Friday, Saturday, and Sunday were exciting days in our household. Our friends' church was having a winter retreat at a nearby camp, and they invited friends from other churches to come too. So our whole family went. My dad joined us for a couple hours on Saturday, but didn't stay the whole time because of not wanting to leave Grandpa overnight.
Let us start at the beginning, which would be Friday. It would appear that Logan drew the short straw in his family, because his dad called and said that he would feel better if Logan rode with us so that we didn't get lost. So we traded kids-- Joanna rode in their van and Logan rode in our's. We left a little before 5, I think, and after stopping at Grandpa's to give him his pill, we whizzed off to find this camp.
Once we got there, we found our various sleeping places and unpacked. Or read, as the case may be...
Then it was off to The Lodge to play games or make pizza. Annetta, Lydia, Hosanna, and I opted for the pizza making, and so we joined Mrs. R and her aunt in the large and amazing kitchen. We began by patting dough out in pans for the crust. 5 of us pizza patters were able to pat the dough out well, and one of us had issues, and I do not feel comfortable sharing who was which. Anyhow, the stuff was spread on the pizza crust (I put the pepperoni on. At least I can do some things in the kitchen...and pepperoni-putting-on is an important skill, I'm pretty sure.), and then we stuck them all in the awesome pizza oven.
Once they were done, we cut them, and dinner was served, and consumed promptly.
The Lodge is where we spent most of our time. It was the main building, and there was a ping pong table (which saw constant use), tables for eating, an area with chairs for the movie watching and devotional listening.
Anyhow, after supper, we played games. There were several younger people there who were just right for Josh to hang out with, and he had a blast running around, playing ping pong, and playing other table games that were set up. The older kids played Loot, and then we sat around and talked until sleepiness took over. Annetta, Lydia, Hosanna, two other girl, and I slept in the loft in the chapel. The chapel was primarily used for volleyball games, but it had a nice loft and shower.
Saturday morning: Hosanna set her alarm for 7:15, and we all staggered out of bed at the appointed time and proceeded to get ready for the day. Breakfast was excellent. We had bacon, eggs, cereal, pancakes, and fruit, and I had this really weird orange that looks like it was a pear in a past life. It still tasted good.
After breakfast and a devotional, Joanna and Megan wanted to go outside and sled. They needed someone who was older than 18 to go with them, soooo...I became a chaperone for a couple hours. A couple other little kids joined us, and they had fun sledding down one of the smaller hills outside the Lodge.
Annetta and Hosanna took a walk with my mom, and Annetta had to come back early because she was assigned to make Saturday's lunch. They had a general schedule of events and a work schedule posted, and they assigned people to cover different shifts. They had table setters, meal makers, and a clean up crew. Lunch was hotdogs and hamburgers, portrayed artfully here on my plate seconds before I ate it. ("It" = the food. Not the plate. In case there was confusion.)
After lunch, we had another devotional and then more free time. And that's free time spelled Settlers of Catan. I've heard so much about that game that it was very nice to be able to play it and understand a small amount of how it works. Clayton and Jordan were patient teachers, and Logan offered advice as well (primarily when I was handed my first three cards and looked at them in extreme confusion. They were exactly the same... Then Logan suggested turning them over. So I did and they were different.)
(These are some random games-playing pictures.)
At 4, I had to go to the kitchen and make supper with Rita and Lynn. Gary also made several appearances and his assistance was quite helpful. We made what the normal part of the world calls soft shell tacos and I call burritos. Tortillas, lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream, salsa, seasoned ground beef, etc. Some people made taco salads instead, which is what I ended up doing.
Supper was at 5:30, and then we watched the movie Courageous at 7. It's such a good movie...*sniff*
Ice cream sundaes...happiness in a bowl.
Dutch Blitz. We played several rounds until something like 11 o'clock that night. I finally learned how to play...and I almost won once. Annetta had a winning streak until the last three rounds, when she lost to Jordan.
