Monday, July 21, 2014

Possibly wonderful/possibly not

I am on the holdiest of holds with AAA. I had planned on blogging today but I thought I'd just make this call real super quick before I started but here I am going on minute 846 of le hold so I figured I might as well start punching out this post while I wait.

(Still waiting.)

This last week was weird. All the kids had this strange fever virus that lasted 24 hours and came with zero other symptoms. And they just went down like flies, one by one... every new day came with a new person saying "I feel great!" and another new person saying "Blerggggh." Much time spent caring for fevers, no time spent tending to the internets. By Saturday morning everyone was back to normal just in time for weekending and a little smidgen of this.


Kirby and I never got the bug and so we've been feeling pretty puffed up in the immune system department but 1/2 of us just schlepped in the door asking me to clear half the bed of folded laundry so he could lay down.

:(

I suppose it'd be premature to say we are in the clear.

But guys, more importantly (sorry husband), I've been holding out on you all. Something big is happening.
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In the form of not a pregnancy.
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We are going backpacking this weekend.

Kirby had an epiphany around the time of our luxury vacation that taking our kids on a for real backpacking trip would be "amazing" and "life-changing." I tried to argue him out of it I swear I did. But in the end, I came alongside him like the supportive life-partner that I am. I figured, worst case, it's harder than we thought, we trek back down the trail, have a laugh, and talk about that time we tried to go backpacking with 5 kids 7 and under ORRRRR it really is awesome and we are really glad we did it. Either way it'll be an adventure and we like those. And we like our kids to like those. I suppose if we make it back down the mountain intact our kids (AND I) will feel an incredible sense of capability and confidence. And I'll sew a cute woodsy patch on everyones pack. So, to the wilderness we go.

I cannot wait to blog about it after. In fact, that alone might be worth the entire thing.

Here is our plan- all kids (minus Clemmy) carry their own packs with their water, a few granola bars, a sleeping bag, a sleeping mat , a change of clothes and a swimsuit. I got them all a pair of these shoes... (on ebay, very used and very cheap.) I will carry Peter, my water and my sleeping mat (Maybe I can squish my clothes in that?). Kirby will wear a big pack with both of our sleeping bags, our tent, our food and diapers. I even found compostable diapers so heyyyo! All Clemmy will be in charge of is herself (fingers crossed).

The trail is a "scenic" (easy?) 6 mile loop to a lake where we will camp. No cliffs or waterfalls to fear. What else are we missing? A friend of mine mentioned flares yesterday which terrified me was fantastic advice. I plan on making the kids wear a whistle around their necks because, you know, safety. Other than that, what's the best way to kill a scary wild animal or serial killer w/out a gun?

Tips? Tricks?

Can we do this? Are we crazy? (Don't answer)

Special wilderness prayers please, St JP 2!








18 comments:

  1. Wonder woman! Backpacking sounds intimidating to me, a person with no dependents, so this is amazing. I'll shoot up some prayers for you that the flares are unused when you happily return from camping!

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  2. We have our first backpacking trip planned for next month. My husband goes every year with friends/whoever will go with him. We are going to go with our two littles next month. I am super excited to hear about your experience and get any tips or tricks. I am also super interested in the biodegradable diapers.

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  3. Hmmm...I'd say you're crazy. ;) But seriously....

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  4. I say you're absolutely crazy and I'm so glad you're doing it. Can't wait to hear how it goes! God bless!

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  6. My kids had that same virus!! The doc said "Winter: flu/strep. Spring: colds/strep Summer: weird fever virus." Have fun backpacking. I'll be not doing that until mine get big, big, bigger.

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  7. I hadn't been sick for a year and a half and I came down with something this past weekend that had me totally out of commission. It was awful. I'm interesting to see how the Fike Hike goes. I think it's the loveliest of crazy ideas.

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    1. *Interested

      And this is what I get for commenting on blogs at 2 am.

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  8. I just got an email from zulily this morning with Keens on sales for as low as $24.99, brand new (in case you're interested in getting the next sizes up:) ). I had never heard of them before, so I didn't know if it was a good deal. Good luck on your trip!

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    1. I saw that, too! Ebay was still cheaper but that sounds like an awesome deal if "new" is a goal.

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  9. You're amazing! Your kids will love, love, love y'all for this! I'm excited for you all! Excited and definitely praying too! Praying that it be smooth and filled with your hopeful hearts' intentions! Look forward to reading about it when y'all get back!

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  10. Can't wait for that recap!

    I got Jake the OshKosh version of those shoes at Ross before our Hawaii trip. But they make his feet smell to high heaven. How do I fix this? Are his little feeties extra stinky? Or is it the shoes??

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    1. I haven't noticed any stink issues... Johnny's feet reek but are way worse in certain shoes which makes me thing... shoes.

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  11. You two win parenting. The fact you are willing to give it a go, that won it for you. We camp, in a camper, 4.5 miles from our house, and we drive there. Because what if our two kids just can't even... (Memorial Day this year, they couldn't). But this post is getting filed away, for when I feel brave and decide to adventure!! Go forth Fikes (& then return and blog in detail about it so I can live vicariously!)

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  12. Hi Blythe. My name is Kendall, I nominated you for something called the Liebster award. It's an award that bloggers pass on to each other to get to know each other better. You can check it out at http://simplykendallrose.blogspot.com/2014/07/the-liebster-award.html

    I love your blog- you are so funny and candid!

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  13. I love it! I am going to show my husband this post and he will have us doing the very same thing the following weekend, so I can't wait to read how it goes for you all. We have 4 kids under 8 similar ages...I am scared for how it will go with the 14 month old. And I love the shout out to JP II, I always pray to him when we go skiing!

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