Campfires, outhouses, and technology . . .

So on Wednesday, which also happened to be the nicest day last week, after the snow melted, we got to have a wiener roast.  Oh, fun, fun, fun.  My kids absolutely love going to grandma and grandpa's house to roast hot dogs and marshmallows.   The bonus was being there with some of their cousins.  Seven kids all total, running around, taking turns on the teeter-totter my dad built, chasing each other and the dogs, and helping cut green branches for our hot dogs, and climbing trees, and, according to my kids, it was the “best day ever.”  We had so much fun.  Even though it was still really cold, yes there was snow on the ground in the morning, it was an absolutely beautiful day.

It's so nice having a place that's not so far away, and when we get there, I can just let the kids loose.  42 acres of freedom.  We walked to the farthest end of the property line and the kids went wild running through the saplings playing hide and seek.  I remember doing this through the rows of corn that my mom and aunts used to plant (our garden was bigger than the lot our house currently sits on).

They think it's really cool that grandpa built a little house out behind his garage that they can go into and be peeing outside.  The novelty of outhouses and oh to be child again (not really, but it's such fun to see their reactions).

My mom bought easter egg candies and figured, why not.  So after hot dogs and pop and marshmallows and chips, let's throw in some more sugar.  Yee-haw and yippee-ki-yay and don't give your chocolate to the dogs please!  It was a good thing there's lots of space to run freely.

Around 3:30 the wind and sunshine was starting to take it's toll on the kids' energy levels, so it was into the house and wash hands and faces and what do we do now.  Between two iPads, two iPhones, a Nintendo DS, and the wii, all seven kids, my mom, my sister and I were all occupied.  It was the funniest thing.  Youngest child is two and a half and the oldest is almost eight.  It was so quiet you could have almost heard a pin drop.  It's never that quiet in my parent's house when there are that many kids there.   My dad and my grandpa came in and started laughing.  We were completely geeked out.   It amazes me at how quickly little kids are catching on and learning how to use all the technology.  It makes me feel so completely ignorant that I can't figure out how to play “Bejewelled Blitz” and “Angry Birds.”

My brother created a door stopper app (free for download) that you can put on your touch screen phone and pull it to make it boing.  It's funny and it's kind of addictive.  You just pull it.  Well, after about five minutes of this, my Ava turned to her grandma and said, “I want to go to the next level.”  We lost it.  We were laughing so hard there were tears.  Somehow, after playing “Monkey Math” and other games, she knew that there just had to be another level.  Go figure.

It's an interesting contrast.   The fire and the outhouse.  Followed by a technological immersion.  I am so grateful for these kinds of days with family and sunshine and kids who are so tired out that they sleep through the night.  We really had a wonderful time.