Red was the color for Saturday, apparently. I didn't get the memo :P
It was at this point that Liam wandered over. Liam is 5 or so, and he's adorable and inquisitive and likes inclusion. So I told him he could take pictures with my camera rather than join in on our Dutch Blitz game. I like having other people take pictures on my camera, and I don't mind having little kids use my camera...there really isn't anything they could do to it that I haven't already done, and it still works. So I gave him my camera and he took several atrocious ones and a couple that were good, so the next three are ones he took of our game, and of the game the boys were playing at our table too.
Above is Zeke playing the game with the boys. Below is Zeke the next morning. Was he drugged? We can only speculate.
At last we dragged ourselves off to bed. And then got up early Sunday morning. At least I did. My mom was scheduled to make breakfast, which meant that she was supposed to be at the lodge by 7. She considered getting Josh and Katrina up with her (she slept with them) and taking them when she went, but we decided that a better and easier option would be for me to come over and let them sleep a little longer, and then get them up. So we did that, and we all got to the lodge about a half hour before breakfast was ready. So I did the obvious thing: I grabbed a puzzle, found a clear spot on the floor, and Lydia and I tried to get as much of it done as we could before breakfast.
Let's see...after breakfast, we had a church service, then a break (which involved cookies), and then the last devotional. While we waited for lunch, we took random pictures near the fireplace. The first one is Mr. R, who (with his family) coordinated the event. They did an excellent job and everyone had a great time.
Oh, this is a picture of the whole room from the fireplace end.
Lunch was next, and then...the epic sledding! Camp LiLoLi has a hill called Killer Hill. It's a killer to climb up, but super fun to go down. Someone had the brilliant idea to stick all the girls on one innertube and send us down. Here is a word of caution for those of you who, like I, have not taken physics: always remember a concept called balance. Good balance keeps you all on the sled; bad balance tips you off. My neck still hurts :P
After sledding, we packed up and drove home. And so that is the end!
Next, ensure that you have all the ingredients. Oil, yeast, milk, baking soda, flour (you can use all the same kind...I used two kinds because we were running out of flour :P ), baking powder, cinnamon (duh), salt, and butter. Oh, and sugar. You'll need sugar. There's probably a good reason why I didn't put the sugar in the picture, and that reason is this: I forgot.
You'll start by heating the oil, milk, and sugar on the stove. While pouring in the sugar, make sure that you get distracted by photographing it and spill it all over the stove. I'm sure that's essential.
Once the milk has heated up, pour it into a bowl (or you could just make sure the pot you heat it up in is big enough :P ) and make sure it's not too hot and not too cold. Then pour in the yeast and let that sit.
Add in almost all of the flour, cover it with a towel, and let it sit and rise for an hour.
After it has risen sufficiently, add in the salt, baking powder, baking soda, and the last cup of flour. Stir it all up (for those of you who like to use your hands to mix stuff up, this step is for you :) ). Then you can stick it in the fridge to chill for easier handling.
When you're ready to commence roll making, gather your pans, the butter, cinnamon, and sugar, and find a rolling pin and knife. I used two small pie plates, 2 9x13 pans, and an 8x8 pan. Yep, the recipe makes a lot, but that's all the better for sharing! Butter your pans, and set them aside. Melt some butter (I think I used a little over two sticks), and get some extra flour to dust over your counter for rolling out. Split the roll dough in half and roll out one of the halves.
Once it's rolled out, spread butter on it, and then sprinkle sugar and cinnamon on it. Doesn't it look beautiful?
Then, you roll it up, starting at the edge that's farthest from you and rolling it to yourself. Get a large knife (the one I use is mostly non-serrated) and start slicing.
Then they go in your pans. Now, as you slice them, some of the cinnamon/sugar/butter will ooze out. You can either take a plastic spoon (because plastic spoons are somewhat flexible) and scoop it up and put it on the cinnamon rolls in the pan, or just put it back in your pot with melted butter. (Then you reuse it on the next batch, and any leftover from that gets used to make cinnamon toast). Repeat that with the second half of dough, and let the rolls rise for a half hour.
Then, it's in the oven they go! While they're baking, you can make the frosting/glaze. I didn't take picture of it because I didn't exactly follow the recipe.
And then you have beautiful, yummy cinnamon rolls.
