Left boise on time around 6pm. Led the pack early, but fell behind. Near the turn off toward sumpter we were caught by a few other families and followed them to the Union Creek Campgrounds. I helped Isabell put up her new tent, Nico then helped me put up our tent. It was dark, and the ground was wet. Got ready for bed, Nico was freezing, it was hard for him to focus. I tried to zip our sleeping bags together, but I couldn’t figure it out and gave up. It was good to have the comforter.
I awoke to a coyote alarm just before 6am (coyotes singing yelling etc) Kids woke up and started playing tag. Nico stayed asleep in bed, when he woke up he wanted to leave immediately, (he was very cold) I told him we could leave after the train ride if he still wanted to. Before breakfast the kids went down to the lake, and Nico got a shoe stuck in mud. We had to borrow a pair of shoes from Max, a kid a year younger than Nico, that we went camping with this summer (City of Rocks)
Breakfast was oatmeal.
Nico got his buddy (Max) and we all went on a nature walk to the lake, some avoiding mud. We saw a frog, and an osprey carrying a fish. Later we saw an osprey hit the lake for some food. Saw some rusty engines that had been in the lake at some point, but when the waters went down for the fall they were revealed.
Upon return, Nico and Max did dot to dots in the tent. Lunch was walking tacos (taco stuff in a bag of chips).
We went to McEwan station, a small station where we got on our train to head into Sumpter. The kids were given fake gold and fake money and necklaces. There were some young girls on the train (not with the pack) who were telling stories of the dreaded rockodile which didn’t move during the day, but that would swim around at night and each children.
The Rockodile
Also, that there were bandits in the area. Our train was “attacked” by bandits, who forced the train to stop and they stole all the “money” from the children and took the “gold” from the head of the train. We got into Sumpter station, where the kids were allowed to ride the bandit’s horses.
We then took a tour of the gold dredge, a giant boat / machine which was used to dredge huge amounts of soil for gold. Nico and the kids also got to practice panning for gold. Nico found a few flakes, (we had to give them back).
We got back and the kids practiced their skits they made up for the campfire program that night (Saturday). Dinner was chili, salad and rolls. Nico was in several skits, including “night at the museum”, “Forest of Death” and another one he made himself involving preying mantises and leaves.
Another cold morning, Nico wanted to leave immediately. We stayed for breakfast and after a bit in front of the fire and sipping some hot chocolate he was ok waiting until all the other kids left. Breakfast was eggs / sausage / and stuff potentially burritos. Nico played around, I had done most of the packing up when he was relaxing at the fire. Nico made some sandwiches for our trip home, then we left. We stopped for a few snacks then drove straight home.
Ok it's me again (Joanna)! The first thing Nico wanted to do when he got home on Sunday was to open up his bath-bomb kit and start making bath bombs. He ordered this kit with his own money from a catalog we received in the mail. He also bought himself a dot-to-dot book.
He then dug into his Little Passports World Edition, where there was a 3D puzzle of Big Ben.
Monday afternoon I got a call from Nico's school and Nico was on the other end. He told me that he started getting a sore throat soon after getting to school that day, and then he got a stomach ache and a headache. The nurse told me he had been to her office 3 times that day and there was nothing else she could do for him. I picked him up and took him home. I loaded him up with all the good anti-virus things I have, and he happily ate nachos and watched his iPad and played on his Switch for the rest of the day. He had a low grade fever (100.1).
He stayed home on Tuesday. He spent all day on his iPad and Switch. Halfway through the day he said his sore throat was gone, and he no longer had a fever.
Wednesday was a full day for him. He goes to school early for Chess, and then after school he gets picked up for Youth Group. Papa picked him up. They went to Pizza Pie Cafe for dinner.
Guy and I usually make dinner for ourselves on Wednesday nights and then watch a show or two. This time we tried to get some unpacking done too, since that is an ever-present issue at the moment!
Thursday is a long day for Nico as well, he is at school early for his hall monitor shift, and at school late for Drama Club. Evelyn is in Drama Club with him this year. When he came home I asked him how the hall monitor thing went, and he said "Bad. Very very very bad." Then he smiled and said "just kidding!" Hah!
Here's a video of the Sumpter Train Ride!
