It's a kid thing...

Well, I know it's something just about all kids do...and now I know it in a very real way; Abby and Haley gave themselves bangs the other day!

Camping 2010

This year, for our annual camping trip, we decided to try Bass Lake, which is nice and close-ish (3 1/2 hours).  We also decided to stay in a cabin, which was fabulous.  I decided I don't want to tent camp again until the kids are all like, 7 years old!

Anyway, before Grandma Jackie left for camping, she dropped her fish off at our house.  Our dear friend who was staying at our house would feed them while we were gone, and then we would take over until Jackie came back (they were staying at Bass Lake for a week, and we only stayed a few days).  So, on Saturday morning, as Carey and I were busy trying to get things ready for us to get out the door, I walked into the kitchen to find that Seth had poured his chocolate milk into the fish bowl!  He kept saying "chocolate milk in there" and "chocolate milk goldfish...tell daddy".  That added a whole extra adventure to our morning (cleaning out the fish bowl), but it was pretty funny!

We went into the lake just about as soon as we got there.

I am following Seth SO closely because the kid would just dive on in...not really caring that he can't swim!

After playing at the lake, we went back to the cabin and let the kids have fun playing out in front.

Haley managed to climb the redwood tree!

That evening, our nephew Brannon came up to the cabin and hung out with the kids.  They LOVED spending time with their only cousin!

The next morning we spent some time hanging out at the campground before going to the lake.

Leave it to good old Uncle Nate to encourage climbing on the table (which, as Abby kept saying was "not very stable")!

Hot cocoa at Grandpa Steve and Grandma Jackie's site!

Seth absolutely ADORES Uncle Nate!

We spent the whole day at the lake, except for a short break for a nap in the car, and had a blast!

First of all, look at how ADORABLE Haley is in this picture.  Now, make note of the rock to the left of my head...our jumping rock!

As I was walking up behind the girls to take this picture I heard "I love you, Haley."  "I love you, Abs".  How sweet is that?

All three simultaneously sleeping...very unusual!

Look at the HUGE dragonfly that landed on Carey's hat!

Abby fell in love with the dragonfly and stood and talked to it for a long time.

That night we all had a delicious dinner at Grandpa Steve and Grandma Jackie's camp site, then went over to my parents' campsite (at a different campground) for s'mores.  From there we tried to go down to the lake to watch the meteor shower.  Too bad Seth FREAKED out and was screaming crying, saying he was "nervous".  His poor little heart was beating so fast, so we ended up just leaving before the girls got to see a shooting star:(

Enjoying dinner with Grammie Lori!

  The next day was another wonderfully fun day at the lake:)  A highlight from that day was when the girls swam (with their floaties) with us across the cove to the big rock (the one from the picture of Haley, Seth and I).  Last year when we camped, they would hardly go in the lake up to their knees!  Oh, and two great moments:

1) While we were on the rock, Abby was sitting on my lap, and suddenly the water around my legs was SO warm.  I asked her if she was peeing and she smiled and said "yep, I peed on you mom"!

2) There was a ladybug in the water and Haley was swimming after it trying to catch it.  Each time she would doggy paddle, it would go a little further in front of her.  It was SO darling watching her swim through the water trying to catch it!

Having breakfast with the company of Grandpa Steve.

One great thing about the beach we found was that someone had made this little rock pool.  The kids loved it!

Look at our little floater!

These plants were on part of the beach and had tons of ladybugs on them.  Haley spent a good half hour or so collecting them in a Starbucks cup.

Floating with Aunt Kelly and Uncle Noah:)

Our last day we played at the cabin for a while (well, the kids played and we cleaned out the cabin and packed up the van).  Then we went and spent some time at the lake before driving home.  This last day, both girls jumped off that big rock that was across the cove into the lake.  We were so proud of them!

Seth fell down the big hill in front of our cabin:(

 

 

Getting ready to go find Aunt Kelly's sunglasses from the bottom of the lake!

