Pootie, Buggins, and the New Duds

DH went to FPO nearly weekly, taking his two commercial mowers he still had left up on the trailer with a worker to help him cut the grass. 18 acres of cleared land takes about 5 hours for two mowers to cut with drive time and breaks. The second weekend of October, I somehow managed to luck up and get a 3-day weekend, so we planned our next camping trip. We had so much fun the first time, an additional day was definitely a blessing! My dad, Papa G, messaged me a few days prior to the weekend and said he had the kids' Christmas presents and wanted to give them to them now. I figured it was something to do with camping or the woods, so I agreed to bring them by on Friday morning before we left. 

That Friday, DH loaded the trailer behind the truck to go pick up Papa G's four-wheeler for us to borrow again, and we rounded the kids up. The oldest (Pootie) is just annoyed that she has to do anything extra (tweenagers, right?!), and the youngest (Buggins) was suspicious and asked why it took ALL of us to go get the four-wheeler when Daddy has been able to do it by himself this whole time? For being only 8 years old, the kid is a smarty pants critical thinker and has a memory like I've never seen. The fact that she has wanted to be a police officer since she was a toddler makes me think she actually may be cut out to be a pretty dang good investigator. 

Reverting back to the story from that tangent, we pulled up to Papa G's house and the kids ran inside to find him and YaiYai. Papa G told us the presents were out in the garage, so the kids ran ahead.

Buggins 

Pootie 

Four-wheelers! Two brand new Honda Rancher 4x4's in matching red on black trim packages. I don't think these kids fathom how fortunate and somewhat SPOILED they are. I know I didn't when I was their age. 

Pootie puttered around the yard on hers while Buggins had to have lessons. She had not been able to or known how to shift and start and push the throttle on a four-wheeler because her older sister Pootie always drove. 

After a few slow laps, Papa G and DH loaded them up on the trailer to go. We certainly weren't in a hurry, but we did need to load the rest of the trailer and get Smokey dog, plus drive time and the time it would take to set up base camp again. 

Loading up the rest of the supplies and camp gear was fairly quick; we knew what to bring from the last trip. DH wanted to bring the golf cart again, but I was skeptical as to whether it would fit on the car trailer with two four-wheelers. 

Barely.

Fortunately for us barely is on the winning side of almost, so once all the ATVs were strapped down, we were off to the promised land of freedom and guns. 

We got to FPO at about 3pm, enough time to set up camp and play for a bit before dark. 

After we offloaded the four-wheelers and the golf cart, I got busy setting up the screen tent and the chairs. And the fan of course. With the new four wheelers, Pootie and Buggins were able to scour the trails for firewood on their own. 

The rules out in the clearing are NO going over second gear for Buggins, third gear for Pootie who has more experience. NO going over first gear on the trails (4mph). If it's dusk or later, headlights HAVE to be on. NO starting in any gear higher than second, and you have to practice shifting gears into first/second and putting it in reverse before riding alone. Both kids did very well with that and were able to ride alone soon after, with doggo patrolling in tow of course.

The beautiful full moon rose over the tall pine trees surrounding the cypress pond, a v-shaped formation of egrets raced the sunset to find a place to roost for the night. All began to be peaceful and cool as the darkness settled in, the traffic hummed in the background as the rock station played on the little stereo at FPO. 

DH fired up the grill and made sausages and hot dogs, and we brought bags of chips again for a quick meal. Pootie and Buggins were more interested in riding than eating, but we encouraged them at least come get a quick hot dog before they put more mileage on the new four-wheelers. 

DH finished up his meal and I offered to clean up so they could go ride. I put the remainder of the food on the table under a cover and talked to Smokey-doggo who had hung back with me at FPO. We had to be cautious with letting Smokey ride on Papa Gon's larger property across the street because he loves water and there's large alligators lurking in the depths. I told him he was going to be a Scooby Snackie if he tried to swim over there, but of course he just looked at me with dumb love hoping for a piece of sausage and wagged his little nublet tail. 

I'm sure the neighbors think I'm insane because if no one is around, I definitely sit and talk to him. He's the best listener.

I'm not an expert at fire-starting but I can manage when I need to. I decided because it was getting quite dark, I needed to light the campfire. I had my pistol of course but I know fire tends to ward off anything that may need to be shot too, wild animals and scumbags in particular. 

