Fort Stevens

To celebrate the end of two years with the Kennilworth Cooperative Preschool, many of the families went camping at Ft. Stevens, near Astoria, on the Oregon Coast. It was chaotic, buggy, and fun.

Typically, the Larrisons were the first ones to arrive at the campsite. As soon as we stepped out of the old station wagon, we were swarmed by mosquitoes. It was nasty. Luckily, we had bug spray which proved effective. A surprising percentage of the families that showed up after us didn't have bug spray, but we were more than willing to share.

Despite the pests, we had a great time hanging out. Among the highlights:

• Elizabeth realized she doesn't like fishing after we spent some time on the water and she observed other anglers trying to get flopping fish off their hooks. She felt bad for the fish.
• Barb tried to fix a reel on one of the girls's fishing rods, then went for a mighty cast, and tossed half the reel into the lake.
• Many of the families who, out of politeness or ignorance or reliance on an "herbal" bug spray, refused our offer of DEET, lived to regret the error of their ways and eventually embraced better living through chemistry.
• The shipwreck on the beach at Ft. Stevens was more exposed than I've ever seen it, which my catastrophizing mind interpreted as a sure sign of global climate disaster.
• The kite Uncle Scott bought us is fantastic, and proved a good rallying point for kids and adults scattered around the coastal area.

We also had an awesome time just hanging out with the very cool families who are part of KCP. I think Barb and I both came away from the weekend hoping that there was some way that we could maintain our friendship with these interesting and engaging families.

It was a huge, crowded campground. Here are just some of the KCP campers hanging out. You can't see them, but there were a lot of mosquitoes.

Suzanne, her great friend Jasper, and his younger brother Stewart.

Uncle Mark expressed an interest in seeing pictures of me. Here is one.

This is Sam. Sam's cool.

Poor Lucas didn't get the bug spray fast enough. He got bitten on the eyelid and the rest was history. Even Basil (the poodle in the foreground) was sprayed with DEET.

Andrea and Stew enjoying a moment of rest, thanks to the deadly chemicals keeping the bugs off them.

Our neighbors Jordy (pictured) and Jeff (not) showed up with a celebratory bottle of bubbly! They still needed the bug spray.

Suzanne and friends roasting marshmallows.