Once we got back from Virginia we had a small bit of time to rest before our next big adventure! A group of friends had decided we'd all like to go camping for Mother's Day. Now, last year James and I picked up a trailer for just such occasions but our roof overhaul has been a slower go than we expected. With arriving on the Monday red-eye, it just wasn't in the cards to have the trailer fixed by Friday so we packed up our trusty tent and headed out. It added a bit of insult to injury that I had to undo all the organizing I'd done in the trailer to pack for this but it was better to get out than hang around. One year of growing up has done our kiddos well with regards to camping.
Considering how cold it was the first night, the kiddos slept really well. It was still pretty chilly when they got up so we finally took advantage of our fancy seats and table in the van as the perfect place for breakfast. We camped next to some hot springs which were the main attraction of the day. I didn't get any pictures but Matthew loved it! Catherine was a bit tentative until we were about to leave, but she had a blast and it totally wore her out! Unfortunately she fought her nap hard, but once she gave in she passed out in front of the tent door.
And while I thought she had me trapped, she was out cold so I could step right over her and escape to freedom. While we hung back for nap, Matthew went mini-golfing with his friends. It was his favorite part of the whole weekend:
Though this waterslide probably came in a close second:
Though "Mater's Tall Tales" was too scary for Matthew the other day, this slide was the apple of his eye for the weekend. He was super jazzed to go down it and had a great time even though I accidently pulled him under at the end. I can't wait to take him to Thermopolis in a few weeks (or better yet have Uncle Matt and Papa do it!) We had a nice picnic/potluck
And of course made some s'mores:
The next day we packed up and a few of us headed into town for lunch at this cool little diner, followed by a hike:
Unfortunately, it was clear that an entire day of swimming and running around combined with a short night of camp sleep had exhausted the kids so we cut out the hike and headed home. Matthew zonked out the entire ride:
While Catherine called Amma to wish her a happy Mother's Day.
This week has been filled with running around on the porch:
Playing "bees"
Picking up chicks on his bike:
Playing "praying mantis"
And some hiking! I'm trying to get the kids out each Wednesday for a hike this summer and this week we picked a good one!
Matthew was psyched about finding a good hiking stick:
With the kiddos I had only intended to do a short loop but Matthew was pretty eager to go up the big mountain and he did great by himself:
We headed back down for a picnic
And then fed the fish at the fish pond:
Luckily the fish were so eager about the food they practically came out of the water to get the food that the kids didn't get thrown as far:
We topped off the day with playtime with our neighbor, popsicle toasts and some weed pulling:
Catherine's newest excitement is what she believes to be her budding independence. Her favorite phrase is "I did it" which is used after she sits on the potty, buckles her carseat, gives me a kiss or gets herself dressed:
I took our preschool kids to the duck pond where we encountered some of my favorite baby animals:
And then the rain set in. We are on day four of near consistent rain which is fantastic for fire season etc. (especially since the area close to where we camped caught fire a day or two after we left) but a bummer for my two monkeys. We met up with friends at local play area on Friday:
And since we've been hunkered down putting the finishing touches on our camper and running around to various home improvement stores. On Friday a good friend took the kiddos so we could work and they both returned with awesome manicures:
I won't lie, Matthew has been testing the limits of our Netflix trial while we work on the camper, while Catherine has taken to entertaining herself for freakish amounts of time with her helmet backpack.
Yesterday the kiddos had a birthday party and we all jumped at the chance to head over to the local gym's kids' play area to run off some steam. It was a luau themed party with hula dancers and lessons. Matthew definitely got his dancing hips from his daddy!
No comments:
Post a Comment