The First Camping Trip

All summer, the girls have been talking about going camping.  Steve 'planted the seed' in their minds, and every weekend they asked to go ... but the timing just wasn't right. 

Finally ... finally ...  they got their wish.  Last weekend, Steve took the girls camping to Sleepy Hollow (a state campground a mere 15 minutes from our house).  Jack and I stayed home, as I knew that Jack was not quite ready for it -- ok, maybe it was me who did not feel like chasing Jack around as he crawled through all of the dirt toward the burning hot fire pit in the middle of the camping site every 2.5 seconds.  Next year will be better for him, when he can actually walk and follow directions a little more).

As soon as Steve arrived home from work on Friday, he began loading up the truck.  We were unsure whether the three of them would head out that night or wait until early Saturday morning, but they finally opted to go that night.  It worked out pretty well.

They slept in a tent on two air mattresses in their sleeping bags.  The girls shared one mattress, and Steve had the other.  The restrooms were not too far away and they had a picnic table in their camping site to fix food and eat at.  They packed enough food for each of their meals, along with a few things to keep them busy.

(Almost all of the pictures were taken using Steve's phone, as I had to rely on him to document the special event.  And it was definitely special -- Sam kept telling me, and anyone that would listen, that it was their "very first camping trip ever" in a very high-pitched voice!).

Friday night, right after they got everything set up:

Steve was worried about being able to keep them occupied the whole time that they were there.  The girls have a tendency to want to be doing something every single second of every single day.  They aren't really at an age where they enjoy just sitting and enjoying nature, obviously.

So, they spent some time down at the beach:

Blowing up balloon:

And making slime:

They had also packed their bikes, so they were able to ride them around the campground and down to the park.

Late Saturday afternoon, Jack and I headed up to the campground to spend a little time with them.  Jack pushed his walker around for a while (and I spent every 2.5 seconds, as predicted above, steering him away from the fire pit).

While we were there, Steve and the girls roasted hot dogs (Jack had already eaten at home):

Sophia wanted to show me the inside of their tent and where they were sleeping:

And then we headed down to the park so that the kids could burn off a little more energy:

Yup, Jack got tuckered out after a while:

That night, Sophia was asleep by 7 pm in the tent; missing her nap and staying up late the night before had taken its toll on her.  She missed out a little bit on our neighbors that had stopped by to surprise the girls.  But that was ok.  She had had enough excitement to last her for a good while.

Right after breakfast the next morning (Sunday), Steve and the girls packed up and headed home.  They arrived back in our driveway by 9:30 am -- dirty as can be.  Everyone stripped down and hopped in the bath/shower to clean up before unloading the truck. 

It was a day of cleaning, laundry and re-organizing.  Lots of it. 

Later that afternoon, Steve thought that it would be a good idea to let Sam skip her regular afternoon nap.  We have been needing to wean her from them as she will be starting school next week and attending 1st grade ALL DAY.  I told him that I thought that she really could use a little rest that day in particular (to catch up), but he insisted on letting her stay up all afternoon.

By 4 pm (the time that Sophia gets up), Sophia went looking for her sister and found her in the driveway.  Like this ...

She was out cold.  Exhausted.

I asked Steve to bring her inside (and out of the sun), so he laid her on the couch.  Within minutes, the two of them were both sleeping.

Camping can be a lot of fun, but it can also be a lot of work!

Weekend Randoms

Some days, it is just nice to be outside ... doing Play-doh.

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I made a chicken pot pie last week for dinner, and whenever I make a pie crust, the girls BEG to be able to play with the left-over scraps.  Seriously, they could entertain themselves for hours with the dough.

While Samantha seems to prefer flattening her pieces out every single time, Sophia would rather make little balls with the dough.

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Jack has the most fun pushing his walkers around lately.  In fact, I have started throwing one in the van whenever we go somewhere because it sure beats the alternative -- him crawling around on the floor or in the dirt.  He uses one outside all the time now too.

The problem is that he is FAST with his walkers.  And, he has discovered the joy of taking off down the driveway with one.

So, this week, we set up a barrier with some old boxes in an attempt to keep him somewhat confined (and away from the road).  It took him all of about 20 seconds to figure out that he can crawl around the boxes (the walker doesn't work well in the grass), and then scoot down the driveway.

