The guys were up at 5 a.m. Before sunrise, they were sitting on an open hillside, waiting for the deer to appear on the forest's edge. It's possible that a few spectators sank backward into the tall grasses to look up at the stars--until their closed eyelids blocked the view. Despite a bit of snoring around him, Brennen was able to spot and harvest a deer just after dawn.
With that success in the books, the hunting party returned to the cabin to fly drones, eat food, and take naps :) Midafternoon, the kids donned orange everything and went for a hike/walk in the woods along one of the park trails. They also played basketball and football, and ran around barefoot despite the chilly weather (mostly our NGF's kiddos and brother). The dozen children/teens also played far too many video games and listened to loads of music--their tastes are quite varied. I think a few board and card games also filled the hours, but I didn't go upstairs much; I liked my spot on the couch.
The second wave of hunters went out around 3:00 that afternoon. They saw lots of small does, and a big one which both Buck and G$ took a shot at. I guess the gun was sighted in wrong, so no bonus venison on this trip, but still a good adventure into nature.
This adventure is less easy to see, but likely to be closer to the norm in a few years. Three of the 15-year-olds piled in the megavan and drove . . . about 100 feet to get some wood from the woodpile :) Still, it was just odd to see these boys load up and head out without even a wave farewell. Good thing they got the wood! Buck's stockpile from home was gone the first night. Everything the teens gathered was gone the second night, and on Sunday they stood outside by the fire ALL.DAY.LONG . . . 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. We've had to rewash clothes a couple times, and they still smell like campfire.
Because the Christmas attraction that I grew up attending each year, and that we graciously--and to their delight--introduced our friends to last year, was closed for covid, we were on the lookout for an alternative field trip. A former middle school friend posted that she'd taken her daughter to an outdoor light festival held in the town where we spent our middle school and my freshman years. Why not give it a try? (Speaking of middle school, I found out when I got home that one of my friends from those years was in the park where we were staying and her kids almost peeked in our windows when they were checking out the cabins. I wish they had! It would have been so fun and unexpected to see her and meet her kids in person)!
So . . . it was the first year they'd tried this :) The brightest and most festive lights were on the back of a semi, cranking Christmas rock tunes. The little ones did get to see Santa in the "Very Interesting Building"--he gave them punching Santa and Snowmen pens with eyes that glowed red--creepy. I thought my nephew might like the festively lit tractor, so I took a picture. You're welcome! They too had a fire, but ran out of the promised hot cocoa approximately halfway through their event and couldn't be bothered to go get more at the bigger town down the road. Some of the kids roasted giant marshmallows and were giant sticky messes as a result. The live nativity scene was a cutout of the Holy family set up outside the pen of a very furry donkey, oh and a horse. So funny! Caelan wants a furry donkey now. It can play with my reindeer and they will be friends.
After our adventure, we got two of the big boys to help with dishes. Brennen was less enthusiastic than he looks in this picture, but "we" (I) had to try to recreate last year's *rapping dishwasher guys* picture. For as many plastic and paper products as I brought, we still washed A LOT of dishes over the weekend; I was happy for a break :)
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