The kids returned with DH from the 80 acres shortly after I started the fire. It was well after dark now and they had their bellies full of riding for a bit. It was back to Roblox and Gacha Life for a while, I turned on my hotspot so they could talk to their cousins. DH relaxed in his recliner folding chair. Smokey dog napped vigilantly in front of them, making sure his family was safe now that they were back from their ride. 

The kids decided they wanted to get into the tent and play on their electronics in the dark instead. I knew that meant they were getting tired without them admitting they were tired. Pootie took her boots off and got in the tent first, then Buggins followed suit but had her 'car bankie' in tow. 

Car bankie is this quite horrid, tattered looking blanket that used to be fleece backed with a yellow 2014 Mustang on the front; I bought it for DH for Christmas when Buggins was two years old and she promptly stole it. The child has dragged that full-sized blanket around like Linus for almost 7 years, on every single overnight stay we've ever been on. We've had to retrieve it from hour-long drives more often than I'd like to admit as crocodile tears run down her fair skinned face. It has holes in various places that I've repaired and some I haven't been able to repair. Buggins is a thumb sucker and has been since she was about 6 months old; she sucks her right thumb, takes the blanket and rubs the end of her nose with it, or she will hide under it while sucking her thumb and pick the fleece balls on the backside. I don't feel like we'll ever be rid of that thing, I have to steal it and wash it every few weeks or it starts to smell like the ground at the county fair. 🤮

DH and I sat up listening to the fire and watching the brilliant round moon for a bit longer. We walked over to the table in the dark and watched the fog rolling towards us across the meadow. I felt like he was thinking about his dad and my heart hurt for him. DH lost his father in January of 2022 to COVID. It was hard on a lot of people, but very much so on DH. He was very close to his father and spoke to him on the phone almost daily. His dad took his last breath about 20 minutes after we got to the Mayo in Jacksonville following a 5 1/2-hour drive from across the state. I know his dad waited for him to get there and once he knew he had said goodbye, his dad went to rest his body and soul. I can only hope his dad knew DH was in a good place in his life and would be okay.  I cannot fathom losing someone that close to me.

I hugged DH tight under the luminous warm full moon and put my head on his broad chest. I know his dad was and is so proud of him, the man he became, the things he's accomplished. The things we've yet to do. 

I decided it was time for me to turn in for the night, so I put on my pajamas and crawled into the tent with the girls. DH zipped the screen tent up around him and retired to his recliner chair with a sleeping bag and Smokey on guard. 

I awoke to the sound of kids rustling in plastic bags of breakfast pastries and arguing over if they could have a soda or not. After the first meal was settled, Pootie and Buggins took off on their four-wheelers, burning up the daylight and the batteries in their newly borrowed walkie-talkies from Papa Gon. Once DH was up and about, he and the kiddos went riding over at the 80 acres while I relaxed in the recliner chair. An hour or so later, Papa Gon drove up with a dump trailer, got out, and got some gloves on. I greeted him but was confused as to what was happening. Papa Gon opened the back of the dump trailer and slid a large rectangular plastic box out onto the ground. He said DH saw it in the trash pile and wanted it, so Papa Gon obliged; after DH dug it out and got the trash out of it, Papa Gon loaded it up and brought it back to FPO. Papa Gon tipped his hat and left.

Still confused as to why DH would want a gray box, I approached cautiously. 

It was a toilet. A literal commode with the waste collection pod from a porta-potty. 

Leave it to DH to want a clean and comfortable place to poop. I laughed as I dragged it over to the waterhose and sprayed it down with degreaser cleaner. It wasn't "dirty" per se, just had leaves crusted all over it. I was able to clean it quite quickly and sat it upright. It was slightly tipsy because the collection container was V-shaped on the bottom. 

DH came back and modified it slightly to sit more level and took off to find a home for his newfound treasure. 

In the meantime before the new potty was set up, Buggins had to use the bathroom. She went to a small passage cut in the woods across from the campsite where the portable toilet I bought was set up, a section we called "Sh*t Inlet." She finished her business and scampered back to the campsite. Shortly thereafter, a buzzard started to circle the inlet and we teased Buggins that she must have smelled like a dead animal. 

That afternoon, Papa Gon and NahNah (my mom) came by to visit. They decided to let the girls take them on a ride on the new four-wheelers on the 80 acres, DH and I hung back so he could sight in his pistols. 

