Mar 13

Frost covered the grass this morning, but the sun was out and it soon melted away. Early afternoon was very pleasant with little wind and warm sun. We noticed midday that today was the date of the full moon (the events of the day unfolded as such).

Brad captured this photo of the full moon overlooking camp.

Bob and Cody went to Sandhill Rd to work on his new strip till machine. This couple-hour project turned into all day as they found a cracked cylinder. Did we mention there is a full moon?

Gerri had the day off so she and Amy did a little shopping in the morning and made some dinner for the woods. Gerri checked the woods, estimating that there was 250 to 300 gallons. It was decided to go out and collect that sap since it was so warm today. In the end, Gerri was wrong, there were over 450 gallons. Did we mention there is a full moon?

Bob was driving Walle tonight when the tank shifted and hit the side wall cracking the drain plug. The leak was noticed on the northwest side of the woods, farthest from the camp, of course. Bob, Jake, and Emma drove to the camp to quick dump what was in the tank. Bob went to the house twice for different parts , found something that worked and headed back to the woods. Did we mention there is a full moon today?

While waiting, Katie came and walked Emma back to the group and claimed Brynn. Gerri and Jake took a few buckets out of the camp and headed around the east and north side of the east path collecting sap to the path. Gerri went to get Kelsey and the french fries she was working on for dinner.

Jackie, Jeremy, Jasmine, Tyler, Adam, Nancy, Cody and Michael soon caught back up with Walle. In total, there were 450 gallons of clear sap. Ants are beginning to be a common sight. Jake amused us by reviewing all the edible bugs that he is aware his brother has eaten, he will not be in charge of camp supper. We also discussed the pros and cons of new buckets and different colored buckets. The suggestion was made to make each path a different color. Buckets without lids was the topic that led to the great discussion about the bugs above.

Adam had Brynn in the backpack tonight and lost one of her new boots, somewhere on the north path. Adam spent some time searching for it, finally returning with the lost shoe, knowing his wife would appreciate that. Did we mention that there is a full moon?  

We enjoyed smashed burgers with big mac sauce, french fries, and chili soup (thank you Susan Bishop). Amy made lucky charms frosted cookies tonight, which was a good thing we had at least a few leprechauns in our corner tonight. Brynn thoroughly enjoyed these cookies.

Oliver is having a rough week cutting what looks to be a half dozen teeth, so it was unsurprising when he was unhappy tonight. Gerri and Kelsey loaded the stuff from supper, a high chair, our dog Piper, Emma and her imaginary friend Margaret into the car. Halfway to Kelsey’s house there was a thud on the hood of the car. Gerri thought perhaps we were sporting rocks, however, Kelsey immediately said “oops, this is my fault”. She left the keys on the hood of the car (due to key fab troubles earlier in the day) and the keys made their way to the base of the wipers, thankfully. Earlier in the week Cody drove from the camp to the farmhouse in the jeep with several large rocks on the hood, thanks to Emma’s help. Amy followed behind them coming home, and she realized she may have gone too far when seeing Kunny’s market (which is about two miles away from the target destination). Did we mention there is a full moon?

Brad worked two jobs today so he showed up late for supper …again. Emma yelled… “here comes Uncle Brad!” on her way to bed. Every night when we pull in the drive she yells, “we are back in Ohio”.

Evan had to work tonight but he was the only one who was awake for the lunar eclipse, he shared the experience with us with a photo.

The Bellevue girls basketball team is headed to the state championship tomorrow so there was a parade today and some people have the day off tomorrow!

 Total Gallons of Syrup today: Unknown

Total Gallons of Syrup to date: Unknown (Full moon week, we’ve lost count)

Total Gallons of Sap today: 450 gallons plus a leak of ???

Total Gallons of Sap to date: 4,815