First Aid

Know how the marketing geniuses load up the shelves at a grocery store?

--

  They hang a young child off the front of a shopping cart and run the aisles - anything at that child's eye level is gonna be a best-seller.

--

NorthernDaddy discovered this tactic during last Saturday's weekly shopping trip. As he wrestled the cart up and down the aisles (bearings falling out of the rear wheel and the aforementioned monkey hanging off the front), he passed the section with bandages and ointments. All of a sudden, the monkey dropped anchor (shoe rubber squeaking and sliding the cart to a stop) and started shoving the cart backwards up the aisle. "LOOK! Phineas and Ferb Band-Aids!"

 

(Oh no....just give up now...not getting out of the store without buying those darn Band-Aids..)

 

Phineas and Ferb is LittleNortherner's favorite show. Actually, it's his only show - he gets very little screen time, and it's actually entertaining enough that Mommy and Daddy will watch along with him. So, when Little saw those bandages with his favorite characters on them, he started off on a long discourse on the reasons that he absolutely had to have them. He was so impassioned and detailed that, after a minute or two, he didn't even notice that Daddy had already thrown them into the cart (hoping to shut down Mr. Filibuster).

--

NorthernDaddy isn't sure if buying the bandages was a good idea or not. LittleNortherner keeps getting "boo-boos" that "need" a Phineas and Ferb Band-Aid. Was buying them just good timing, or does Little keep inflicting injuries upon himself just to get a new bandage?

 

Speaking of first aid and bandages, NorthernDaddy was the victim of an overly aggressive tray of bacon. Yup, killer bacon. This rasher of bacon was not content with killing the slow way by clogging arteries. As it came out of the oven, it sloshed 400-degree grease onto NorthernDaddy's arm. Hurt? More than a little. Startle LittleNortherner into silence? For a few minutes. He sat still in his chair until Daddy had figured out first aid for burns (as a side note, every web site for burns starts with a long, drawn-out description of the three degrees of burns. If you've been burned and are in pain and in a hurry to know what to do, you don't necessarily want to have a leisurely read of symptoms), and had started running cold water on the burned area. After he sensed that things had calmed down a bit, LittleNorthern stepped up and carefully voiced his worries: "Daddy, did you manage to save the bacon?"

--

Bacon before his Daddy - guess he's being raised right!

Six days after the burn - skin's coming back!

Camping?

 

LittleNortherner loves to camp.

--

The tent, the hiking/fishing/kayaking, the campfire and roasting marshmallows - he loves it all.

--

Loves his LEGOs, too.

--

Why not make a LEGO campsite?

 

Life Under the Big Top

The Northerns like to camp. By camping, NorthernDaddy means "car camping". You know, where you find a nice state park campsite with a great view located close to the restrooms and pay showers, and all of your gear is hauled in the car. NorthernMommy has more experience with (and thus less problems with) backpacking. You know, the type of deal where every last item you need is strapped to your back and weight is at a premium. People that backpack do things like carry freeze-dried food, cut the handle off their toothbrush, carry titanium cookware, and wear the same clothes over and over (keeping clean by washing the same pair of socks and underwear each night - in their featherweight cookpot). They do this to prevent their backpack from feeling heavy, like an angry midget that just over-ate at the Chinese buffet.

--

The NorthernFamily is firmly in the car-camping category at this time. LittleNortherner could do without carrying his stuffed animals...and he'd be fine with the same set of dirty clothes for a month or two, but there's no way that he could carry enough food to feed himself - even if it was dehydrated and vacuum-packed. NorthernDaddy likes his cooler (that's where the drinks are) and being within a day's walk of a shower. Long live car camping!

--

After NorthernMommy and LittleNortherner spent some time camping in a typhoon (or a hurricane, or possibly just a heavy mist), they were unhappy about getting soaked in the tent. They were very vocal about it, too. NorthernDaddy was forced to upgrade the shelter. His first pick was a Kelty Mach 6. After realizing that the Mach 6 costs a few pennies less than five hundred dollars, the search was on for a more budget-friendly tent.

--

The old tent was sized for four people. Tent manufacturers like to over-emphasize the capacity of their shelters, so that tent would fit four people - if they were really, really friendly. And not in sleeping bags. Heaven forbid they attempt an air mattress.... So the challenge for NorthernDaddy was to find an "affordable, big-ass tent that is easy to set up and keeps the freakin rain out" (that's what he told the salesman at the outdoor shop).

--

Eureka makes a sensibly-priced eight person tent called the Tetragon 8.

It looks like this:

Y'all are getting the stock photo from the Eureka website because, in all the excitement of setting up the new tent and, um, camping, the Northerns forgot to take a picture of the tent. (Morons.)

--

This thing is huge! Twelve feet by ten feet - enough to lay out a 5/0 air mattress with a separate sleeping pad (for NorthernDaddy, who hates being pushed off the air matt by Little), still leaving huge spaces all around at the walls for packs and gear. An adult can stand up straight in the middle, it's got a full rain fly, and is just generally awesome as a family tent.

--

NorthernMommy and Little are quite happy with their new tent!

 

--

 

NorthernFamilyAdventureMobile loaded up to camp at the lake!

LittleNortherner desperately wants his own boat. After hosting his over-grown five-year-old carcass in their own boats, NorthernMommy and Daddy each agree that he should get his own boat. It's hard to paddle a kayak with him and not whack hime in the head. He also hogs the seat....