Beach Babes

Camping Adventure

We took our first camping trip with the girls last weekend. On Saturday, Brian and I dropped them off at my parents so we could "set up camp" and relax for a night. We haven't been camping since 2006 (i.e. pre-kids), so it was really nice that we were able to have one night to ourselves.  The next day, we picked Allison and Amelia up to bring them to the campsite. They were both so exhausted from the slumber party with their cousin that they feel asleep on the way there.

When we got to the campground, they were very excited to check everything out.

To keep them busy, we gave them their "bubble guns" I had purchased a few weeks ago, only to discover that they didn't blow bubbles, they were "bubble chompers." Basically, someone has to blow the bubbles and they use the animals to try to catch and "chomp" them. Luckily they were on clearance when I bought them.

After dinner, the girls tested out their new camping chairs. Allison was very proud of the bucket of rocks she collected at the beach.  We then roasted marshmallows, which Allison really enjoyed (check out her very adult posture of crossing her legs while balancing the plate on her knee).

The girls did pretty good sleeping in the tent; they did better than Brian and I did.  I was so worried about potential thunderstorms and the idea of Amelia trying to escape the tent, that I only slept in brief periods.  However, despite the lack of sleep, I am glad that we went. I think it made an impression on Allison as she asked when we could go back to the woods and the beach!

A Birthday Celebration

Party Number One was at my parents' house with an ice cream cake from Dairy Queen.  Allison celebrated with her cousins. She received lots of fun presents including a "laptop" computer (a pre-school kind) from Nana and Papa and a baseball glove and ball from us. Now she can play catch with Dad in the front yard, just like the neighbor kids across the street.

On her birthday, Allison wore a crown at school and was very proud of it. I picked the girls up a little early so we could get ready for Allison's birthday party with Grandma and Grandpa, Aunt Lynn, and Uncle Mark and her cousin Faith. She was so exited and was bouncing off the walls waiting for everyone to come.

With everything going on that night, Brian and I almost forgot to give Allison our big gift, an art easel. We had her sit on the couch while Brian brought it up. As you can see, she had a great reaction and was excited (for about 60 seconds and then she moved on to something else).