We went to the sand dunes the other day to play on my dad and bro-in-law's four wheelers. My dad bought this ancient beast of an RV off of KSL (we love KSL) a few weeks ago so that he could go camping/ATVing and my mom would be willing to come along. She doesn't camp without a bed, running water, a non-smelly toilet, or a shower (does that really count as camping?). The rest of us certainly didn't inherit those genes! Anyway, my family camped out there for a few days, but the kids and I just went for the day on Friday. The kids had a great time and were sad to leave.
Poor little Raelin had a run-in with the handlebars, though. Her sad little face was heartbreaking, but (amazingly) she didn't cry! She got a good bruise and a small gash on her cheekbone. And it's most likely due to the fact that she was wearing a helmet! It made her head so heavy that she couldn't hold it up over a big bump and the handlebars just happened to find the gap in the helmet to crack her in the face.
Alaina and I just hung around the campsite with Gina and Russell. Alaina liked walking around and playing with dirt and sand. That kid LOVES dirt! The loves to feel it fall through her fingers, she loves to dig in it, and she loves to eat it. Alaina also had a great time "playing" with Baby Russell. They were SO cute!
So, I thought of something recently that seems to be paying off, so I'll share. I realized that I used to use the term "dolly" and "baby" interchangeably when talking to my kids about dolls. But I realized (with the pending 18 month gap between babies) that I should really distinguish between the two. A baby is NOT a dolly. Think about it. How do kids treat dolls? They poke their eyes, bang their heads, drag them around by their arms and legs and necks, drop them, throw them, and generally abuse them. Do you really want them to confuse their dolly treatment with a real, live baby? I think not. So I've been careful to talk about dolls as dolls and NOT babies. I think that it plays a pretty significant role in how gentle Alaina has been with her cousin. Sometimes she tries to pat him a little too rough, but otherwise, she's very gentle, even around his face. I've been impressed!
I made the mistake at the sand dunes of bringing my camera out to watch the kids play. Sand and cameras DO NOT mix!!! I think it was a contributing factor to the demise of my last camera--it died shortly after a trip to the beach. I was really careful, but that sand is so fine it gets in everything and it clings to little kids and little kids cling to their mothers. So I ended up with a tiny bit of sand around the lens of my camera. I could hear it grinding as the lens opened and closed. So today I thought, "Well, maybe I should get my little compressed air thingy and try cleaning it out a bit before it gets too worked in there and messes things up." Bad idea. It made it worse. So then, I decided that maybe I could take the case off and blow the sand out better from the inside. Always consult the Internet before you attempt such things! There might be an easier way! There were some things I should have tried first, but in the end, I think I would have ended up taking the thing apart anyway. So I took off the cover and then I tried to take off the plastic housing around the lens. And then the trouble started. I unscrewed the screws, but one corner of it wouldn't come lose. I could see the gears underneath, so I tried blowing just through the gap, but some of the gears jiggled loose and I couldn't get them back in their spot. So I broke my dad's cardinal rule: I forced it. The plastic housing broke. Fortunately it wasn't a functional portion and it didn't affect anything. I was able to clean all the gears and put it back together, but then I tried to turn it on and... Nothing. I got a lens error before the motor even tried to open the lens. So I took it all apart to make sure I'd put it all together right. I recleaned everything and put it back together. Still nothing. I tried again. And again. And again. I searched the Internet and found nothing useful (except to learn that this is common problem with this type of camera and tiny dust particles). I tried a few more times. Still nothing. I gave it a rest for a while and tried to consign myself to the fact that I'd broken my camera. I nearly cried. Then I got on KSL to see if there were any cameras for sale that I could justify buying. There weren't. I was miserable. I found one camera that I thought maybe I could buy if I could talk the seller down $10-$20 and if Brice's shed this week was going to be taking him up towards Salt Lake anyway (travel costs are a major consideration with KSL shopping! A $10 item is not worth a trip to Clearfield, even if it's a steal!). I thought maybe I could try one more time and see if there was another spot I'd missed (tutorials for other models made me think I might have missed a spot, if I could find the corresponding part on my camera). I was in the process of working on it when Brice called me back. I was telling him my sob story and then I found a little tiny spine hidden behind some plastic in the corner that butted into the gears. I cleaned it and put things back together as Brice and I discussed our options. But then, lo and behold, I tried the camera and it worked! Hurray! It makes a different noise as the lens opens than the noise it used to make pre-sand encounter, but I'll take it! Lesson learned: get a disposable camera when going near sand. But perhaps the pictures I got of our little day trip was worth it. Maybe. You decide:
Gina wanted some pictures of Russell's first campout, so we did a little photo shoot.
Russell refused to look at the camera. Absolutely refused!
Another lesson learned: if you wear your hair with a part in the middle, put sunscreen on the part. Ouch!
And this picture is not at all related to this post. Oh, well, I guess it kind of it. This was me checking to see that my camera was working after the near-catastrophe today.
Look at those chubby cheeks! Where did those come from? And I love those big bright eyes!
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