| |
Subject |
Author |
Date Posted |
Forum
|
 |
RE: Looking for destination ideas - NY, OH, MI
Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, MI
|
plaz
|
08/06/09 06:17am |
Family Camping
|
|
RE: Do you "luxury" tent camp?
We use a 14x14 nearly 7 ft tall, 3 room tent, queen size air mattress and the kids have foam pads under their sleeping bags. We bring along folding chairs, 2 hammocks, a small radio(can be charged with ac adapter, solar or crank...the kids love to crank it), a 40 yo coleman 2 burner white gas camping stove, and a few 18 yo Faberware pots & pans that we also use at home. 75% of the cooking is over the fire, the rest on the coleman stove. We set up a small, cheap 2-3 person dome tent for the kids to house their toys at night and while we are away from the site.
|
plaz
|
08/04/09 03:42pm |
Tent Camping
|
|
RE: What was your fav. car or truck that you have owned.
My 1994 Ford escort. That thing took a beating and kept going. There was also an amazing amount of room inside for a vehicle of it's size. I traded it for a minivan in 2003 when I became pregnant with twin. I had an infant at the time and would not have been able to fit 3 car seats. Not having the same luck with the Windstar. That thing has a mind of it's own....experiencing some electrical problems and it stalls in the rain.
|
plaz
|
08/01/09 02:34pm |
Around the Campfire
|
|
RE: How far do you let your kids get away from your site?
Just a few months ago a man parked in a private drive tried to convince a 5th grader into his car. When the 20 yo babysitter came out, he tried to convince her as well. This was about 1 mile from my home. It's a semi-rural area with most properties between 2-5 acres offering plenty of privacy. I have a first grader and kindergarten twins. When they reach 5th grade, I may consider letting them walk home from the bus stop alone, but I will never let 1 child walk home alone. That doesn't make me paranoid and it doesn't make my children sheltered. If my children were walking home with 30 other kids passing houses 20 ft apart with front doors 30 ft from the sidewalk in a relatively safe neighborhood, my decisions might be different. There is no 1 right or wrong answer. There is no magic age when deciding when and how much freedom a child should receive. The risks and benefits of each situation should be looked at independently.
|
plaz
|
07/26/09 08:42am |
Family Camping
|
|
RE: Mosquitos suck
When I was building Lancairs in FL we would set up fans throughout the hanger at night. It does work because the mosquitos are not able to fly, but at a campground, we don't use electricity so that's not an option for us. I find deet works to some extent, but not well enough and I've had no luck with avon skin so soft. I just bought some lemon eucalytus and I'll have to try the dryer sheets.
|
plaz
|
07/22/09 08:54pm |
Family Camping
|
|
RE: Lyme Disease....getting bad!
One night I was checking my 5 yo to make sure he got all the dirt out of his hair in the shower. I found a deer tick had bitten him on the head. The next day I had all 3 of my kids undress in the laundry room and immediately washed their clothes when I called them in for dinner. I found 2 ticks on my arm and was bit by 1 of them. I hadn't even been outside that day. The next day I found 2 more on my arm and 1 on my son. All the kids had been sprayed with deet, but that didn't seem to help. We treated our yard and waited 3 days. Then I did the white sheet test before I let the kids out again. It's been about 6 weeks and not 1 tick (knock on wood). We live in the house my husband grew up in. We found a medical file with a tick that had bitten his father and pictures of the rash from 2005. My husband claims however that when he was young, they would find wood ticks, but never deer ticks.
|
plaz
|
07/20/09 06:41pm |
General RVing Issues
|
|
RE: Mice
We use snap traps baited with peanut butter for our home. One trick we use is to place a small paper bag on it's side then place the trap inside the bag. That way any mess will be confined and you can just toss the entire bag.
|
plaz
|
07/18/09 05:34pm |
Fifth-Wheels
|
|
RE: Are all the coffee drinkers older people?
I'm 38 and never liked coffee. I was not allowed coffee until my early teens and I didn't like it. I have tried it several times since, but I don't enjoy it nor do I enjoy anything coffee flavored. My 3 younger siblings do drink coffee. I have been drinking tea as long as I can remember. My husband is 41 and he enjoys coffee and tea. I know several people my age and some younger who drink coffee. I know very few who drink tea.
|
plaz
|
07/18/09 01:30pm |
Around the Campfire
|
|
RE: How far do you let your kids get away from your site?
