Camping 2011 - Day 3

Our final day. Well, it was more like, preparing to go home. Nonetheless, it still took us half the day to get out. First, we had to have breakfast. Then, some of the kids had to climb trees.

Then, we needed to let the air out of mattresses, pack up our clothes, roll up the tent, clean dishes, put food away, pack the car, dump trash...all while making sure the kids were all entertained and safe. David and I took turns watching ours. Luckily, Martine, age 10, and Bond, age 7, were around to keep Vincent entertained. There were 4 kids out on the beach, running, drawing with sticks, digging, and just having a good time.

And, we had to get group photos.

Once we were all set and ready to go, we decided to stop in Port Angeles for brunch first. The Hildebrandts were going to join us, but Eva fell asleep in the car on the way to the restaurant. They grabbed food to go while we stayed. First Street Haven was the place. It's a cute little spot and so yummy. The kids ate well.

After brunch, Vincent wanted to check out this fountain.

And, the kids were super excited to see this train in the window of a bookstore. It was the Hogwarts Express, and while they were looking in the window, the guy in the shop turned it on. Woohoo! That really made their day!

Camping 2011 - Day 2

Low tide this morning. Soon as we had our coffees and breakfast of bacon, eggs, and toast, we headed down to the jetty where the tide pools would be exposed for us to explore. Do you see that little black strip sticking out past the trees behind us? That's where we were headed.

I should note that Vincent did not want to go out with us. All he wanted to do was go back into the tent and hang out. I think he was a little cold. Plus, he really wanted to play with Bond. The whole time we were walking down to the beach, he kept asking if Bond was coming along soon, or when Bond would be getting there. At some point, he finally dropped it, as he must've figured out that Bond and his family weren't going to be with us for this outing. And, I think in the end, he was happy to he joined us, and I think he had a good time. I was really proud of how well he did climbing the rocks. He was nervous at first, but was pretty confident by the end.

I was nerding out on all the awesome sea creatures we were seeing: mossy chiton, sea anemones, crabs, barnacles, some sort of tube worm in a huge clump, limpets, and this was my favorite find of all...

A gumboot chiton. Oooohhhh. Ahhhhhh. It's seriously about the size of half a football. And, yes, I did put it back. It's a good thing I didn't step on it!

We didn't make it all the way to the end of the jetty. We didn't feel up to it with the kids. I guess there are seastars and sea urchins futher out. We'll take their word for it.

After the beach, we had lunch: build your own sandwiches, courtesy of Stephanie and David W. Tyler and I were ready for a nap. I took a short one, but he was zonked out for a good 2+ hours. Vincent sat on David's lap for a while listening to a story about the Goonies. Then, I gave him my iPhone and let him watch some TV shows I had on there. This allowed the adults to sit in the sun, chat and relax. When he was done with that, he entertained himself with a water shooter.

Andrea and Eva looked at their ocean treasures.

When Tyler woke, some of us did a little hula hooping.

Tyler enjoyed himself a glass of milk.

Then, David and I, separately, took the boys down to the beach to run around. I had Vincent with me. We ran on the sand, trying to get to the rainbow pole. We also did some writing and drawing in the sand with sticks. And, then we set up my camera on the timer for some pictures. It was such a nice little time I got to spend with him.

 Vincent drew a ferry boat.

This evening's dinner was pork and bean and veggies, courtesy of the Hildebrandts. The campfire tonight was awesome. David popped some Jiffy Pop, and the kids enjoyed eating it around the fire. Tyler and Eva were so cute and sweet.

Bedtime was much smoother for all.

Camping 2011 - Day 1

We planned one camping trip for this summer. We feel like it's about all we can handle at this stage of our parenting/children's lives. Our destination, Crescent Beach, Port Angeles. Our party: Us, the Hildebrandts, and the Toler/Wrights.

We left the house a little before 10am, and opted to take the longer route down to Tacoma and back up to Hood Canal, rather than cross Puget Sound on a ferry. We made one stop for lunch at Fat Smitty's in Chimacum. We got there just in time, because soon after us came many more people. It was pretty decent diner food, and quick. They have one dollar bills hanging all over the whole restaurant.

After lunch, the boys fell asleep in the car for the remainder of the drive. It gave them about an hour's worth of a nap. Not too bad.

We were the first to arrive in our party. David set up the tent while I took the boys down to the beach to do a little exploring.

 Absolutely gorgeous view. The land you see over yonder is Canada, and the water between us is the Strait of San Juan de Fuca.

After David got the tents set up, we headed back down to the beach to fly our kite, and do a little more exploring.

The boys and I were popping these bull kelp bubbles.

Everyone has arrived, and camp is all set up. That's our giant red tent.

It was actually a little bit of a stressful start to the trip. The kids were all over stimulated, ours and the others'. They were happy to be running around together, but the younger ones were getting a bit loopy. We wanted to get them fed and into bed as soon as we could, but that was quite challenging, as you can imagine.

For dinner, we had 'Hobo Dinners.' Basically, it's like a decomposed meatloaf. Each person gets to build their own. You take a piece of foil, put ground beef in the middle, then top it with veggies, season it up, wrap it up, and throw it right into the fire to cook. David was our cooker, and did a great job. We also had asparagus that we wrapped in foil and threw into the fire.

Soon after dinner, there were also s'mores and birthday cake for Bond, who turned 7 today! Vincent & Tyler missed out on the cake, but had plenty of marshmallows. Again, bedtime was challenging.

