
After breakfast, we played on the beach for a little bit before packing up and leaving. On the way back home we pass through the town of Tillamook and stop at the famous Tillamook cheese factory and creamery. No Father's and Son's camp out to Camp Meriweather would be complete without getting ice cream at the Tillamook cheese factory. It was another great outing!
Sarah here, on our end, Carrigan, Elsie, and I had what Carrigan likes to refer to as "Sister Sister Time". We spent a long time playing dominoes, went shopping (and Carrigan decided it would be fun to try to wear Elsie's newborn size jacket that even she has outgrown), ate fro-yo, watched Beauty and the Beast, hung out, and went to a birthday party.
Now it is Mother's Day and while it should be a day to relax and unwind, we have to play catch up after the fun of the weekend. That's ok because in addition to some great homemade cards and gifts, my family also gave me a gift card to go get a massage so I will just save the relaxing for a different day. Happy Mother's Day to all the great Mamas out there!