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One of the girls' chores (on their Chore Chart) is to dust.  They get the biggest kick out of doing this!  They put on their aprons and set to work, one room at a time.  It's a win-win for everyone!

Samantha works with the dust cloth covered in Pledge and Sophia works with the dry one.  I have to say ... they make a really good team.  And Jack just does his own thing.

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On August 26th, Sophia turned 3 1/2. 

Last year, I celebrated her half birthday with a lot of fun things because it was a really big deal to her.  This year, we sang happy birthday to her at breakfast and she got to blow out a candle (boy, was she excited). 

The night before, Sam spent a few minutes and made a special card for her (it was her own idea).  She then presented it to her that morning.

This card will be going in Sophia's Keepsake Box; I hope that they will always be the best of friends ...

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The lake ...

We are winding down to our last few trips to the beach this season.  It has been a great summer down there.

While the weather is starting to cool off a bit, we will continue to travel down there as much as we can on bike rides and for walks.  There is something so soothing about staring off into the water.

Sam was absolutely mesmerized.  I was too.

Sophia prefers to get a closer look.

Looking for minnows:

 

 

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Family Car Wash

On the weekend, we promised the kids that they could wash our vehicles after lunch.  I know that one day, we will have to beg them to do this, but for now, they see it as complete fun.  It was perfect plan -- let them get wet and tired out ... right before naps.  If they needed a quick bath to wash off any dirt, it would only relax them and help  them to sleep better.

Never one to miss a single thing, Jack was checking out the soap bucket:

Adding one last drop of soap:

 

 

 Jack spied the sponge and managed to get a hold of it so that he could really be a part of the action:

Not sure what kind of pose she was going for here, but Sophia is definitely a cutie:

Hosing off the vehicle:

Sam was a little less interested in the actual washing of the cars and much more excited about getting wet from the hose:

So I obliged and sprayed her:

And then I lined the kids up and let them feel like they were in the middle of a rainstorm.  They loved it!

Splashing in the puddles:

 Later that night, Jack helped his Daddy to wash the truck:

 

 



Gone Fishin'

On a whim, one night after dinner, we headed down to the park with a couple of fishing poles.  The girls were excited to try and catch some fish and I had high hopes of keeping Jack entertained in the in interim.  It turned out that Jack and I were not able to stay too long -- a narrow dock above the lake and a little boy that wants to constantly explore (on his knees) is not a good combination. 

I was able to snap a few quick pictures before Jack and I headed back home for some more "confined" playing.  I wish that I was able to take a few *better* pictures (read: without a heavy toddler writhing around in my arms), but that is just the season of life that I am in right now ...

Getting the worm on the hook:

 

 

Within about 5 milliseconds (maybe a couple more), Sam had already caught a little blue gill.  Sophia didn't even have her pole ready with bait!

 



It took a little coaxing, but Samantha finally agreed to hold her prized catch:

And then, just like that, Sophia had caught one too! 

Yes, the fish were biting like crazy that night; and I'm glad about that.  It made for two happy little girls (after they got over the initial spat because Sophia had caught a bigger fish!).

Mint Festival

Last weekend, we took the kids up to St. John's for their annual Mint Festival.  We were mostly interested in the parade this year (opting to forego walking around and maybe partaking in a few games) simply due to timing.  We knew that by the end of the parade that Jack would be anxious and ready for a nap.

While Sam and Steve ran back to the van for a blanket to sit on, Sophia, Jack and myself reserved our spot along the street.  It was bright that day, but I couldn't resist taking a quick picture of Sophia next to a mailbox covered in flowers.

While we were waiting for the parade to start, Jack snacked on a few pretzel goldfish crackers.

Once the parade started, Jack took a seat on Steve's lap and intently watched all of the action:

The girls waved to every single float, truck, tractor, horse ...

The bank in town was passing out free sunglasses:

The horses were probably the biggest hit with the girls:

But the candy was exciting too:

Oh, and the popsicles!  Yes, this parade passed out popsicles, cheese sticks, ears of corn ... Pretty unconventional, but we were in farming country. 

Luckily, Daddy was nice enough to share with Jack!

Overall, this parade is probably one of the nicest ones that we ever go to -- it's perfectly timed and there is a lot of candy and a lot of random floats.  It's safe to say that we have started an annual tradition now.

