Camping Trip #2 - We're Pros!

I am very pleased to announce that our second camping trip of the year was a complete success! Well, almost. We did forget one little tiny detail - the keys to the camp trailer. But that wasn't going to stop us! We just broke in by putting Paityn in through a little tiny window, next year that definitely won't work. I'm sure that the people camped around us were wondering why this nice little family was stealing somone's camp trailer, but the police never showed up so I guess they weren't too concerned.

We learned our lesson last time and took our trailer up on Wednesday night and found a spot, even though we weren't planning on camping until Saturday night. It ended up being a really great spot and the kids had a ton of room to ride their bikes and run around without having to worry about traffic. There were other people in the campground, but they weren't even close enough to be in any of the pictures, it was so great! The kids spent two days exploring, riding bikes, playing frisbee, and practicing their casting. They played so well together - mostly thanks to Paityn who will agree to play whatever Jace wants to.







We found a cave in the lava rocks behind our campsite, and Jace was brave enough to crawl all the way through it. He even had to take the flashlight with him because it was pretty long. My Mommyness (new word) was saying "no way", but he wasn't scared at all and thought he was so cool for being brave enough to do it. Here he is at each opening of the cave.




This creek was just over the little hill behind our trailer and the kids were dying to go across it and explore. We all made it across one time and found some good walking sticks on the other side. Then later, Jace and Tim decided to go back across just so Jace could walk across the log again. I'm not sure how he ended up on Tim's back...




And of course, there were the nightly smores. But camping isn't camping without smores. Paityn prefers to eat hers separately, first the marshmallow (not roasted) then the chocolate, and no gram cracker. Maybe someday she will understand the true value of a sticky, gooey smore - I know I sure do!

One day a year is not enough...

Once a year we officially recognize our moms by sending them a card or a gift or calling them on the phone. This doesn't seem quite adequate to me. Our moms are there EVERY day, maybe not in person, but they're there. They are always there to talk to when you need someone, and most importantly they are inside of us and a part of us because they taught us to be who we are. I don't know how often I will say something and think to myself, "I just sounded exactly like my mother". And most of the time we probably don't even realize it, but most of what we say and do was learned from our mothers. My mom taught me to be strong and independent...and how to cook most of my favorite dishes :) Thanks for everything mom! I love you, everyday.



There are a couple of other "moms" that I want to thank as well. Tim's mom is amazing, and literally the best mother-in-law I could ask for. We have always had a great relationship and I always look forward to spending time with her. She's fun to be with and easy to talk to. Thanks Ann for everything you do for our family, I love you!



I would like to take personal credit for the next one. Janis is now my step-mom, but I've known her for a long time as "the nicest lady I know". Long story short, I felt like she would be perfect for my dad, and the timing worked out just right to where they were both available at the same time. A short time later they were married, wow I am good! ;) Janis is an amazing lady and I am so glad to have her as a mom. Thanks for everything Janis, I love you!




Happy Mother's Day today and everyday!

First Camping Trip of the Year

So we had our first camping trip of the summer this last weekend, and yes it may have been a little premature given the weather lately, but we recently got a camp trailer and there was no putting it off any longer. It was a short trip, just overnight, but it was a good test run for the rest of the summer. We had a great time and learned several valuable lessons that we will definitely use in our future outings...


Here we are on our way, these were taken before we realized we didn't know where we were going!





Lesson #1 - You should probably check to see if the campsite you are planning on going to requires reservations. We had pre-scouted our destination on Thursday and figured that because it was early in the season we would definitely get a spot. WRONG! We loaded up the camper and headed out only to be turned away at the entrance because we didn't have a reservation. Oops! So then we weren't sure where to go and the kids were no way going to let us go home. We finally remembered a campground about 10 miles or so from where we were and headed there. Good news - there was an open spot, bad news - there were no hookups for the camper and we had not brought the generator (Lesson #2). It was better than nothing, so we stayed.

Here is the view from our campsite - not great, but okay.



Lesson #3 - How NOT to take a marshmallow off of the roasting stick - grab the end of the stick that has been in the fire and pull the marshmallow off! This was not one of my finer moments, but it was the first trip of the summer and I guess I was a little rusty on my camping skills. :)




This is me trying to be a trooper and not spend the whole time in the trailer where it was WARM.



Here we are eating our dinner in our camper because the wind was blowing so bad that our plates would have blown away. It was really nice having somewhere to get out of the wind.



And lastly, there wasn't much for the kids to do and we got there kind of late so they took turns playing with the shovel. Lesson #4 - Letting your kids play with a shovel may not be as harmless as it seems. This first picture shows Paityn shoveling very close to the fire with a shovel that she had little to no control of...good job mom!



And this last picture pretty much explains itself. Just kidding, it looks a lot different than the actual situation. Jace was behind the camper shoveling by himself and he was taking the dirt and throwing it over his head backwards. I just happend to take the picture while Paityn was walking toward him so it looks like he is going to hit her with it. Still, probably not the safest activity. Next time we will have more for the kids to do.



With as many things as went wrong, we still had a great time and are all really looking forward to making it a regular family activity!

Chillin With Liam

So "Sunny" California has been pretty rainy and cool so far, but that's okay because I have been doing a lot of baby holding for the past two days and it doesn't matter what the weather is doing to enjoy that. Little Liam and I have been doing some major bonding, and I even got to babysit for a couple of hours today while Mandi was at the dentist. Her dentist is about 30 minutes from her house and she didn't want to get too far away for a long period of time, so we went with her. However, we did venture to a nearby shopping plaza where we hit up Old Navy and Kohls. I can't believe how good Liam is, he slept in the stroller the entire time (about 2 hours) and never made a peep. I told Mandi I was going to take my kids out shopping with he and I next time so I could tell them that that is how you're supposed to behave in a store, ha ha ha. We had a great day and now we're going to get to work on some of the craft projects we have planned for the baby's room. More pictures to come!

Leaving On A Jet Plane...

Here's a picture of me...tomorrow. Can't you see the sun reflecting off my teeth through the window (because my smile is so big)? I am officially checked in for my flight to Ontario, CA, I leave at 8:50 in the morning. That means that in just over 24 hours I will be squeezing my squishy little nephew Liam and spending 5 days with my best friend, I can't wait! Not to mention that it is actually warm there too! I even spoiled myself a little and went shopping yesterday for the special occasion. Maybe I can spend a little time on her nice new patio and get some sun on these mayonaise legs. Sunny California here I come!