Last year, we camped for a few days at a state park over 4th of July. Being a holiday, the campground was busy, but our fellow campers all seemed like decent people, families, nothing out of the ordinary...ect. There were a bunch of kids playing by the showerhouse in the parking lot (it was empty) and the campground road. They were riding bikes, throwing a football, hopscotch and just being kids. My kids wanted to play as well. We were 2 sites away from the showerhouse, but the area where the kids were congregating was on the other side and not in my line of sight.
After dinner, I walked down, sat on the concrete by the building and watched my kids play. They are 6 yo and 5 yo twins. About an hour later it was getting dark and kids were leaving. There was 1 little girl left (she had been playing with my daughter). There was also a man who had been standing next to the showerhouse. He was there when I arrived and had never left. I had assumed he was watching his grandchildren the same way I had come to watch my children. I was very surprised when I found out the little girl (who we walked back to her site) didn't know this man. He had been standing there the entire time yet brought no children with him for over an hour. Makes you wonder.
|
plaz
|
07/15/09 07:09pm |
Family Camping
|
|
RE: Arizona's Stupid Motorist Law...
I can sort of understand tourists not realizing the dangers, I think that every visitor or what we call so affectiontely:R "snowbirds" should be made to pass a written driving test if they are staying for 4-6 mos and driving on our roads. Maybe then they will know that you cannot drive or pass someone in the suicide lanes and all sorts of other infractions...:S
Having moved to AZ from the east coast, I learned a lot in the 3 years I lived on the outskirts of Tucson. I had no idea there could be such strong storms in the middle of the dessert that roads would flood and I had never heard of a wash. I was expecting to see nothing but catus and sand, imagined a few sprinkles every few months and never expected thumderstorms. There is always a learning curve when traveling to a new area and I agree snowbirds or anyone staying for a significant time should be required to pass a test.
|
plaz
|
07/15/09 11:11am |
Around the Campfire
|
|
RE: Arizona's Stupid Motorist Law...
This law in AZ has been around for a while and I think it's a great law. I can sort of understand tourists not realizing the dangers, but anyone who lives there should know better.
|
plaz
|
07/12/09 04:54pm |
Around the Campfire
|
|
RE: Campers these days
We COULD buy and rv or trailer, but choose not to and sleep in a tent. We are not poor, but see no reason to stretch our finances and live beyond our means. You don't need fancy toys to have fun.
|
plaz
|
07/12/09 12:13pm |
General RVing Issues
|
|
RE: ...right or left handed...or both...
I'm right handed. I wear a watch on my right hand. I like to lead with my right side when kickboxing and when I rode a skateboard as a kid. I bat right handed and hold untensils with my right hand.
|
plaz
|
07/11/09 06:37pm |
Around the Campfire
|
|
RE: Showering/Bathing ?
Put shower curtain around a hoola hoop and hang it from a tree.
|
plaz
|
07/11/09 11:51am |
Public Lands, Boondocking and Dry Camping
|
|
RE: Camping with babies...little babies.
We waited until our twins were 2 1/2, but our oldest is only 11 mo older then they are. We felt taking all 3 as babies was too much and we wouldn't be able to call it a vacation. If my kids were a couple years apart, I wouldn't have hesitated to go earlier. I say go for it.
|
plaz
|
07/09/09 02:32pm |
Hybrid Travel Trailers
|
|
RE: kind of a dumb question...or plan for Disney 2010
Our kids are 6yo and 5yo twins. Their 1st 12 hour trip was at 19 mo and 8 mo. We drove through the night and that turned out to be a big mistake. The kids didn't have a normal night's sleep and we adults were also exhausted. The entire next day was a disaster. We have since taken the same trip 3 more times during the day and it only takes us about 10 hours. Every 2-3 hours we stop for the bathroom, a meal/snack and let the kids run for a few minutes. We have a vcr and we might make it through 1 entire movie, but normally the kids are happy with doodle boards, books, their leapsters. We also burn cd's for the trip and let the kids have some input with that. They are all still in 5pt harnesses which I'm sure is not the most comfortable way to ride, but with regular short breaks, they do fine. If you plan on taking any future lenghty trips, I'd have them start getting used to it now.
|
plaz
|
07/08/09 06:59pm |
Family Camping
|
 |
RE: Watch out for road rage.
