Despite the overtones of censorship of such a fine magazine, I could also understand that 1) the kids don’t necessarily need to be exposed to bloody war scenes and 2) kids will be kids and boobs in a collage could be just become a big joke instead of the cultural experience of the picture while whole in the magazine.

I was struck, though, when a little girl came up to me with a “real simple” magazine and told me that she had found an “inappropriate picture” (her words).  The picture was part of an advertisement for soap, and showed a man and a woman engaging in the most innocent of smooches.  No passion here, folks, just a peck. Their eyes may not have even been closed.  I should have just shut up, but before I could take that wise approach, I asked why the picture was inappropriate.  The little girl replied that the class shouldn’t be looking at things like this because “it could teach us stuff”.  I left it at that, but couldn’t help but wonder:  what on earth ARE we teaching our kids if they see an innocent kiss between two adults as inappropriate.  It seems as if we are in danger of censoring, well, life!

Well, in 2010, we took all this luxury camping to the next level.  Pop-up.  And not your basic 2 double-beds tent-on-wheels kind of pop up.  We are talking 2 king beds (with flannel sheets and down comforters, of course), power lift, furnace, hot water heater, 3 burner stove, full Yakima rack on top, outdoor shower, refrigerator, bump-out dinette, and a loo.

Long back in January of last year, Mark, Junior, and I wandered down to the Ketelson Camper sale….just to look.  Knowing full well that we hardly ever “just look”.  Two months later, we hauled our new baby home with Mark’s aging Land Rover. (Yep, you guessed it….new car in his future, but that story about a half acre of car will wait for another day).  In early April we were on our way to our first pop-up camping trip to the Pawnee National Grasslands (REALLY glad we had that furnace)…and we never looked back.

The final tally? Twenty-five nights.  We camped in Wyoming twice, for 11 nights over two trips at Buffalo Creek, Mesa Verde National Park, and Sand Dunes National Park.

We camped with neighbors, friends, old and new, and friends of our friends’ friends (all 60+ of them at the annual BC pilgrimage).  We camped with the dog,always brought our mountain bikes, and despite my whole-grain leanings almost always had half a cooler full of graham crackers, chocolate, and marshmallows.  In short, we had some amazing DINK adventures this year and we can’t wait to hit the road again in a few short months!  Give us a ring, and come along!

I worked from home yesterday, to give Junior a much-needed break from the endless holiday break play-dates, ski camps, and YMCA care. I got a nice break, too, when I spent a few minutes on the trampoline with him (it IS 60 degrees here in Boulder, CO after all).

During a little tramp snuggle time, we were looking up at the most beautiful tree, in the most beautiful afternoon light, when Junior asked me what the future of that tree looked like to me. I told him, “I’d like to see all the dead limbs trimmed and gone”. His future for that tree?

“Mom, I’d like to see all the dead stuff grow back. It might grow back as dead, or it might grow back alive. It should be whatever it’s supposed to be!“

Where does he come up with this stuff, my little trampoline philosopher?

While we are not necessarily any wiser, we are older.  And we’ve decided that this blog is the best way to memorialize the happenings in our little family….heaven knows we’ll never make a scrapbook!

So….we won’t promise daily posts, or even weekly posts, but we hope you’ll subscribe, or re-subscribe, and learn a bit more about life in the world of DINKS…with Kids.

On one of our many 2010 camping adventures

Mark is running the Steamboat Half Marathon tomorrow, but we also plan to make the most of a nice long weekend with a trip to Strawberry Hot Springs and some geocaching. I loaded up the GPS and the iPhone with all kinds of caches. Our first find was about 1.5 hours into the drive. What a great way to stretch your legs!

So, he got one.  Then he cried.  He wouldn’t let me take an “after” picture.  Though he did claim two hours later that it was starting grow out already!

For those of you who haven’t had to listen to me proselytize about the virtues of making your own bread, well, consider yourself lucky!  That also probably means you haven’t had to hear me go on and on about making your own pizza.  Seriously! It turns out that making your own pizza is easy pizzy, AND takes about as much time as running down to your local take-and-bake joint.

The beauty of this pizza is in the dough.  No-knead dough.  The same stuff we use to make gorgeous artisan breads and cinnamon rolls!

So get to it.  Stop wasting your money on cardboard crusts and less-than-fresh toppings….

Step 1:  roll it out

Step 2:  a good foundation – we like a nice garlic-olive oil glaze

Step 3:  Any toppings you please.  

Step 4:  Bake on the top shelf of a 425 deg. oven for 12-15 minutes, turning 180 deg. after 3-5 minutes

Step 5:  open a good bottle of vino…and enjoy!  Easy Pizzy….

For me, the best Farmers’ Markets are on days when the weather is nice enough to 1) ride our Xtracycles to Market without fear of snow, and 2) find more than just spring greens on market tables!  This weekend?  Spot on!

We’ve been cow-share members for nearly a year now, and each week is kind of a crap-shoot when it comes to whether or not our “extras” will arrive at the co-op:  butter, yogurt, eggs, cheeses. Inevitably, it is the week you really need the extras that they don’t show. Like when you have 3 extra kids staying at your house for 9 days!

I’ve found a solution…and it doesn’t involve moving to Windsor so the dairy can hire Mark to straighten out their operations and logistics! I’ve already posted how easy it is to make your own yogurt….why not your own butter, or your own cheese? Turns out, there are lots of instructions on the web about how to make butter using your kitchenaid mixer. It also turns out that doing it is EASY. We made some today, using the handy instructions here.

So now, I don’t have to worry that I will get unsalted butter when I ordered salted butter….or that I won’t get butter at all! Now I just skim the fat off the top of my milk, and about 20 minutes later….custom butter. Salted, unsalted, herbed, garlic…..

Just what I needed….another excuse to eat more butter!