Seth screamed enough on the way there, that when we were camping, Carey and I bought a portable DVD player.  Look at their faces...worth all the money spent!

Right Now:)

Here's some things that I LOVE about life right now:

• All three kids sing together in the car
• That we can successfully go to the library (and not get kicked out!)
• Seth is taking longer naps than ever, and Abby and Haley are getting really good at quiet time
• Haley wants to pick out outfits to match mine
• They love being read to
• After Abby screams at or is rude to Carey or I, she comes back later with a sweet, sincere apology
• Haley and Seth are total buddies
• Both girls can play independently for quite a while
• I have "special time" with each of the girls separately in the mornings, and it's so fun
• At any given moment, Haley, Abby, or Seth will say "ready... 1, 2, 3" and they will all burst out laughing:)

Oh, I know there are more, I just can't think of them at the moment:)

Swimming Lessons

The girls have started swim lessons and are LOVING it. Yesterday I told them they only have three days left and they both cried "NOOOOOOOO"! They are doing really well, and by the third day were going across the shallow end with a kickboard, keeping their faces in the water the whole way! It's really amazing how much they've learned so quickly. Now, if they could just realized that they still have more to learn, that would be great (they've been having a hard time listening to their teacher, because they are so confident in their new skills)!

Wonderful Week

This past week has been so wonderful.  First of all, on Sunday I prayed that I would get to sleep through the night more often than not and slept through Sunday, Monday (yep, two in a row), and Thursday nights.

Monday, we took the kids to Happy Hollow (Grandma Jackie came with us) and had a really fun time.  It was pretty mellow there and the girls got to go on LOTS of rides (thanks to having 3 adults there), which we usually can't do.

Danny the dragon, which Seth did not enjoy!

Seth being really nervous on Danny the Dragon.

The rest of the week was really normal, but just fun.  The kids and I just had fun playing at home and the park and running errands.  Seth started saying "look at me, mom".  We picked out super fun books at the library.  Haley hopped out of the car, wearing her fairy wings, saying "ladies and gentlemen, here comes the fairy."  Abby got a terrible stubbed toe, which she's been telling everyone about (I got a really bad stubbed toe, and a big piece of skin came off).  Oh, another great thing was that I changed our dinner schedule a little bit.  The kids always start asking for food around 4:00, and I would give them some little snacks, trying to hold them over until dinner an hour or so later when Carey gets home.  Then, at dinner, they weren't eating, and, worst of all, Haley and Abby were waking up in the middle of the night saying they were hungry and begging for food.  So, this week I started giving them more substantial food at 4:00 and snacky food when we all sit down together at "dinner time". 

 Eating tofu cubes, watermelon cubes, cheese cubes and frozen mango chunks on frilly toothpicks!

Today, we took the kids to their first play.  We saw "Frog And Toad Through The Year" with a cast of kids 4-8 years old.  It was adorable and all three kids did really good (thanks to Auntie Laura coming with us, they each had a lap to sit on).

Haley, standing next to some of the stage props from the play!

Sneaky

Well, this evening while Abby was taking a bath and Haley was vacuuming the van, Carey asked me where Seth was.  I told him he was in the bathroom talking to Abby.  We went and checked on them to find this:

4th Of July

Well, our 4th of July was sort of a dud this year.  It started off with three kids waking up WAY over-tired and pretty much constantly crying/screaming and throwing fits straight out of bed:(  I took them out for a drive, so that a) Daddy could sleep and b) they would be strapped into their carseats.  We stopped and got donuts (only because it's tradition...they certainly did NOT deserve donuts this morning).  

 
We went home and had donuts, watched some shows, and got ready to go to our worship gathering.  The original plan had been to go to the Aptos parade, but then Carey and I both ended up having responsibilities at the worship gathering.  It was a foggy day, we missed the parade, and the kids were all REALLY tired and crabby.  The best part of our 4th of July this year was definitely the kids adorable outfits!