When dealing with a stranger that punches you in the back of the head, there is no way of knowing what he will do next. Each self defense situation is unique. You were taking a chance by fighting back, but you would also have been taking a chance by not fighting back. Who knows if giving 1 punch would have been enough for him?
My husband had his car hit intentionally by an off duty police officer. He was making a right turn out of a convienience store parking lot. The officer was on the road, had his right turn signal on and my husband assumed he was about to make a right turn into the parking lot. Apparently, the man didn't know his signal was on, didn't make the right turn and my husband unintentionally cut him off. No accident occured, but to retaliate, at the next light, the officer pulled up next to my husband, open his door, intentionally hit my husband's car with it, got out, started cursing and waving his arms around. Now my husband is a very large man and he said the officer calmed down once he stepped out of his car, but that's some pretty scary behavior from someone who carries around a gun.
|
plaz
|
07/07/09 02:13pm |
General RVing Issues
|
|
RE: Extra $ for the kids
With a little reasearch, I'm sure anyone could find a campground to suit their needs. Lying to cut costs is not a new practice. I'm 38 and my parents often neglected to mention my younger brothers when they were hiding under a blanket in the back of our stationwagon at the entrance to the drive in, we kids never went to the lobby of a hotel because then they would know there were 4 kids, not 2 and being that my sister and I were quite small, we often pretended we were younger. I have never lied or cheated with my own kids. lying is not a generational thing.
|
plaz
|
07/07/09 06:35am |
RV Parks, National Parks, State Campgrounds & More
|
|
RE: How to child proof stove?
A new suggestion, get a cattle electric fence unit and wire that to the knobs. Only once and child will have the picture.
This whole thread is an example of current parents wanting something magic to apply to the raising of the child where there is no substitute for patience and constant working and explaining to the child why they should or should not do something and then following up to make sure the child does not do the deed that is being taught. I have always thought that a new parent should go to dog training school and train a dog before they have children. The principle are all the same regardless of the subject being trained.
I'd love to electrify the knobs & I don't have a problem with spanking kids for doing something wrong. I also know certain people like to think they were such great parents & did everything perfectly. These people like to say the parents of today just don't know what they are doing. That's the same thing the ones before them said & so on & so on. Look I wasn't looking for anything to substitute parenting just an idea to improve safety. I bet you'd also like to leave a loaded gun on your coffee table without any sort of safety on it. You wouldn't worry about your three old touching it would you? After all you told him not to. But hey what the heck if the kid pulls the trigger and gets killed it's his fault for not listening right. Oh better yet let's use your method. We can take your three year old & leave them in a room with a child molester that has a handful of candy & some toys. We'll tell your three year old to stay away from the bad man. But if the nut gets your kid to come over they get to keep him. Hmm I wonder then how much faith you would have in your method? Oh that's right it won't be your fault anyway you told your kid to listen so of course they will everytime. Now that would be an experment for the wonder parent to try wouldn't it.
It seems like nowdays whenever a parent tries to take an extra safety precaution, they are seen as either lazy or lacking parenting skills.
|
plaz
|
07/06/09 08:18pm |
Family Camping
|
|
RE: How far do you let your kids get away from your site?
What a sad state of regression of society that we have declined into that a subject like this would even been ask. Do normal people have to constantly live in fear of the sub-humans? I'm in my 70's and in my wildest imagination I would never of thought this would ever be a concern. So sad for our children... :(
We don't live in fear. I just don't think it's wise to allow my 6 yo and 5 yo twins the run of a campground especially an unfamiliar one. We try out a new state park each year and have not yet stayed at the same park twice. My kids will talk to anyone or anybody and that's ok because they are supervised. They have 5 acres to explore, ride bikes on and play on a daily basis at home without parents standing over them, but I require them to be in eyeshot & earshot while out in public. Although I know there are crazy people out there, most of my concerns have to do with getting hit by a car (because short people can be difficult to see while backing up a truck or suv...something not everyone is concious of) or getting lost. In addition, if I can see & hear them, I know they are behaving.
|
plaz
|
07/06/09 07:44pm |
Family Camping
|