Age old question, Glock or 1911?

Once DH was done, the girls came back and asked if they could go with Papa Gon to his mother's house (MiMi's) for dinner. Of course, that was fine with DH and I, and they left. DH grabbed the golf cart and I jumped on Buggins' four-wheeler to go hunt for logs and sticks for the upcoming bonfire. It was supposed to be slightly colder than last night, so we needed to make sure to have enough. 

The sun was nearly gone when the girls got back, and of course they immediately jumped on the four-wheelers. DH got the grill going and made us steaks and sausage for dinner while I found a few sturdy sticks about the thickness of my finger and sharpened the end with DH's knife. 

After dinner it was finally s'mores time! Buggins and Pootie had fun roasting their marshmallows to their desired doneness, even though Buggins caught hers on fire more often than not. 

Pootie in my sweatshirt

Buggins and Pootie 

Buggins and her burnt 'smarshmallow'

Smokey wanted some too but unfortunately, he has a bad eye and couldn't see the melty marshmallow coming. It stuck to his head instead, and we had a good laugh at how silly he looked. I helped him get cleaned up. 

That night we were all fairly tired, so we turned in around 10pm. Buggins said she wanted to sleep on the 'front porch' of the tent (the screen porch) with Daddy instead of inside with us. I told her it was going to be cold, but she insisted. I crawled into the tent and was immediately hit with the hot sweaty stench of stinky feet and armpits. Boy howdy, it's hard being a tweenager without a shower. I chased Pootie out of the tent and made her wipe her feet and armpits with antibacterial hand wipes. Yikes. 😵

She climbed back in, and we both snuggled into our sleeping bags with the tent zipped up. It was already hovering around 55°F and it was pretty humid so the cold stuck to the air, coating you with reverse sweat that chilled the skin and throat. I drifted off to sleep only to be woken to the loud sound of crackling several hours later. My eyes popped open with fear, I knew that sound. The tent was on fire!

I snatched the zipper open to see DH bundled in his Carhartt jacket standing near the fire pit, stoking the coals and adding every bit of firewood we had left to it to get some heat. The cold blast of air hit me, numbing my nose and settling on my exposed arms. I gathered Buggins out of the screen enclosure and dragged her sleeping bag and car bankie into the tent. It had to have been close to 40°F at that point, I'd forgotten how quickly it gets chilly the further north from the gulf breeze you are.

"Do you want to get in here with us?" I called out to DH.
"No, I'll be okay."

I zipped the tent up, climbing into my sleeping bag after making sure the kids were secure in their own sleeping bags. I dozed off and was awoken again to the sound of a cold diesel engine being cranked up. The engine revved and held at about 3,000RPM and I quickly realized it was DH, cold from being in the screen tent, taking shelter in the truck where the heater was. 

I finally got warm enough to sleep and the next thing I remember was DH calling out that he was going to get some breakfast from Hardee's. I dozed off again and heard DH call through the tent that my breakfast was going to be ice cold if I didn't get up and eat. I told him I didn't care and he said "Then why did you tell me to get you something hot when I asked you what you wanted from Hardees?!"
I have literally no recollection of that statement, haha! I must have been cold and tired!

I slowly got myself cranked up like a cold Chevrolet truck, it took me a few tries to make a go of it. We made sure the fire was completely doused and the coals were out, then the girls made a few more laps on the four-wheelers before we decided to do a family trip on all the ATVs over on the 80 acres. Smokey included. 

There are a lot of ponds and canals on the 80, Papa Gon does a fantastic job of keeping things up on his land. They use it more in the winter for hunting than anything else, but during the other seasons the trails are fun to ride and there's always fishing and shooting. 

Smokey was a bad dog and tried to jump off in the canal to swim after one of the gators slid off into the water, so DH had to sit on the back of the golf cart and hold his collar until we were out of the danger area. 

And I had a cool little convoy headed down the trails sightseeing behind me. 

Finally, it was time for us to head home. We loaded up the ATVs, strapped all of our stuff down, made sure the fire pit was still out, and slowly made our way to the gate. 

My heart couldn't stand to hear the sad clank of the chain against the metal gate closing, so I sat in the truck with the girls and annoyed them with the McDonald's rap song from 15+ years ago. 😂

Until next time, FPO.