Jack is 15 Months Old

Jack is 15 months old today.  I don't have any stats on him yet because his doctor's appointment isn't until the end of this month.  Suffice to say, he's definitely "bigger" (read: chubbier) than the girls ever were at this age.  What can I say?!  My little boy loves his milk!

Jack is making progress with his walking; not on his own yet, but he is CONSTANTLY using anything, and everything, as some sort of walking aid.  He has two walkers that he races with around the house, steering with unbelievable efficiency.  But, he has been known to utilize a shopping cart, a small folding chair, a doll stroller ... and even a laundry basket.  I think that is safe to say that Jack is the happiest, when he is on the move. 

Jack knows how to use this battery-operated four-wheeler, and cruises around the front yard on it any time that he gets a chance. 

Just yesterday, he spied the girls' Jeep and immediately determined that he is ready to move up to something a little more advanced.  I turned around and found him positioned inside, ready and rearing to go. 

He is obviously WAY TO LITTLE to be able to drive it right now, so I asked Sam to take him for a spin around the front yard (with his seat belt on, of course).  I'm not sure who loved it more -- her or him.  Jack giggled and giggled.

In all seriousness now, his month has not been great for Jack in terms of teething.  The girls both seemed to space out the timing of their molar cutting, but not Jack.  His four molars have all come in at the same time, starting with the beginning of July and carrying on.  He also cut his top side tooth.  He is, in a single word, miserable.  Lots of crying, lots of jamming his fingers in his mouth (until the fingers are raw) and lots of extra cuddles with Momma.  Just this week, I discovered that one of the molars is causing his gums in the surrounding area to turn dark blue -- it is bruised that badly.

The molars are so painful for him that car rides are nearly impossible.  Feeling cooped up in his car seat just seems to add to his frustration.  {Steve barely rides with us in the car, but boldly announced this last weekend that he wasn't going in the car with him again unless he had ear plugs}.  On one rare occasion, I did catch him distracted enough by the Sesame Street video in the van -- usually, he can care less.

On top of that, the teething constantly gives him a diaper rash.  I feel as though I should own stock in the diaper cream company by now!  That, and Tylenol ...

And when nothing will do as Jack screams in a temper tantrum on the kitchen floor, I just hand him anything that might entertain him.  Even an empty bag of cheese.  It's worth a quick smile.

There are a few words that Jack can say on his own.  Those include: cheese, cat, block, hi, bye.  He can "give you five," wave and give kisses.  He can stack blocks like no other.  And boy, is he vocal when he chooses to express himself.  He yells at his sisters on a regular basis!

I am happy to report that I have finally retired his bibs (except during meals).  No more drooling!  It has taken forever to get to that point, it seems.

One of my goals for the next month is to transition Jack to sippee cups with hard plastic tops, as opposed to those with a silicon nipple-like top.  He hasn't quite grasped the idea of the hard plastic ones yet and manages to make quite the mess when he becomes bored (tipping the silicon topped sippees upside down and dabbing them all over the floor or his high chair tray ... or worse, his car seat).

Jack mastered how to climb stairs this last month, so we had to move our bench (just inside the front door) in front of the stairs.  It's not exactly fashionable, but it is relatively functional.  The rest of us simply hike our leg over the top to climb up and down the stairs {what a work-out}, and Jack manages to stay on the first floor. 

He did try to outsmart us by climbing under the bench, so I have to also stuff my loveseat pillows underneath.  Again, quite the fashion statement when company comes over.  For now, it suffices because there is no way to adequately secure a gate at the bottom of the stairs.  I am currently working with him on the art of coming back down safely.  Once I feel secure knowing that he can do that, I will move the bench back to its proper location.

Probably Jack's greatest accomplishment lately is that he will, on his own accord, randomly let go of whatever supporting object he is using and stand on his own -- unassisted.  He makes sure that we are watching when he does it (either my clearing his throat or squealing).  We all watch and he stands as long as he can (up to 20 seconds) and then drops down to his bottom.  He is definitely close to learning how to walk now.

Here's to another month of growing and changing ... and soaking up our last weekday mornings at the beach.

In a few weeks, the girls will be in school and it will just be Jack and me together a few mornings a week.  It will be our time to run errands and do a little extra one-on-one bonding.  He's used to having his time with me split between the two girls so I think that it will be a welcomed change for him!