We had the kids into the tent and in their beds by about 8pm or so. I don't think they actually fell asleep until past 9pm. They were just having so much fun, even away from the other kids, in the tent together. Our sleeping arrangement: Tyler in a pack 'n' play, Vincent in his toddler blow up mattress with sleeping bag, and us on our deluxe, queen sized Aerobed and sleeping bags. Ahhh yeeaaah, we don't mess around. None of that thin, narrow sleeping pad on the ground. We are talking car camping luxury. Technically, our tent has two rooms, but we all slept in the same section. Much warmer this way, and we were able to separate our messy clothes and sandy shoes away.

Kindermusic

The boys and I rode the bus downtown for our first music class together. It's held at Soundbridge at Benaroya Hall, and is put on by Studio3. (I guess all that detail is just for me to have as reference one day, in case I need to look it up)

Kindermusic is something many of our friends have done with their children. They rave about it, and I just hadn't gotten around to checking it out. But, today's event gave us a chance to go with our friends, Relaine and Charlotte, and an opportunity to try something different. Both boys had a blast, but Tyler was a bit crazy. Vincent did really well, mostly paid attention, and mostly followed directions.

Pre-class activity



 Vincent and Teacher Aaron fixin' their wagon.

 Vincent tried to play the trombone. He didn't get any sound out of it, and was discouraged. After a few minutes, he went back and tried, again, but still no sound. That's okay.

 The piana floor mat.

Even though I told the boys ahead of time that there would be no snack during the class, they still said, "I'm hungry!" David picked us up and we had lunch at The Old Spaghetti Factory. Yeah, yeah...it has a trolly, and trains drive by while we eat. 'Nough said.

Ooh, we started our garage door installation this afternoon. Woop Woop! It's not completely done, but the panels are in. Nick, our garage guy, needs to come back tomorrow and finish. Exciting!

And, our lillies out front that were transplanted from the backyard are finally starting to bloom. Pretty.







Three Days in a Row!

I had made plans with Brianna to have her and her kids come over to our house this afternoon, between naptime and t-ball practice. I didn't tell Vincent until after lunch. He was so excited, and said, "I get to see him, again!"

There was just a little time for them to play here before we had to head to the community center. The boys did really well together, but unfortunately, Tyler slammed the closet door on Vincent's finger and ripped a little skin. Liam was very sweet and said to Tyler, "You hurt your brother."

Lexie and Tyler enjoyed being in Ty's bed together.

When it was time to go, Vincent and Liam opted to go in Brianna's car down to the playground, while Lexie wanted to go for a stroller ride with Tyler and I.



It Was Awesome!

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 was super good. I thought they did a really good job with the movie, even if some parts were different from the book. And, I cried several times. I wasn't as sad to see it all end, like I thought I would be earlier, but the anxiousness I was feeling, I think, was actually because I knew which of the characters were going to die. Seeing it right before my eyes was much more dramatic than reading it and imagining in my head.

Morning Music and Harry Potter!!

This morning, I took the kids to the marina in Kirkland to meet up with friends for a kids' concert. Although it was wet from last night's rain, it didn't stop us for joining the fun. Plus, it was in a large, covered pavillion. We met up with Brianna and her kids, and Lisa and her boys. As soon as Liam saw Vincent, he went over and gave him a big hug. So sweet. The boys sat next to each other right up front. Lexie saw Tyler and came over to hug him. Then, she sat next to him, and the two kept giving each other kisses. I wasn't quick enough with my camera to take pictures of them kissing, but I did get these other ones.

This evening, David and I have a sitter, and we're going to see Harry Potter! I'm so excited and anxious at the same time. I know I've read the last book twice and know how it ends, but I think it's knowing this is the last of the movies that's making me anxious. Like, will I be too sad to see it all end? Yeah, I know. Totally weird of me.

Obsessions

This is old news, but since I'm on the topic of "obsessions" I should mention that one of mine and David's has come to an end. Well, we're both probably still obsessed, but the show is no longer on the air. That would be "Friday Night Lights." Yes, it was a really good show, even if there were many holes and errors, like ages of the characters, etc. We overlooked all that because, well, some things just aren't worth getting hung up about.

Anyway, on with what I really started to write this post about...

Vincent has a tendency to get attached to an idea and he will obsess over it so much, and be kind of a pain about it until I've had enough and have to make him snap out of it. It's like he is so focused on it that he sort of loses sight of what's going on around him. It's not like he's not safe, and will wander into danger or anything like that, but he just can't let go of whatever it is he's obsessing over. Today, it was playing with an iPad. There's a boy at the gym daycare who brings in an iPad. He lets Vincent have a turn with it sometimes. When I came to pick the boys up, Vincent didn't have a turn, yet. Rather than listen to me and get himself together to leave, he stuck to Sam. Once I was able to get him away, his first question to me was, "Can I play with Daddy's iPad when we get home?" And, he continued to keep asking as I tried to get the boys out the door. And, continued as I tried to get them into the elevator. I finally just said, "NO! Don't ask me anymore!" Sigh.

The biggest obsession in our family right now is Tyler's...with his penis. Warning, this is uncensored. Over the weekend he seems to have discovered his erection. He said to David at one point, "My penis is so big!" And, another time he said, "There's my big penis, again." And, this morning, when he woke early and came into our bed to try to sleep a little more, he whispered it again. He also enjoys grabbing himself. Ahhhhh, little boys.

How about what else happened today? There was a flat bed tow truck outside our house. They boys were out there checkin' it out, along with Stella. (Vincent is standing in front of David)

On this rainy day, the boys did a little painting and eating popcorn after naptime.

The rain stopped a little, so Vincent's T-ball game was not cancelled. While there, Tyler had a fun time chasing Lexie around. They did some hopping, running, grabbing my legs, and eating popcorn.