The bitter cold, geothermal, and a monkey on his back

So we went camping this past weekend at Myre state park. We left later than we wanted on Friday due to Keegan taking a nap. We got there around 5 or so on Friday, and the ride down was ok until about a half-hour out, then it started raining so hard that we couldn't see. So we finally get to the campsite, and it is cold and wet and raining. Karissa's parents have an RV, and that is what we were staying in, so we pulled everything out of the car and loaded up in the RV. We hung out for a while, and had dinner. Usually we would cook over the campfire, but that was not happening with all the rain we were getting. Finally it stopped raining, and Keegan, Karissa and I went out to strech our legs. Keegan had a fabulous time in the mud and playing in the puddles! Boy does he love playing in the puddles.....

At one point we found some worms that we tried to get Keegan to play with, but he was not really interested in the worms because there were puddles around that would probably go up to his waist. Anyway we let him play in some of them, and after a little while he was wet up to his knees, and having a grand time just smiling and laughing while splashing around. At this point we decided that he should probably use his rain boots, so we switch his socks and put on his rain boots, which are still way to large for him. Well lets just say it didn't really do much good since Keegan still can't walk really well in those boots. So he kept falling over here and there and getting more of himself wet. At this point a fire was started, and we tried to get him to stay around that. All in all he was having a great time out in the mud, puddles, and cold.

Keegan has learned that he can climb on almost anything as well. He was having a great time climbing from our bed over the back of the table bench and playing there. He was actually being really good in the RV, and we were able to get him to sit down and play at the table with us. Grandma, Karissa and I were rolling a ball over to him, and he was just throwing it back for us to roll back over to him. We were showing him how to roll the ball, and though he did it a couple times, he didn't seem to see why he should roll a ball when he can throw it much better. Either way it was nice to see that he could sit down and play for more than a minute at a time.

Other than that we came back on Saturday night because Friday night didn't work out great for us when it came to sleeping since it rained all night, and it was very windy. Saturday it was really windy all day, and it wasn't fun to hike in really windy conditions with half of the trails either so muddy you would slip or so filled with water there was no way to get across without getting your feet wet. Such is the way of things. Keegan didn't seem to mind being in his backpack carrier, and he did a walk later in the day where we let him walk the whole way and he did quite well.

So Sunday we met some friends and went to the living green expo at the state fair grounds. We walked around and looked at a bunch of stuff. I am not saying we will ever be totally green as a family since we own a big SUV for hauling the dog and kid around at the same time, hauling our pontoon, and doing work around the house. After finishing two basements, I don't think I could have done that with a second small car. Anyway I have been talking about setting up geothermal heating/cooling in our house, and will probably have someone out to do an estimate soon. I would like it if we could reduce our depenance on fossil fuels some, and this is one way we could start. I am hoping that we could start with this and in a few years (or more) put in solar panels. I know a wind turbine would probably work better, but I don't think the Association would agree with us putting up a 50-100 foot tower and hooking up a turbine.

Keegan had a good time going to the expo, we hooked him up to his monkey backpack/harness, and he walked really well to the expo with that on. We also brought the stroller because we knew he wouldn't last the whole time. He ran around a bunch, and was really tired by the time we left an hour later or so. One funny point was that someone asked if they could take his picture with the monkey harness on because they thought it was really cute. After that we did lunch and took Keegan home for a nap, then it was up and doing a walk, and taking the boat out for a spin. Keegan didn't like having his life jacket on, so we had a short spin in the boat because he kept crying and trying to get the vest off. We then went and played with his water and sand table. He kept throwing the sand out, but he had some fun with it I think. After that we did dinner and let him run around like a crazy boy the rest of the night before a bath. When he finally went down, he was so tired he didn't really make a peep.

It was a really busy weekend! I have a feeling that next weekend will probably be very busy as well. Karissa and I were talking about going to the zoo with the friends we met on Sunday. Then of course it is mothers day on Sunday next weekend, so it will be busy! We will have to get the pictures up from the camping trip, we got a few good ones I think.