Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Cheap Thrills, Camping-Style

One of the most fun things about camping when you're a kid
is meeting new friends.
Unfortunately for Kyle and Kendall,
they met no one their ages at Franklin Lake this time around.
Still, they made a new friend in a little squirrel named Cody.

In constant motion, Cody popped in and out of our campsite all day
on Saturday and Sunday, helping himself to snacks
(as well as to the limited number of chairs around the campfire.)
He was a talkative, smart little bugger who was very curious. 
For instance, he was extremely interested in Mr.4444's tackle box...


I laughed SO hard at one point, when Mr.4444 had to wrestle Cody out of his chair.
In this scene, Mr.4444 followed through with his threat to perform
"The Chinese Water Torture" on Cody to get him out of his seat.
"What's that?" asked Cody....


Cody giggled like crazy (seemed to enjoy it, actually), but finally...


Mr.4444 had reclaimed his throne.


Cody was also very interested all things Kyle, so, in monkey-see, monkey-do fashion,
he did his best to copy his amazing no-hands, cup-sucking feat.
It was so cute, I had to take a photo or two...


Kyle was all "professional-cup-on-my-face,"
while Cody made it look a lot more like work...


What happened next, though, was priceless.
When Kyle finally removed his cup, it became instantly clear
that he had given himself not one, but THREE hickeys on his chin!!
OMG--I have never laughed harder or longer in my entire life
(cuz, yeah--I ooze empathy), and here is proof:


Seriously, I laughed and laughed and laughed til I cried!
(I'm keeping this pic small because it's not at all flattering,
but I had to share it, because it makes me smile.)

Kyle was such a good sport---In addition to taking a photo of me LMAO,
he posed for this one:


So, even though the kids found Cody a little annoying at times,
he provided much family-style entertainment
(and gave Kendall the little brother she's been begging me for for years.)

Which is nice,

but we left him there.

(I sure hope the kid found a new family!)

26 comments:

  1. Oh my word! Those photos are awesome :) I can't wait to go camping.

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  2. Gotta love those family camping trips and DAD has to have his 'throne'! lol

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  3. Cody reminds me of a kid that used to tag along after my brother. He lived across the street and was always ringing the bell asking for Paul. Wanted to do everything Paul was doing, but he only lived there for about a year.

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  4. Omg...I love you laughing your arse off at Kyle hickey's ....too funny! I hope Cody founds his own family ....are you sure they didn't drive him to the woods and leave him?

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  5. It seems like every time we go camping there's a "Cody" coming over...guess we have awesomely fun families! Love the pic of you laughing...I would've done the same thing! Hickies on the chin...hilarious!

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  6. OMG,Frau! That's too funny...

    Mary, I think you're right in that there's always a Cody at every campground. When Kyle expressed annoyance with him stopping by so often, I reminded him that he was likely a Cody at one time, too!haha

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  7. And you know, Kyle meant the world to Cody. Having 2 little ones of my own I know... They LOVE the older kids!

    I too gave myself a hickey when I was in Middle School... Some silly dime machine toy looked like a suction cup, so I stuck it on my cheek only to find a perfectly round circle when I popped it off just a few seconds after putting it on... What no one told me (thanks friends) was that this suction thingy was making hickies, so I went around with several littel round circle hickies on my cheek... For almost a week! Grr... :)

    Have a great Wednesday!!!

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  8. What great memories! Better a Cody at a campground than the Cody's who live on your street...way harder to drive away :) Thanks for making me laugh in my coffee !

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  9. That is so fun! It was nice that y'all embraced your new little family member!

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  10. Why is it kids do the funniest, strangest things while camping?

    We have a few stories of our own!
    Looks like a blast. We are not scheduled to go to Eagle River until August.. I can't wait!

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  11. Your state, Minnesota and Michigan are blessed with hundreds and thousands of natural lakes. Enjoy them.

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  12. I love this post so much, but I HAD to comment because I love love love the photo of you laughing. It brought an ENORMOUS smile to my face!

    I could use a laugh like that myself :)

    ~xo

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  13. Love the last two photos--priceless!

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  14. That pic of you laughing is histerical. I can't look at it without laughing out loud.

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  15. Funny how camping people find no strangers. Looks like you all had a good time. I really like the picture of you laughing so hard.

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  16. Sounds like you had fun camping, that is a nice area. Tanner would be the Cody at your campsite, being an only child Tim and I tell him to hop on his bike and look around for someone to play with. I am sure your family seemed fun to him. Good job!!

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  17. You are so much kinder than I am. I would have been attempted to set out squirrel traps to catch that little bugger and send him back to his own camp site. But I am a mean old lady.

    Love the snaps of you and Kyle. You two are hilarious.

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  18. Sounds like a trip and a kid you'll be talkin' about for years.

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  19. I love the picture of you laughing because I can hear you!!! I would have been right there with you!

    Hope Cody took his new skills home with him!

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  20. Awesome post! Love the pic of you, LOL!

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  21. Hey! I gave myself a hickey with a cup before, too! LOL

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  22. This is hysterical and Kyle has a GREAT sense of humor!

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  23. Loved this post! Made me (almost) want to go camping!

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  24. Very nice. I love a fellow laugher at their own children. Sometimes you really just can not help it. Seems like you guys had a blast. I'm still never going camping though. I don't care how many fun, funny, and otherwise convincing stories I read. Not gonna do it.

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  25. Love it!! It made me laugh just seeing you!! You look seconds from wetting your pants. DOn't answer.... I'll assume not!

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